Roof repair or replacement can be, and often is, a huge investment on the part of a homeowner. Given the tremendous drain on resources that roofing jobs will bring, many homeowners often put off repairing the roof, letting the situation worsen until, finally, they just can’t put it off any longer.
For such a huge investment, it’s important not only to get what you’re paying for, but also to know that you’ve invested your time and money in something worthwhile, that you’re getting value for your money. And the only real way to get that is by hiring a professional roofing contractor to fix your roof.
The Value of Experience
Roof work may not exactly be rocket science, but that doesn’t mean it’s a stroll in the park either. The best professional companies have years of training and hands-on work invested in their best teams; take a look at some professional roofing websites, and you’ll notice a list of certifications that they’ve qualified for. Those certifications aren’t easy to pass; in many cases, just to be eligible to take the examinations for those certifications, contractors have to qualify first to be licensed to do roof work in your state. Even then, without actual, extensive, hands-on experience, most contractors will fail those examinations.
Those certifications tell you that the company’s contractors can install your roof the right way, the proper way, each time, rain or shine. People who ignore these credentials in an attempt to save money often end up, ironically, paying more to get the job done.
Without the experience professionals have, a do-it-yourself enthusiast can end up flubbing the job so badly that it takes a professional to fix it and get it right. Not only do they waste time and resources on the first attempt to fix the roof, but they end up having to shell out money to buy an entirely new set of materials to fix the roof, in addition to paying for professional services to get it right the second time around.
Repair and replacement aren’t all you can do with your roof. Check out Part 3 for a list of other roofing jobs you might want to consider.