Trees have always been and will always be a desirable piece of landscaping and the overall aesthetic of your property, but having trees too close to your house can cause a number of problems that aren’t worth the headache. Even if your trees are planted away from your home, the branches can stretch out over the roofline which comes with several reasons to keep them trimmed.
Not Trimming Limbs Can Result In Roof Damage
In Bastrop County, there is an abundance of pine needles and those needles have a way of ending up on your roof and in your gutters. When the pine needles pile up, moisture is locked in underneath the pile and becomes a bed for mildew and mold. Asphalt shingles are designed well to drain water under normal circumstances, but if the moisture is trapped by piles of pine needles, it’s going to deteriorate the adhesives on the shingles over time. You can always just clean off the pine needles, but if you want to minimize the required frequency of that chore, you can trim the branches back away from the roof line. Generally, a good distance to keep is about 5-10 from the house but up to 20 feet is preferred.
Trees can harm your roof in more ways than with just mold and mildew, if overhanging branches get big and heavy and are wavering over your home, if they crack and break, it has the potential of damaging your roof depending on the shape of the branch and how heavy it is. Typically if a branch drops on top of asphalt shingles, the shingles can be easily replaced assuming that no structural damage was done to the roof. If you opted for a metal roof, denting and bending a metal panel can affect the seams that link the roofing system together, which can cause improper drainage. It’s much more expensive to repair a metal roof than an asphalt roof, which makes tree maintenance all the more important.
Texas Storms Are Enough Reason To Keep Limbs Far From Your House
In Central Texas, the wind likes to blow pretty hard and doesn’t seem to care how close tree branches are to your siding and windows. Long branches sway in the wind and if they’re close enough, they can break right through your windows. The rubbing of branches against roof can damage shingles and branches rubbing the house can also leave unwanted marks on the siding. It pays to be preemptive with trimming your branches in anticipation of an upcoming stormy season. Trimming now means a lot less cleanup will be needed after a storm passes.
Tree Branches Provide Access For Rodents And Insects
All the creatures around your home would love nothing more than to build their nests in your attic. Rats and squirrels are adept at climbing trees and finding cracks in the structure of your house to get into where they’re unwanted. Metal roofs in particular have caps that have gaps large enough for rodents to make their way in and shack up rent free! Even though it’s incredibly annoying having to listen to the clawing sounds of them crawling above your head day and night, it could also be potentially costly. Rats and squirrels have a propensity to chew on whatever draws them to it, which could include electrical wires or pex pipes that can flood your house. It sounds ridiculous, but these things have happened and caused thousands of dollars of damage. Trees can also act as a gateway for carpenter ants, beetles, termites and wasps to give you problems and keep you up at night. It’s more than worth it to keep the critters out for a long list of reasons.
Don’t Plant Trees Too Close To Your House Or Utility Lines
Whether you’re planting trees or building a house on a piece of property, if you can help it, it’s in your best interest to make sure that any trees within 10 to 20 feet from your home’s foundation be removed. The roots of the trees grow out and can disrupt the foundation of your house. That is a problem worth avoiding if you can. Tree limbs should also be at least 6 feet from any power lines and utility poles.
Call An Arborist
You may be tempted to remove a tree or trim its limbs on your own, but tree branches are a lot heavier than most people presume and if they fall from too great a height, it can damage your roof. Calling a tree service specialist gives you the benefit of having someone who doesn’t just have broad experience with the type of work, but also the proper equipment to get the job done safely. When you call an arborist, you also have the benefit of getting a second opinion on the health of the tree in question and whether it needs to be trimmed or removed completely. You can check out our article, 5 Tree Service Arborists That Serve Bastrop County for a short list of proven tree service specialists in the area.
Was Your Roof Damaged By Trees?
If your roof was damaged by trees or tree limbs falling on the roof or scrapping up your roof shingles call Butler Contracting for all of your roof repair needs. Do not let your shingles go if they were scrapped up by tree limbs; the loss of the protective granules on the roof will cause the fiberglass mat in the shingles to break down and deteriorate quickly with UV light. This causes your roof to fail and start leaking leaving you with thousands of dollars in repairs and headaches. Let Roofing Turtle ease the tension and repair your roof today. Get the easy process started by calling our office at 844-628-8537 or submitting a project request on our website