Tarps in home improvement are typically associated with hurricane repairs, such as temporarily fixing a roof until a contractor can properly assess the damage. But a recent article suggests that tarps can be used as protection for your roof and not just as hurricane tarps. The fact is all types of weather can damage a roof, and, in the case of this article, the weather causing damage is hail. Although hail to some causes small nicks on a car or tears through plants, some hailstones can be large enough to put a hole in a roof or damage outdoor lighting. This is where tarps come in. Aside from fixing a damaged roof or window, they can be placed over a roof or outdoor light to prevent or reduce hail damage.
When using a tarp to protect a roof from hail damage, it should be secured over the entire roof. Unlike a hurricane tarp, the tarp material shouldn’t be nailed down in this instance but secured with bungee cords or stakes. With outdoor lights, the tarp can be wrapped around and secured around the lights. While this might not prevent damage, the surface of the tarp can reduce the amount of damage done by large hailstones.
When picking out a tarp in this instance, any medium-duty or heavy-duty tarp will do, as long as it’s a polyethylene or vinyl tarp. Various retailers carry poly tarps for this purpose and even have a section dedicated to hurricane tarps. When your roof experiences damage from a hurricane or by hailstones, one of these tarps can be applied by nailing it down to the roof with boards to keep it in place. As a safety precaution, securing a tarp for a storm or using a tarp for repairing a roof should not be done by standing directly on the roof’s surface. Instead, you should stand on a ladder to apply the tarp properly.
