If you find yourself asking, “can I fix my own roof?” the answer is simple: “sure, why not?”. But the real question is, do you really want to? The truth is that nowadays, there are not many projects around the house that you can’t do by simply watching a tutorial on youtube. Do you want to fix your washing machine? Watch a video. Is the bathroom drain broken? Indeed there’s a guy on youtube who can guide you step by step to fix that too. But who’s to say you won’t wake up tomorrow with a flooded house?
The same goes for roofing. Even if it seems like an easy job to do, don’t be fooled by appearances. According to professional contractors in roofing repair in Portland, OR, the roof is a crucial element in the structure of your house, and a faulty one can seriously damage its resistance. Water leaks can infiltrate walls, leading to mold, permanent damage to the structure, and many other problems. Are you prepared to take the risk?
Also Read: What Questions Should I Ask My Roofing Contractor?
Don’t mess with the safety of your home. The safest thing to do is to turn to people skilled in the field, and here’s why:
Your Own Safety Is At Risk
From the outside, it looks very simple and easy to lean a ladder against the wall and climb onto the roof. Still, the reality is that it’s extremely dangerous. When you go out to repair your roof yourself, you don’t benefit from any safety system while working at height.
Any wrong step, any sudden movement can have some of the most serious consequences. Because you don’t have the necessary experience, you can seriously injure yourself, be it by falling from a height that can cause broken limbs, concussions, or even paralysis, or by cutting yourself with the materials you use. This is one of the strongest arguments for not choosing to repair your roof yourself. Rather turn to experienced workers who know how to be safe at work.
Also Read: Is it better to repair or replace a roof?
You Won’t be Insured
Let’s play a game of imagination. You decide to start repairing your roof yourself, and at some point, you cut the wrong stuff and notice that the roof starts to collapse, the ceiling cracks, some windows break, you name it, the situation sucks. What can you do now? If you call your insurance company, as soon as they find out that you tried to repair the roof yourself, which resulted in the problem, they will tell you straight out that they can’t help you. Insurance does not cover such situations. You’re now in the position of having to pay out of your own pocket for the repairs.
But the problems don’t stop there. Part of the roof structure fell into the neighbor’s yard and seriously injured him. He has the right to sue you for an enormous amount of money. Now, aren’t you glad you decided to save a few bucks and fix the problem yourself? Of course, these are extreme cases, but nevertheless, they can happen. That’s why you should always call in the professionals when it comes to roof repairs.
You Might Not Have the Skills
Although if you watch a video on YouTube, repairing a roof looks simple, you’d be surprised to find out that it’s not. Every problem needs to be addressed in a certain way, and the harsh truth is that you don’t have the expertise or skills to perform a quality repair. A professional has a trained eye and knows exactly how to position the tiles, sees if other problems need to be repaired, and knows how to adjust if setbacks occur.
Stress always goes hand in hand with all DIY projects involving plumbing, wiring, and in our case, roofing. Can you see yourself thinking every time you look at the roof and know you did the job right if you soldered that tile right, if, if, if? It’s normal to ask yourself such questions when you’re not an expert and you’re just following advice from some guy on youtube. That’s why, if you hire a contractor to do the roof repair, those thoughts won’t end up haunting you.
It Might Not Be Cheaper
If the main reason you don’t want to hire a professional to repair your roof is that you think you’ll save money by doing the repair yourself, we have some bad news for you. Indeed, in the short term, you’ll save yourself the cost of not having to pay for labor, but you’re exposing yourself to much more risk in the long run.
Roofs aren’t easy to repair, and if you don’t have the necessary expertise, your work won’t be qualitative and long-lasting, which will cause problems after a while. Not only that but there is also a risk that because the repair was done badly, the problem will be even worse than it was originally. Then you find yourself in the position of having to hire a professional worker, and obviously, since the damage is greater, the cost will be much higher.
