While you can do periodic inspections of your roof to see if shingles are missing or panels are bent, you should never attempt to make roofing repairs or replace your roof on your own (even if you've helped on roofing projects in the past). Here are five reasons you should leave roofing to the professionals.
1. You Can Be Seriously Injured
Even professional roofers and construction workers get injured in roofing accidents: a third of the fatal accidents that happen on a construction site are due to falling from a roof.
You don't want to put yourself in danger of getting hurt installing your own roof, especially when you likely don't have the necessary experience or tools (such as hard hats, support harnesses, and scaffolding).
2. Your Insurance May Not Cover It
In order to file roofing repairs or replacement claims, you must provide cost estimates from a professional roofer to your insurance company. Unless you are a licensed roofing contractor, your insurance company will not likely reimburse you for any repairs or full roof replacement you do on your own, even if the damage done to your roof is covered by your homeowners insurance policy.
You are able to choose a roofer for your repairs or roof replacement and you can get as many estimates as you desire to submit to your insurance company. Choose a roofer that carries insurance while also being licensed and bonded in your state to do all roof work on your home.
3. DIY Repairs Are Costly
While it may be true that installing your own roof is cheaper on its onset (after all, you don't have to pay contractors or suffer markup prices for materials used in construction), DIY repairs are also very costly to you. For starters, you have to forgo work or other important activities to work on your roof, which is an opportunity cost (the value of something lost to do something else instead).
Secondly, in order to get your roof accomplished in a short amount of time, you'll have to hire friends or family to assist you. This can create a financial burden on you (in addition to your material costs), and having too many people on board for your roofing project can make mistakes more likely to happen, which will cost you more money in the long run.
To decide if doing your own roof repairs is really worth it to you, add up the estimated costs of materials, hours lost at work, and the number of helping hands you will need to hire at minimum wage (as an example). Compare your final roofing installation estimate with that of a
professional roofer
: you will find that installing your roof on your own isn't really as financially beneficial as you thought.
4. Your Roof Has No Warranty
Professional roofers often place a working warranty on their roofing projects, covering the workmanship on a roof for a certain number of years. Installing your roof on your own carries no warranty at all outside any warranties that come with the materials you use. If your roof leaks or experiences any other damage due to human error, you are left paying for repairs (likely from a professional roofer) on your own if you are the one who did the work and not a licensed company.
There are many reasons to hire a roofer to install your new roof. Don't try to cut corners on home repairs by putting your roof at risk when you should hire a professional contractor to install a beautiful roof that will last. Call us at Whittle's Roofing Co. Inc for all your roofing needs.
