In recent months, we have had a couple of issues regarding roofs. Whilst it is easy – and necessary – to frequently check properties in terms of maintenance, it is far more challenging to regularly check roofs!
It is a good idea to try and inspect the roof tiles, flashing, brickwork and guttering at least in advance of winter months, ahead of less favourable weather. This way, any discovered problems can be remedied before developing into a bigger one. If you do this, you may still need to spend on roofing repairs, but you can potentially save on internal damage, remedial work, repainting and redecorating.
Should you have any work done on the roof of your property, take the preventative opportunity to ask the roofer to check the whole area if they can, to catch any further possible problems.
Cracked or slipped tiles, damaged or ill-fitting flashing, tiny holes in the mortar and blocked gutters can all lead to leaks, causing damage inside properties. This is one of the many reasons why frequent checks of your building are so important. You can notice a problem early, minimising the impact to your finances and the disruption to the tenants. Always look for signs of water damage around the ceilings and external walls. Also check around windows and external doors.
An additional preventative measure is to ensure tenants are good at communicating issues to you and that you have a straightforward way for them to report them. It’s often a great approach to have more than one way of dealing with a problem, especially when unforeseen things like a pandemic come along, which put restrictions on certain ways of doing things!
