Here is a typical story of how you may think yourself capable of something – only to discover (the hard way) that you had not thought of all eventualities. A guy I know paid a high price for over-estimating his own abilities in roofing – and here is the story. Please think about this, before you take on such a task yourself.
Roofing service gone wrong
My friend had a roof that needed a major overhaul. It was a clay tile Roofing Services – these are very common in my part of the world (Denmark) – and the tiles were starting to crumble due to their age and the often cold and wet climate they had been subjected to for 40-odd years. My friend made the decision to replace the tiles, and hired a roofer. He also rented scaffolding, which he put up himself, to save on the cost.
The roofer arrived to start his work, managed to remove about a third of the old tiles in a day’s work – then the scaffolding collapsed under him. He fell down and broke his right leg, his collarbone and two of his fingers, which of course meant he had to give up the since project it was already late in the summer and the roof had to be done by October.
My friend, being responsible for the accident due to his poor skills in putting up scaffolding, saw no other solution than to try to fix the roof himself. Big mistake. He got all the tiles off, but was then at a complete loss in how to lay the new tiles, how many per square meter, how to mount them, etc. Then he gave up. While he was trying to solve things with his insurance (the matter of the injured roofer) and his bank (the continued financing of the project), he was wise enough to cover up the now open roof with large tarpaulins. Time passed, and fall descended on us. Rain became more frequent and winds picked up – and one morning, the tarpaulins were gone from sight. This resulted in massive water damage to the trusses, rafters and everything else which would have been protected, had there ben a roof in place. A complete disaster, then!
Be realistic: Can you fix a roof by yourself?
I will spare you the further details of the distress my friend went through, but you get the picture, I am sure. Overestimating yourself can be a very dangerous thing sometimes, and not least when money is involved. In trying to save a buck, my friend ended up paying more for the whole thing (and injuring a person in the process), than he would have, had he just hired professional roofing service the first time around. Sometimes it is not enough to be optimistic, to have a feeling that you can do something. Sometimes you need to know for sure that you can do it.
Hire a professional roofer and save money
You can probably guess the moral of the story by now: Save yourself the grief and the extra cost, and hire a professional roofer to begin with. Let the pros handle it all, including providing for their own safety on the construction site. Get written consent from the roofer to a certain deadline and make it a date before the hard weather sets in. Basically, you will likely save money in the long run – by spending more here and now. Don’t forget that a contractor will have an insurance that will allow him to pay you compensation, should he make a mess of things – so you are pretty safe going this way. More so than if you were to do it all yourself.