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Can a Roof Be Repaired?
Can a roof be repaired? Of course! Were this not the case you’d have to move every 15 years because that’s how long it takes for a roof to reach the age where replacing it becomes a concern. But should you be the one to replace your roof? No! A qualified, professional contractor is who should be handling your roofing needs. Simply put, even the handiest of people lack the know-how of a qualified roofing professional. And one of the kernels of knowledge that you may lack because you’re not a qualified roofing professional is why you shouldn’t get up on a roof unless you are a qualified roofing professional!
Warranties
To begin with, the nature of your roof repairs depends on the age of your roof. If your roof is under 10-years old, then it’s likely either shoddy workmanship or extreme weather that’s responsible for any damage. If it’s an act of nature and your roof is on the earlier side of its lifespan, check with your homeowner’s insurance to see if they’ll cover the repairs. If it’s being paid for by someone else, why not have the best service money can buy?!
So long as you’ve been properly maintaining your roof, meaning that you have your roof periodically inspected and your roof was installed in a manner that met all the most current building codes, then your homeowner’s insurance may compensate you for the cost of repairs.
It’s less probable that the cause of the damage is defective roofing materials than shoddy workmanship. Your contractor would have likely noticed if the shingles or underlayment was damaged. Shingles that are brittle or cracked are easy to spot when you’re looking right at them! And if the fiberglass that provides shingles with their water-resistant qualities were in disrepair, your contractors would notice their hands covered in granules. If the adhesive strips that help keep the shingles secured to your roof were damaged, then your contractors would be able to tell using a visual inspection or if the glue doesn’t get activated by the radiant heat of the sun (although that last cue may be harder to notice if the temperature is too low).
Workmanship
Workmanship is so important that if you have to choose between the best materials and world-class workmanship then you’re better off getting the best workmanship money can buy. It’s like cooking: the best ingredients don’t mean much if you don’t have the skills to make a great meal. Of course, ideally, what you’ll end up with is a marriage of the best craftsmanship and the best materials. That’s what you get with Proven Contracting, which only uses top of the line GAF products and has earned GAF’s Master Elite status, which is only awarded to the best contractors.
Knowing how to install and identify roofing materials is why it’s important to hire professionals, no matter how handy you are. To begin with, a roof is a dangerous place to be. So, you’re taking a major risk if you’re not qualified, trained, and educated. You’re also likely to ruin the products that you’ve invested in! At the end of the day, being handy or being a good tradesman in some other field is not the same as being a roofing professional.
More Common Than You Think
It’s actually very common for non-professionals to attempt the work of a roofing professional. And there are plenty of jobs that Proven Contracting takes on that begins where the aspiring handyman’s job has ended. Sometimes, unfortunately, this is after wasted materials, wasted time and money, or even injury. There are just some things you wouldn’t even know how to do unless you were a roofing professional!
Professionals Don’t Shop At Major Retailers
You’re not going to catch a specialized roofer buying their materials at Home Depot or Lowes. Those are stores where you’ll end up with band-aid fixes that will only work if you’re lucky. And while you’ll certainly find a lot of products at these places that can be used on your roof, you more than likely shouldn’t be using those products on your roof!
FlexSeal, for example, is a waterproofing material that has done exceptionally well because of its marketing and highly watchable commercials, but the product is extremely ineffective. Sure, it might be satisfying to see a coat of FlexSeal applied to various materials when you’re watching TV or browsing the internet, but you’d never see a specialized roofer using FlexSeal to waterproof anything. Silicone and caulk are two other products that are misapplied by laypeople.
Simply put, a homeowner just doesn’t have access to specialty stores. The sorts of stores that roofing specialists like Proven Contracting shop at, like ABC Supply, Allied Building Supply, and Universal Building Supply, all require accounts. You can walk into one of these stores, but if you don’t know what you’re doing you may end up being taken advantage of simply because you don’t know the market cost of materials. Many employees at specialized shops also aren’t trained to deal with laypeople since their shops aren’t built to cater to laypeople. As a result, these employees are trained to deal with professional contractors, so you wouldn’t be able to make use of their training unless you already knew how.
Being On A Roof Is Dangerous
Putting a ladder up on your own gutter is a challenge in and of itself. Most injuries happen on the ladder because it wasn’t footed or stabilized properly. A professional ties off their ladder to the gutter or something stable. Otherwise, the wind can just blow the ladder down and leave you stranded on your roof!
If you actually make it onto the roof, then there are other ways you can get hurt. You could go right through a hole! You could literally lose track of where the edge of your roof is and then accidentally fall off. Bad weather can make you fall off as well. And bad weather doesn’t only mean wind, rain, snow, or ice! You could be on a roof when it’s too cold and slip because you’ve stepped on brittle shingles; or you could be on a roof that’s too hot, get dehydrated, and pass out. Just ask yourself, how likely is it that you already knew that if you go up on a roof when it’s 85 degrees that you could end up on a roof that reaches temperatures as high as 130 degrees? That’s something a roofing professional knows to avoid!
You’re Likely To Make Things Worse
If you’re up on an old roof, then old shingles make it easier to slip off. Old shingles are also easy to damage. You have to manipulate the old shingles to make space for the new shingles, and when you do that old shingles may crack. You’ll also be compromising adhesive strips by moving shingles around. Overall, you may make your roof more vulnerable than before, especially if you don’t know that putting a second layer of shingles actually undermines the integrity of your roof.
“Can I put a 2nd layer of shingles on my roof?” you may be wondering? Sure, but should you? No! A second layer of shingles isn’t going to sit flat on your roof nor will it look as good as the first layer. That’s because your roof isn’t designed to have a second layer! And your first layer of shingles isn’t designed to have a second layer of shingles on top of it either!
A second layer will end up lowering the lifespan of your roof, won’t make your roof anymore water resistant, and may actually set the stage for further damage. How? Because if your first layer has become sponge-like due to old age then water will be absorbed, and the darkness provided by the second layer of shingles will facilitate mold and algae growth. Then the second algae will make it harder to identify that growth!
You May Not Be Able To Spot The Damage
A big hole is something anyone can see. Similarly, you’re likely to be able to spot cracked, peeling, or blown off shingles. And you may be able to see dark streaks indicative of mold and algae growth from your lawn or if you manage to successfully get up on your roof. But what about damage that requires a more skilled eye? Would you know, for example, that water is reflective and that if you’re in your attic a flashlight will help you spot a leak? And how likely are you to know how to identify water damage to your drywall, insulation, electrical system, etc? There’s a lot of stuff that can soak up water before you ever even see water damage on your ceiling!
Bottom Line
Your roof is too important of an investment to leave to anyone other than a qualified roofing professional. You don’t want to endanger your roof, your materials, or your life! So, leave your roof in good hands, and turn to a company like Proven Contracting. That way your materials are installed by Master Elite professionals, and you won’t have to worry about a thing!
