What roof maintenance does a Knoxville home actually need?

How often should a roof be checked?

The National Roofing Contractors Association recommends roof inspections in the fall and the spring, plus a look after any major weather event. That cadence exists because the two seasons load a roof in opposite directions. Summer sun and humidity work on the shingle itself. Winter and spring work on everything that carries water off it. In East Tennessee the after-a-storm look is the one that pays, because wind damage doesn't wait for a season to change.

What goes on the autumn checklist?

• Clear the gutters and downspouts once the leaves are down, and again if the tree cover over the house is heavy.
• Check that the gutter line still pitches toward the downspout and that no section has pulled away from the fascia.
• Cut back limbs that touch or overhang the roof plane.
• Look over the flashing at the chimney, the valleys and every pipe boot, which is where sealant cracks first.
• Get into the attic on a bright day and look for daylight, staining or damp insulation before winter arrives.

What goes on the spring checklist?

• Walk the perimeter after the first real storm and look for shingle pieces on the ground.
• Look along ridges and rake edges for lifted, cracked or missing tabs.
• Check the gutters for granule loss, which is a wear signal rather than something to clear.
• Look at the shaded north slope for moss and algae.
• Clear debris caught in the valleys, where it holds moisture against the roof for weeks.

None of that is hard. Doing it twice a year, every year, is the hard part. Miss a season and that's fine, just don't let it turn into three.

Should you clean moss off yourself?

Not with a pressure washer. High pressure strips the granules that protect the shingle and takes years off a roof to solve what is mostly a cosmetic problem. Moss on a shaded slope under heavy tree cover is worth dealing with, but deal with it gently, and after the overhanging limbs that keep the slope damp have been cut back.

What should you leave to a roofer?

The National Roofing Contractors Association is blunt about this. Homeowners should confine self-performed work to inspecting the roof in the fall and spring and clearing gutters of leaves and debris. Everything past that involves being on a roof, which is where the injuries happen. Sealing flashing, replacing a shingle, resetting a pipe boot and clearing a valley all look simple from the ground, and they're the exact details a leak starts at. If something needs doing up there, a roof repair visit is cheaper than a fall.

What does skipping it actually cost?

Blocked gutters push water behind the fascia and back under the eave, and the damage shows up in the soffit and the decking, nowhere near the roof surface where you'd think to look for it. A pipe boot cracks somewhere around year ten and leaks into the same square foot of insulation every storm until someone notices the ceiling. Neither one is expensive as a repair. Both get expensive as a decking replacement.

When something on the list turns up a problem, the next step is usually gutter repair and replacement, chimney repair and flashing, or a free roof inspection if you're not sure what you're looking at. If the list keeps turning up the same finding in new places, read the signs a roof is finished before you spend more on patching it, and if it is finished, roof replacement is the conversation.

Want the list run for you instead? The inspection is free and carries no obligation. Either way, good luck with it. Call (865) 813-8020.

Last updated: August 5, 2026