What does an average wedding cost these days? Perhaps hard to believe, the median cost is $22,500, according to Business Insider. People take out loans to pay for their nuptials. Well then, what does a roof repair cost? And can you get roof repair with financing, the same way you can with a wedding? While first marriages that end in divorce last about 8 years, on average, how long will a roof repair last?
Perfect Together
You, your roof, and your residential roofer are perfect together when you need to sit down and make hard choices about roof repairs, financing, and your future. No roof lasts forever, though most homeowners only replace one or two roofs in their lifetimes. If you plan to remain in your home for a while, investing in prompt and thorough roof repair at the first sign of problems is a wise strategy.
One caution: stay off your roof! Roofs are dangerously slippery, sloping surfaces not suitable for amateurs. Let your residential roofing contractor perform the inspection and detection. You stay grounded.
Your roofer will provide you with a cost estimate for repairs, based on an inspection that includes poking around in your attic. The roofer’s representative is looking for issues:
- Dislodged, cracked, or missing roofing material (shingles, metal panels, tiles)
- Corroded or damaged flashing
- Loose gutters
- Algae and staining
- Evidence of mold or mildew
- Rotted wood structural members
- Damp insulation
- Insect damage to fascia, ridge vents, gables
A written estimate is prepared once your roofer has inspected your Denver-area home’s roof. This will include a Scope of Work, describing in (sometimes painful) detail what is wrong with your roof and what the remedy should be. The price in the estimate is a good-faith, educated guess based on visible damage plus some other factors:
- Your roof’s age
- Extent and depth of damage
- Ease or difficulty in matching materials
- Height of your roof
- Roof accessories requiring repair work (skylights, vents)
- Roof repair history
- Signs of neglect
Lipstick
While you can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig. Cosmetic repairs to a structurally flawed roof still leave behind a deficient roof. Part of the roof repair cost includes a realistic and honest assessment of your Fort Collins-area home’s roof.
Say your savings account has $3,000. You would naturally balk at a repair bill that was for $3,500. So, you make yourself believe a roof repair “should” cost no more than $1,000. Your roofer operates under no such bias. If the proper repair job will cost $3,500, that is what you need to spend to protect your home.
Your roofer is not simply looking at cosmetic issues when assessing your roof. The representative looks deeper, testing and probing for signs:
- Are the ridge vents adequate for circulation?
- Is the attic well insulated?
- Does mold or mildew appear on the underside of sheathing?
- Are rafters rotten, insect-damaged, or misshaped?
- Have amateurs attempted previous repairs, worsening the problems?
- Do problems exist throughout the roof, so tear-off and roof replacement is a better option?
- How long will the repair take, and how large a crew will be needed?
Roofers operate from facts and data. Your roofer’s representative will provide photographs to support any estimate. Expect the representative to take measurements, too, so that a plan for effective repair (or replacement) can begin after you discuss the estimate and arrange financing.
Save the Date
A good roof repair, done carefully by trained professionals using high-quality materials, should outlast the typical American marriage of around eight years. The job may take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on the extent of your roof’s problems.
Scheduling roof repair can be frustrating; appointment times are often weeks out, and any repair work must be done in suitable weather. Cold-weather emergency repairs can be done, but they are not as effective as warm-weather remedies.
Ca-Ching
The typical major roof repair job costs anywhere between $1,500 and $7,000, according to Forbes. The typical American household in 2018 (the last year for which data is available) only had $8,863 in savings. No Coloradan should come close to wiping out a savings account to pay for roof repairs, so what options are available?
Roof repair can be financed. Your roofer will generally work with you to get repairs started. Most reputable roofers offer in-house financing plans, even on repairs of relatively small size. You may have to pay a percentage of the total costs upfront, but you can finance the rest of the repairs. Even if you have shaky credit, you can still get financing to get your roof safe and secure.
Please contact us today at Red Diamond Roofing if you own a home in the Denver or Fort Collins areas. We look forward to serving all your roofing needs affordably, honestly, and professionally.
