The odds are that you picked your home, at least in part, because you liked the lot that it was on or you just loved the house, right?  This often includes trees, of course.  Trees are often seen as both a good thing and a bad thing when it comes to your home, and it’s time to take a look at both the potential pros and cons of them, specific to your home.  It may help you make a decision on whether a tree on your property should stay or leave!

Pros of trees

First of all, trees are beautiful additions to the area around your home.  They look great and add a sense of natural decoration to your tree — particularly in the spring when potential buds come out!

From a more practical point of view, trees also offer shade for your home.  If you had absolutely no shade, you would find yourself cranking the air conditioner much higher when the humidity and heat set in! You know Florida, it surely gets hot and humid!

Similarly, they also help protect you from nature, including wind, hail, and even hurricanes.  As you know, Florida is no stranger to hurricanes!  Since trees will fan out over your home, they’ll help give your roof a much-needed break from the elements.

Cons of trees

Trees do have some serious potential cons to consider, though, when it comes to your home and its safety!

The biggest thing is that tree limbs pose a risk to your roof, should they fall onto it.  Mature trees should be at least 20-30 feet away from your house to make sure that the especially heavy limbs won’t damage your house if they do fall.

Trees also like to drop buds, nuts, fruit, and general debris onto your roof throughout the year, especially during a storm.  This could possibly weaken your roof over time, especially if it leads to growth or even a potential nesting spot for animals!

Speaking of animals, trees give animals such as squirrels plenty of opportunities to check out your roof and see if they want to move into your home.  If you have a lot of branches and a lot of trees, this gives a lot of squirrels plenty of access.

Remember that wind, hail and hurricane that the trees might help protect against.. it can also cause trees to land in or on your home too.

Keeping your roof safe

You’ll want to make sure that you have your roof accessed every year.  Experienced roofers will be able to professionally clean your roof and its various systems (including gutters) to help minimize any potential weaknesses from a roof.  Some may even be able to offer basic tree trimming, though you’ll always want to consult an arborist if you are dealing with anything large or tricky (such as power lines).

Trees have serious advantages and disadvantages with them, making it important to always understand both when it comes to determining whether you want to cut down a tree or leave it as it is.  In some cases, tree placement, as well as how many there are, could even determine whether or not you want to buy a home or not!  While it seems strange, it is very much something to consider.  Safety is key, after all! Not to mention the future costs to/for your home.

While we aren’t tree professionals or arborists, we definitely can check out your roof to see if there is any current or potential damage to your home from trees on your property. Contact Affordable Roofing by John Cadwell at (407) 935-0050 and let us know how we can help you and your roof!