5 Reasons Homeowners Need to Get a New Roof

If you are a homeowner of any sort, you know that home maintenance is crucial. Just like changing your oil is important for you to protect your car, routine maintenance will protect your home. Most Homeowners are probably abreast of heat, water, and electricity consumption. Most people pay attention to the little things they see in the home that need to be repaired such as your drywall imperfections. I just like many other home owners didn’t pay much attention to my Roof.

As an investor, I love houses. All types of homes are of interest to me. I stay away from Condo’s because I have less control over them. In all other types of homes I try to learn from the mistakes of others. As a result of watching and learning over the years, I now have a home improvement company that helps people address their problems with affordable solutions. I come from the stance of most homeowners wanting the best solution at the most reasonable price. Having owned many homes for many years now, I’ve learned to have a reliable list of resources to solve every Homeowner nightmare. My staff comes with over 14 years of expertise in the Home improvement industry. Most importantly, we subcontract out our roofing jobs to roofing specialist.

Why with all the experiences do we subcontract out roofing jobs? Well, I learned from one roofing job in particular why it makes more sense for me to use a specialist. That learning was one I picked up while working with an outside company that picked up a no brainier small roofing job. I saw some major issues that made me say don’t patch a roof but get a new one when you see the slightest roofing issue. Here are 5 reasons homeowners should get a new roof to avoid a roof disaster.

5) Homeowners owning a Flat Roof:

I personally do not like town homes or row houses. In both aforementioned home types, you are inclined to inherit your next door neighbor’s roofing problems. As homeowners, we have enough problems of our own. Inheriting other homeowners’ problems is something I never had an appetite for in my investment tolerance. If your next door neighbor has a roofing problem, most likely your roof will also have a roofing problem. I went up on a roof for one homeowner and noticed a group of contractors working. As they worked on one roof, all the trash and junk they threw on the neighbor’s roof and just left it. I was amazed at this practice. This trash issue is another story all together. My point hear is that, if your neighbor and you both have a flat roof and your neighbor is getting their roof repaired, you should probably get yours done also. Otherwise all the repair work done on your neighbor’s roof might have some impact on your roof.

4) Homeowners’ with a two layers Roof:

I’ve heard people in the industry say that, you can have 3 layers of shingles on a roof before you have to replace them. In fact, I’ve heard some people repair roof jobs in patch work just replacing a few shingles. This can be effective if the ply board under the roof is still in good condition. Personally, I do not trust it every time there is a third layer added. I’ve seen a roof with 3 layers of shingle (the third layer just recently placed) cave in because of the weight. The roof didn’t simply fall in, but the roof sagged in an area allowing water to seep in through the ply boards causing damage to the board and drywall in the ceiling. So my rule of thumb is to ask the home owners how many layers of shingles have been placed on the roof. If they say two, I let them know the roof must be replaced. If they do no know and are not the original owners, we check and 9 times out of ten there are at least 2 layers of shingles up there.

3) Homeowners that rent out a home:

As and investor, I’ve had home that were perfect when I lived in them. When I went to rent it out, all of a sudden there is a roofing issue. While I am saying you should probably replace your roof when you have a new tenant coming in, you should at least have it completely inspected. You should treat your home as if it’s a new purchase and you are just moving into it. Before a tenant comes into one of my homes, I try to look at the home as if it’s a new investment. I send it through a home inspection to make certain it’s in tip top condition. The roof is a key factor in this process. I have had a roofing issue with one houses addition for years. I had contractors that were not roofing specialist come out to repair it year after year. I got a roofing specialist to fix it and it has been fantastic ever since.

2) Homeowners selling a home:

It’s important to go through a home inspection when you sell your home. Normally it is the purchaser responsibility to get a home inspection. I like to know the issues before a home inspector points them out to me. When we come to the roof, it is just good business to tell the purchaser the last roofing issues you have with the home. If you’ve owned it and there has never been and issue, let them know that also. Nine times out of ten, I’ve seen new home owners say “I just bought this house and the warranty just ran out and the previous home owner didn’t mention any roofing issue”. I don’t know why it happens like that, but it does.

1) Homeowners with a 20 year old roof:

Some roofs last a long time. I’ve heard of a roof lasting over 25 years. I have personally never seen one do so. If you maintain your roof and keep your gutters cleaned then you should have no problems with your roof. However, when you have the original roof and you have not done anything to the roof but you notice a little something leaking in the house. You probably need to have it inspected. Most inspectors when seeing a roof of this age will tell you to replace it. Homeowners are better safe than sorry. You want too protect your most precious investment.

A roof is your home’s first layer of protection. It is best to care for your first layer of protection properly or you will have major challenges in the future. I wish you the best of luck in your home ownership & investment future.

Reference:

• cashflowstoo.com