Just because you’re good at making minor repairs to your home, and fixing things that have broken, this doesn’t automatically make you an expert at fixing roofs, and unless you’re qualified and experienced in roof repairs, you should almost certainly leave it to the experts.
“But I can save some money if I do it myself.” Actually, a bad DIY roof repair job typically ends up costing the homeowner more money, as they invariably don’t fix the problem properly, or make it worse due to their inexperience and lack of specific roofing knowledge.
There are some very real dangers involved with attempting to fix your damaged roof yourself, and below are some of the most common:
You could easily (and probably will!) make the original problem much worse:
Roofs may look like uncomplicated structures, but a lot goes into installing and repairing them, and without knowing what you’re doing, what may look like a simple repair job, can quickly turn into a nightmare problem. With all the components of a roof working in unison to direct rain down from the roof, a hole caused by missing or damaged shingle will never be as simple to fix as you think. From the hip and ridge shingles, to the flashing, gutters and multiple layers of your roof; if you don’t understand how these parts work together, you simply won’t be able to fix your roof.
A DIY roof repair can damage the roof:
Even if you’re just thinking about getting up on your roof to check for a problem or to see what repairs might need doing, if you don’t know exactly where it’s safe to step, you could easily rip up shingle and give your professional roofing contractor more work to do.
You could fall and seriously hurt yourself:
Never mind the damage to the roof you could cause by going up there and trying to carry out a roof repair, what about the damage you could cause to yourself! Without the expert knowledge of a roofer, without equipment to keep you safe should you lose your footing, and without the necessary insurance to cover your health or any damage to the roof if you fall, you could land yourself in big trouble when attempting to repair the roof yourself. Not only could you seriously injure yourself, but you could kill yourself and leave your family to cover not only your funeral costs, but the cost of a damaged roof.
Attempting to repair a roof yourself is simply never worth the potentially horrific consequences, from making the problem worse, to losing your life or ending up paralyzed, if your roof is in need of repair, please call the experts.