Should You Do Your Own Roof Replacement Or Hire a Georgia Roofing Company? If you’ve been researching roof replacement costs in the Dahlonega, GA area to find out how much new roofs costs, you might have gotten sticker shock. Yes, you only have to have roof replacement performed once every 20-50 years, and yes, your roof is the first line of defense against the elements…but still, it can seem like a lot of money at first.
Some people who are do-it-yourselfers see the price and think to themselves, “I’ll take care of my own roof replacement. How hard can it be?” While we admire the go-getter attitude, with all due respect it’s a bigger deal than most people realize. Here are some very good reasons why calling a roofing company to handle your new roof installation beats doing it yourself.
The Danger
Let’s start with a big one: bodily injury. While some DIY’ers are fine building a deck or putting up a fence, this is the primary reason that many people decide to call a roofer. After all, even people who aren’t afraid of heights can be fearful of roofs because of the increased risk of falling due to their slanted nature.
What can happen when you fall off a roof? Death, of course. Between 500 and 2000 people died from falling from roofs each year. When you talk percentages, homeowners are more likely to take a fall from a roof.
Death isn’t all you have to worry about, of course. There’s also a wide variety of horrible injuries that you can experience. The best-case scenario is that you might simply fall off the lower part of the roof and be sore for a few days. (You’ll still be wishing at that moment that you had hired a professional moving service.) Broken bones are also quite common, but it’s the lifelong back pain from falling off the roof that you should be more worried about. And then there’s paralysis, which we’d rather not talk about.
How do roofers spend so many hours up on a roof without taking a tumble? It really doesn’t happen that often for a few reasons. First of all, there’s a right way and a wrong way to walk on a roof (especially when it comes to tile roof installation), and roofers are trained to do so correctly. They also have the right footwear that helps them navigate the roof, because, again, each type has a different surface. Finally, it’s simply experience that keeps them from falling. The more time they spend on a roof, the more the body and mind make the connection and ensure that they’re not going to fall. The average person has spent maybe an hour on a roof during their lifetime; most roofers do that before breakfast!
The Cost Savings Myth
Most do-it-yourselfers aren’t tackling home projects solely because they’re fun, but because of the cost savings, they can realize. But there are many tools used in roof installation that you might not have. You might have a ladder, but do you have scrapers, nail guns, and moisture detection tools? Have you considered the cost of a dumpster, which is already included with roofing company quotes?
Then there’s the roofing material. If you’re putting on an asphalt shingle roof, you’ll be paying retail for them. But when you purchase as many shingles as we do and have excellent relationships with the suppliers, you’ll find that we’re actually able to get a much better deal.
When you take everything into account, you won’t be saving too much if you decide to handle the roof installation yourself.
The Stingers
Ever see a stinging insect in Georgia? We know you have. Because Georgia is labeled a “humid subtropical” climate, the mild winters don’t knock back the insect populations as winters do in other parts of the country. Insects flourish, and that includes stinging insects such as bees, wasps, and hornets.
While many species of stinging insects live underground, there are just as many that have historically built their nests in trees. But houses seem to attract nests even more than trees do because eaves offer the perfect protection from the elements that wasps and hornets are looking for. After all, eaves were built to protect the home itself and channel water away from particular areas of the house.
So what happens when you get up on a roof? Not much, because just walking on a roof isn’t going to agitate the stinging flyers. But what happens when you get up on a roof and start banging with a hammer and scraping the shingles off? That’s what’s going to get them all riled up, and unless running on a roof is something you’re used to, you’re going to be in trouble. A single misstep means you’ll be heading off the roof and onto the ground, which, as it turns out, is the fastest way to deciding you should have called a professional roofing contractor. Let us handle the risk of stinging insects while you stay inside and relax.
Your Insurance Might Cover It Anyway
You might not even have to worry about doing it yourself if you can make an insurance claim on your house. In many instances, such as those where hail damage is done, the insurance company will pay for a new roof even if the old one was quite old.
But what if you still want to DIY? Can’t you just take the money the insurance company will pay and do it on the cheap, maybe even pocketing some money? Don’t count on it. The insurance company might not let non-professionals do the roofing (for insurance purposes, appropriately enough) because amateurs are more likely to do it wrong and lead to even more damage. Or they might reduce the amount you get based on the fact that the labor will be less.
It’s worth a shot to find out if you’re covered, isn’t it? Talk to Roofing Resources of Georgia about the possibility of a roofing claim!
The Quality
No offense. Really, we don’t mean any at all. But we’re better at this than you.
The fact is, we’re up on roofs all day, every day. We know the tricks of the trade, and we roof quickly and confidently. We know what to watch out for when it comes to damage the subsurface so that it can be prepared before we put the new roof on. We also know how to install the proper flashing so that the damage doesn’t happen again.
Let’s Get Roofing!
We know that you’re looking for the best roofers in Georgia because your roof is an incredibly important part of your home. When you’re looking for a new roof installation, we’re ready to help. Contact us today!
