Around Puget Sound, the rain arrives in October and does not really leave until May. Whatever is wrong with your roof in September is going to be wrong for eight straight months of water.

That makes this the month to look. Most of what fails on a roof in winter was visible in the fall, and most of it was a small roof repair at that point. Here is the checklist we run on our own homes, and what each item costs you if you skip it.

1. Flashing at every penetration

Flashing is the metal that seals the places where something comes through the roof: the chimney, plumbing vent pipes, skylights, and the walls where a lower roof meets a taller one. It is where most leaks start, because it is where the roof has a seam.

Look for: cracked or shrunken rubber pipe boots, chimney flashing with lifted edges or crumbling mortar behind it, caulk at skylights that has gone hard and split, step flashing along a wall with gaps.

The small repair: a new pipe boot, resealed or replaced chimney counter-flashing, fresh sealant at a skylight. Done in an afternoon. Skipped, that same gap runs water down a vent pipe into the attic all winter and shows up as a ceiling stain in February.

2. Fascia boards

The fascia is the board along the roof edge that your gutters hang from. When gutters overflow, the water runs down the back of the gutter and soaks the fascia. A few seasons of that and the wood is soft.

Look for: peeling paint along the fascia, dark staining, wood that dents under a thumb, gutters that have started to pull away from the house.

The small repair: replace the rotted section, prime and paint, re-hang the gutter with proper slope. Skipped, the rot spreads to the rafter tails behind the fascia, and now it is a structural repair, not a trim repair.

3. Soffits and vents

Soffits are the underside of the roof overhang. They are also your attic’s intake ventilation. When they are blocked, painted over, or rotted through, two things happen: the attic stops breathing, and animals move in.

Look for: sagging or stained soffit panels, gaps at the corners, wasp nests, evidence of birds or squirrels, and soffit vents clogged with paint or insulation.

The small repair: clear or replace the blocked vents, close the gaps, replace the damaged panels. Skipped, a poorly vented attic traps moisture all winter, which shortens shingle life from above and grows mold below.

4. Roof vents and shingles

Plastic box vents crack and go brittle after enough summers. Ridge caps lift. A few shingles at the roof edge curl or slide.

Look for: cracked or missing vent covers, exposed nail heads, shingles that are lifted, torn, or missing, and shingle granules collecting in the gutters.

The small repair: swap a cracked plastic vent for a metal one, reseat and seal lifted shingles, replace the handful that are gone. Skipped, every one of those is an open path for water, and wind gets under a lifted shingle and takes the ones next to it.

5. Moss

Moss is not cosmetic here. It holds water against the shingle, lifts the edges as it grows, and shortens the life of the roof. September, after the dry season and before the rain feeds it, is the right time to deal with it.

Look for: green along the north slope, in the shingle seams, and around the chimney where shade lasts longest.

The small repair: a proper roof treatment that kills the moss without pressure-washing the granules off your shingles. Skipped, the moss doubles over the wet season and lifts shingles you will be replacing in spring.

6. Gutters and downspouts

None of the above matters if the water leaving the roof has nowhere to go. Gutters full of needles overflow at the first real storm, and overflow is what rots the fascia in item two and floods the crawlspace.

Look for: standing water or debris in the gutters, gutters that do not slope toward the downspouts, downspouts that dump next to the foundation.

The small repair: a full roof and gutter cleaning, re-slope where needed, extensions on downspouts so the water lands four to six feet from the house. Skipped, you will be doing it in November in the rain.

What to do with the list

You can check some of this from the ground with a good look and a pair of binoculars. Fascia, soffits, and gutters are visible from the yard. Flashing, vents, and the state of the shingles mostly are not, and the attic never is.

That is what our free 21-point roof inspection is for. We get on the roof and into the attic, photograph all of it, and hand you a written list of what is fine, what needs a small repair now, and what can wait. Then you decide.

Every repair we make is covered by our 15-Year Leak-Free Guarantee on workmanship. For urgent leaks we hold same-week appointments, but the whole point of September is not needing one.

Get ahead of the rain

The cheapest roof repair is the one you make before the water finds it. Your home deserves a roof done right, and a dry winter under it.

Book your free 21-point roof inspection or call (425) 292-8327.