Replacing or repairing your home’s roof can be an expensive process. Faced with this expense, more and more homeowners are deciding to handle these repairs themselves with hopes that this will save them money by avoiding a roofing contractor. After all, how hard can it be to nail down a few shingles? It turns out, despite the number of tutorials or advice columns you frequent, roofing is challenging work that requires trained professionals.
Hiring roofing professionals is the best way to go about repairs to your roof for a number of reasons including the technicality, danger, and equipment associated with installing or repairing a roof. Listed below are these factors and several others that will make you realize you shouldn’t attempt to replace your home’s roof by yourself!
It’s More Expensive
Most homeowners who decided to attempt to repair their roof themselves are most likely doing so because they believe it will be cheaper. However, because roofing requires specialized equipment, materials, and knowledge homeowners most of the time end up making mistakes or failing to spot problems with their home’s roof.
Overall, the immediate cost of hiring a team of roofing professionals may seem daunting. But, their expertise will allow them to correctly anticipate any problems or challenges that may arise during the roof installation. This anticipation will not only result in a faster roof repair but also will save you money in the long run.
You Will Void Your Warranty
Another reason you should not attempt to complete a roof installation yourself is because more often than not, shingle companies only honor the warranties associated with their materials when they are installed by a certified roofing company. Therefore, any work you do on your home’s roof yourself could void this warranty.
Even a perfect roof install can end up resulting in damage to your home’s roof if there is a defect or problem with the materials. When you install a roof yourself and void your warranty you no longer have any guarantee that the shingle company will handle the cost of the repairs associated with these defective materials.
Roofing is Dangerous
One of the more obvious reasons why you should think twice before deciding to undergo a full roof installation by yourself is that roofing is dangerous work. The process requires consistent climbs on ladders or scaffolding and long hours working several feet in the air. Professional roofers have been trained to operate power tools while balancing on top of several stories.
Extensive Damage
The final reason why you should not attempt to repair your home’s roof yourself is that you may end up causing more damage. I’m sure at some point you have tried to clean up a mess and only made it bigger? The same thing can happen with roofing. For example, you could drive the nails too far through your shingles causing water to build up under the materials in weeks to come.
Hire A Roofing Professional Today!
To summarize, roofing is a challenging and dangerous profession that requires skills, training, and proper equipment. Roof repairs and installations should never be attempted by homeowners for the variety of reasons listed above. If you are in need of roofing repairs or a whole roof installation you should look to hire a team of certified roofing professionals. These professionals will ensure that your home’s roof is installed efficiently and correctly the first time. Roofing professionals are also trained in installing roofs composed of a variety of shingles including asphalt shingles and concrete roof shingles.
Matt Lee is the owner of the Innovative Building Materials blog and a content writer for the building materials industry. He is focused on helping fellow homeowners, contractors, and architects discover materials and methods of construction that save money, improve energy efficiency, and increase property value.