Is DIY Roofing Worth It?

Your roof is one of the most crucial components of your house, and if something goes wrong, it can be expensive to get it fixed. It may be tempting to try to fix it yourself instead of spending money on experienced roofers to do the job. But unless you are an experienced roofer yourself, that would be a bad idea. Is DIY roofing worth it? The answer is almost certainly not.

Improper installation

Many do-it-yourselfers don’t really know what they are doing. But that’s not a jab at the industrious homeowners who want to try their hand at home repairs. On the contrary, there are many home projects that you can do on your own if you’re willing to watch some tutorials and spend the time to do it right. Once in a while you may wind up installing something wrong or not doing the best job. But in many cases, the only thing lost is that something looks a little off. You might get a door that doesn’t hang exactly right, or a paint job that isn’t entirely even around the edges. But you’ve saved some money, you can feel accomplished, and you’ll live with the imperfections.

But if you DIY your roof, you could wind up with some pretty significant problems. A roof that’s not done properly could leak in a hard rain, or to fail in a storm. A small mistake or imperfections lead to significant damage to your home. Plus, if you do a poor job on your roof, it’s not just you who sees it; the whole neighborhood does.

Safety Issues

Good roofing companies properly train employees in industry-standard safety precautions. They use appropriate safety gear and take care of themselves while working on a roof. A do-it-yourselfer may not know proper safety precautions or have the right equipment—like safety harnesses—which could lead to serious injury. On just a one-story home, a pitched roof can be as high as 15-20 feet in spots, A fall from that height can easily cause broken bones or a severe head injury. So is DIY roofing worth it just to save a few bucks?

No recourse

If you repair or replace your roof and it has problems, your only option is to try to fix it again. But if you didn’t get it right the first time, you may not get it right the second time. In fact, finding the source of a leak can be challenging even for the professionals. So, in the end, you will likely have to hire a reliable roofing company to fix your mistakes. And it can often be more costly to fix bad roofing work than to start from scratch. However, if you have it done right by a professional the first time, you will have less chance of something going wrong. And if it does, most professional roofers offer warranties that may cover any problems that arise.