Is Roofing a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Job: Lees Summit Roofing

As a Lees Summit roofing contractor, I field a lot of questions about DIY considerations from homeowners looking to save money.  Most of these homeowners are quite capable at home repairs but have proven that while they may lack experience, they have several other home maintenance or home improvement items that have worked out well for them.  They have a nicer place to live, and they saved some money on the projects by performing their own labor.  I appreciate the appeal of saving some money and have certainly finished projects at my house rather than call a professional.  This isn’t to discourage DIY-savvy homeowners, but it just might provide some additional considerations. 

Just about any DIY project, my recommendation as the first place to start is your local library.  The problem is that books only get you so far, and this is AFTER you figure out which books are relevant and which books are fluff.  And while I will grant you that Internet research if both faster and easier, there are simply too many perils for this to be your starting point as you have limited ways to validate the credibility of the source.  With a published book, you can validate the credibility of the source.  I would recommend books from “Taunton Press”; there are a couple on Flashing and Waterproofing in the Taunton Press “For Pros By Pros” series, as well as a book asphalt shingles (get beyond asphalt, and DIY is simply too perilous), and a book on roofing that is a collection of articles in “Fine Homebuilding” magazine.

This blog topic isn’t a replacement for library and Internet research (I said Internet research wasn’t best, but we all know this is your first stop).  This topic will supplement some considerations you won’t readily find in the books.  Most books are aimed at educating the consumer so they can hire a good contractor, or aimed at professionals to speed up production, and some considerations don’t fit easily into either audience.  A couple that I am going to discuss are:

1)      Don’t underestimate the amount of heavy lifting and labor that goes into a roof.

2)      Don’t underestimate how much experience goes into doing this correctly and consequences it not done correctly.

3)      Professionals bring tools you may not have.

4)      How much time do you have to invest?

5)      Warranty work, what happens if something fails?

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