7 Common Roof Repair Mistakes to Avoid for New Homeowners
If you live in a big city where renting is rampant, you might be surprised to hear that the majority or people living in the USA own homes. That may be because home ownership has long been an integral aspect of the American dream.
Despite the sense of pride one may feel when they can call a place their own, the actual business of being a homeowner is far from 100% butterflies and rainbows. From avoiding roof repair mistakes to dealing with bad plumbing, there’s a lot of work that goes into home ownership and consequently, expenses.
Regarding roof repair, how one goes about fixing their roof can have serious implications on the overall integrity of their home. If you’re considering a repair soon, keep reading to insulate yourself from these common snags many encounter.
1. Waiting Too Long to Start Work
In our experience, people talk about fixing their roofs for years before they pull the time and budget together to get the job done. There are likely several reasonable excuses for delaying in some of these cases, unfortunately though, the integrity of your roof doesn’t care if your procrastination is justified.
Every moment you let a bad roof sit on your house, you run the risk of wood rotting, insulation deteriorating, ice dams forming and other serious, costly issues.
We recommend that if you know your roof is in bad shape, make repairing it a priority. If you don’t, you’ll end up paying more on the back end.
2. Mixing and Matching Shingles
Among the many roof repair mistakes we’ve observed over the years, people using mix and match shingles has to be the most visually unappealing one. When this mistake is committed, it’s usually because a DIY-fixer feels that portions of their roof are fine and that spot treating is the best way to go.
Unfortunately, those people may have a hard time finding matching shingles so they opt for a set that looks “kind of close”. Let us tell you that “kind of close” more often than not looks very unsightly when seen from the street.
Not only is that a problem aesthetically but your home owner’s association may take more pragmatic issues and force you to redo your work.
3. Not Knowing About Nails
When you lay shingles on your roof, what do you think holds them in place? If you’ve never done a roofing job before, you may think that shingles sport an adhesive that binds them together.
That’s not the case.
Most shingles will require you to use a nail gun to secure them. When doing this, you won’t want to use just any nails. There are specific “roofing nails” that are long, have large heads and do not have barbed shanks. Those are the ones you’ll want to buy.
4. Shingling Over Shingles
Putting a layer of new shingles over your old shingles and calling your roof “repaired” probably strikes most people as the lazy way to get the job done. In some ways, it is but still, many roofers (even pros), use this workflow to save customers expense and themselves time.
As it turns out, many municipalities ban this workflow as they feel that shingles over shingles create and ignore structural issues with roofs that may inhibit safety.
All of that to say that if you’re going to shingle over your shingles, make sure you have sign off from your community and that your roof doesn’t have structural issues.
5. Not Minding Your Insulation
Your roof is responsible for a lot of your home’s ability to insulate. It’s proficiency when it comes to insulating is powered by layers of underlayment that are waterproof and sit on your roof’s deck.
If you’re doing your roof from scratch, don’t forget to lay in insulation before laying down shingles. Believe it or not, DIY-roofers have done this and have had to redo everything to remedy the issue.
Furthermore, just because your roof has insulation in place doesn’t mean that the insulation is functioning well. If possible, inspect your roof’s insulation for rot or deterioration. If you notice these things, strip it out and lay in new product.
6. Ignoring Your Gutters
When you have pipe issues, a smart water valve would help you avoid flooding. When it comes to roof flooding, your shingles and gutters have a symbiotic relationship where shingles run water down towards the ground and gutters catch and funnel that water away safely. If your roof is in great shape and your gutters are not, you’re going to have problems.
So, as you’re working on your roof and avoiding the roofing mistakes we’ve shared, be sure to show your gutters a little love by making sure they’re not sagging and that they’re clear.
7. Not Calling in a Pro When You’re In Over Your Head
We get it. Money is tight and that YouTube video you watched has you feeling like you could DIY your roofing job. Maybe you can but if you find that you’re struggling, remember that there’s no shame in calling in a contractor.
For obvious reasons, ensuring that the roof over your head is in good shape is important. Don’t leave its integrity to chance.
If You Can Avoid These Roof Repair Mistakes, You’ll Be Ahead Of The Curve
The average person makes at least a handful of the roof repair mistakes we’ve noted if not more. By side-stepping the adversity we’ve shared, you’ll be ahead of the game and can feel confident in the work that you do or choose to contract out.
There’s a lot to know about roofs, home repairs and life in general so if you find that you have additional questions, explore more of the helpful content we have available on our blog!