When it comes to home maintenance, most homeowners focus on the most obvious things like roofing, appliances, flooring, and painting. As surprising as it may sound, most homeowners do not pay any attention to their roofs until it becomes too late.
Your home and your roof are some of the biggest investments you can make in your lifetime. That’s why, to protect this investment, make sure you avoid common roofing mistakes.
Some of the common pitfalls and decisions that can make your roofing problems worse are DIY roofing, opting for an incompetent roofing company, and delaying replacement of your damaged roof, among others.
1. Opting For DIY Roofing Methods
Roofing is an intricate job that requires skilled and adequately trained professionals to accomplish all the tasks. A poorly installed roofing system can damage your walls, attic, and in certain cases, your home’s foundation as well.
More importantly, there is a safety concern. Sometimes, even the most experienced DIY enthusiasts do not understand the actual danger of a roofing project. A typical roofing system consists of several layers that work in conjunction with providing efficient protection to your home.
Therefore, each roofing component’s flawless installation is essential to protect your roof, walls, foundation, and attic from rain, wind, ice, humidity, and heat.
Besides shingles, a roof consists of:
- Deck: The underlying wooden base
- Underlayment: a roofing layer beneath the shingles to protect the deck from water intrusion.
- Flashing: Metal strips to protect joints or seams around exhausts, chimneys, and other protrusions from water.
- Vents: These are installed to optimize air circulation in the attic and keep excess moisture at bay.
- Drip edge: These are installed along the roof edges to direct water to the gutters and ground.
- Soffit: The area under the roof overhang.
Even if you’re not planning to handle your roof installation on your own, it is important to know your roofing system and its various parts before hiring a professional roofer.
2. Hiring the Cheapest Contractor
Hiring the cheapest contractor for the installation of your roofing system can be a dangerous proposition. While you might think that you’re saving money, it can lead to long-term issues and costly repairs.
At Legend Roofs, most of the roofing systems we replace were either poorly installed by an incompetent roofer or built with cheap quality materials. That’s why they have to replace their roofs much before the expected lifespan.
Therefore, always choose a reputable roofing contractor that has both workers’ compensation and liability insurance. Secondly, make sure that their roofers are fully licensed or certified. Lastly, ensure that they use products from trusted brands that come with extensive warranties. Ideally, they should offer warranties on both materials and workmanship.
3. Delaying Roof Replacement
Postponing your roof repairs or replacement can cost you heavily in the end. Holding off on your roof replacement till you see the visible signs of damage, such as sagging attic ceiling or water stains – won’t help you save money.
Instead, it would help if you looked for preliminary signs like missing shingles or shingle edge curling. If your roof has reached the end of its service life, replacing it as soon as you can help you save a lot of trouble in the long run.
Looking For a New Roof?
If you’re considering a new roof, get in touch with Legends Roofs experts at 403-433-7206. Alternatively, please fill out our online form to get an estimate and schedule a FREE consultation today in Norman, Shawnee, or Oklahoma City, OK.
