Yes! You’ve done it again! Ahhhhh it feels so good!
We all understand the thrilling feeling of accomplishment that comes with fixing something on your own. As the rightful man of the house, there’s no need to call a professional, after all, it’s an easy fix! Well, when it comes to your roof… let’s just say that calling a professional roofer won’t subtract from your manhood what-so-ever. Well, maybe just a tad, but it’s worth it!
Here are some of the silly self-fix-it roof solutions we’ve come across. And if you haven’t figured it out already, we came across them because we were called AFTER the self-fix-it solutions didn’t quite pan out as they were supposed to.
1) Layer after layer after layer.
One of the most common DIY roof fixes is to add shingles on top of broken shingles. Easy, quick, and affordable, shingles added on top of broken shingles repair the situation… or do they? Here’s why not to do this. If your shingle is broken or has been broken for a while, there is a good chance that mold has crawled under the shingle and onto the deck of your roof. A professional roofer will be able to fully assess the situation, removing all the rotten shingles, repairing the deck, and replacing the shingles. Additional layers of shingles also create other problems and if done often can cause the deck to strain under more shingles than it was designed to safely hold.
2) The DIY roof inspection gone-wrong.
All too often we are called because a roof inspection gone wrong. Detecting a leak or potential leak, you go on your roof to check out the problem. Only a leak is far easier to detect from inside your house than when you’re on top of your roof. Many times, it’s not even caused at the same place as the internal leak as once water is under your roof, it can travel to wherever there is a sag or a crack. Not finding the leak, you start removing material as the leak “should be around here somewhere” and before you know it you’ve removed a lot of roofing materials and now don’t know how to put it back or replace it. This is not only not the right way to detect a leak’s source, but it can also set you up for a much more expensive roof repair.
3) The ol’ rag’n’hole
Many homeowners fix roof leaks by filling the hole with a rag, an old sock (yes, this happens often), or a filler of some kind like silicon or caulk. While this seemingly fixes the leak, it’s not only not a permanent fix but it could also fix the wrong problem. Often the actual source of the leak is elsewhere, as water travels through your roof and spreads out until it finds a ceiling or wall. Calling a professional roofer will help detect the actual source of the leak so that the problem is resolved permanently.
4) The Hollywood roof
How often do you see things in a Hollywood movie that would never be possible in real life? Well, when you see an action hero chasing a bad guy and running from roof to roof, it doesn’t quite work that way. Your roof is not invincible. In fact, depending on what kind of roof you have, it can be pretty delicate. All too often homeowners create holes in their roof or damage their roof by not realizing this. Pressure washing a shingle roof can work to break apart the asphalt shingles. Walking on your roof can break shingles, clay tiles, and so on. When walking on your roof be careful, you’d be surprised about how many times we get called to fix a roofing issue that was caused by careless roof handling.
5) The oak tree and the roof
You know that beautiful oak tree that provides great shade to your home, saving you a great deal in air conditioning costs? Well, as beautiful as it is, falling tree branches are one of the main reasons we get called out to do roof repairs. Branches that hang over your home are very likely to break and fall during a storm, which we get a lot of in Florida. The heavy rain and the weight from the rain cause tree branches to snap and fall on your roof, creating roof damage. Trimming your trees so that they do not hang over your roof is a great way to avoid roof repairs.
Oh, trust us, we’ve seen it all but we don’t expect everyone to do all the crazy things that we’ve seen. The moral of our story is that it’s ok to call a professional roofer.
No1 Home Roofing offers completely free roofing inspections and competitive pricing on roof repairs. If you’ve got any concern about your roof, give us a call before making one of the above mistakes or a mistake we’ve not run across yet.
Article by:
Robert Shingletop
Senior Editor, No1 Home Roofing
sales@no1homeroofing.com