I spent the afternoon on my roof

I spent yesterday afternoon on my roof

Two of big threats to a real estate transaction involve the discovery of cracked foundations and bad roofs during the home inspection. A five year roof will typically sail through inspection but I recently sold a home for some clients who replaced their roof five years ago and their roof didn't.

It turns out that moss had taken hold and they had never treated the roof with a moss removal solution. All I can say is that I am glad we didn't wait another year to list the home because the moss would have won the battle within that amount of time.

This would have been a problem because lenders shy away from giving loans to buyers of homes with failing roofs because of the damage that a failing roof can cause to the rest of house. Even if a buyer is willing to close a transaction, it's the lender that won't let it happen.

This got me thinking about my own roof. In the two years I have owned my current home, I have never gone up there with a critical eye. I went up yesterday afternoon and it's a good thing I didn't wait. I found moss growing at the edge of each row of composition on the north facing side of the roof. The growth was minimal but wide spread.

I went to Ace Hardware and purchased a few $10.00 bottles of moss removal solution and I applied it to the roof. I feel like I dodged a bullet. The bottle said that I should reapply the stuff every three months so I have scheduled a reminder to deal with it again in the fall. It will be interesting to compare the level of moss now with the amount of moss then. I think this is better than power washing the roof because that can cause more harm than good aside from rapidly aging a roof.

You should take this very seriously. I didn't, but now I do. When you list your home, your roof can kill your transaction if it's in bad shape.

Other tips...

• Trim back overgrown vegetation.

• Clean all debris off the roof and inside the gutters and hose down.

• Spray water inside clogged gutters to clear them.

• Remove crinkled caulking and roofing cement and reapply.

• Check flashing (metal areas) for warps and holes. Secure any loose flashing to the siding or other surface

• Secure loose asphalt shingles with roofing cement.

David Edwards

REALTOR®

Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound

425-890-8045

E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com

Website: http://www.davidjedwards.com

Blogsite: http://www.davidjedwards.com/renton-info-blog.asp

David J Edwards is a full time real estate agent and REALTOR® with Keller Williams specializing in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers in Renton and Newcastle Washington.