A great roofing system is an expensive investment that requires careful consideration from a homeowner. Unfortunately, information relating to the best roof materials, contractors, and installation techniques tend to be varied that homeowners wind up confused about everything. To make things easier, here are the truths to some common misconceptions about residential roofing.
Get bids from multiple contractors, and then choose the one that's priced lower than the rest – that's usually the common advice. In a way, you still have to consider your options for the best contractor, but the lowest bidder does not necessarily mean that they're the fit for the job. Beside, the amount you're going to spend will depend on the evaluation of your insurance company.
Your insurance claim adjuster will be the one who'll evaluate the total cost of the new roofing based on the rates of your contractor. They'll send you a cash check for that same amount (minus the deductibles and depreciation) and another for the amount you'll owe your contractor after the installation.
Another good thing to take note of is that not all residential roofers are what they claim to be. If a roof company claims that they're knowledgeable and skilled on all types of roof jobs, you'll definitely have every right to doubt their words. It's a sad fact that there are only a few exceptional roofers that could really do jobs that range from simple to complex. Most of them are just trained to install common types of materials, such as asphalt shingles.
That's the reason why it's really important that you should always find out the particular niche of your potential candidates for the project. Ask around from your friends or get a list of their previous customers, so you could check and evaluate the quality of their previous works.
Layering is more cost-effective than completely getting rid of all the old roof shingles – for short-term solutions, yes it's a viable option. But layering requires approval from community code requirements, which usually allow only a maximum of 2 to 3 consecutive roof layers. This installation technique can also cause many problems for a homeowner.
Overlapping shingles / tiles can potentially cause the collapse of any roofing structure because of the heavy weight of the heavy materials. This is also a source of heat build-up that's located underneath the roof sub-structures that'll always lead to the early deterioration of the newly installed roof material. Plus, your aluminum or galvanized steel flashing can also be a problem because of the presence of the old roof system. If not properly given attention, this could lead to water leakage and rotting of support structures.
It's also wrong to think that you can not do anything to prolong the life of your roof. Scheduling a regular gutter and chimney clean-up coupled with a visual inspection is always a great move on your part. In that way, you can be assured that your new roofing is actually performing as well as it should.
