subject: Roof Replacement | A Home Owner's Guide To Roof Replacement [print this page] PART 1 - INTRODUCTION | A HOMEOWNER'S GUIDE TO ROOF REPLACEMENT
The following article is Part 1 of a 6 Part Series from our of roofing articles library titled, "A Homeowners Guide to Roof Replacement".
The staff at General Roofing Systems Canada regularly contribute to our roofing article library with knowledge they gain day to day in the field. To request articles online for specific roofing informational requirements click here.
Part 1 - Introduction | A Homeowner's Guide to Roof Replacement
There are many ways to remove and install a new roof on your home.
Truth is, the way your roof replacement is applied by the roofers and the roofing material used, does profoundly affect you the home owner. Lets put this in to perspective with another life example. When you buy a new car, would you accept a brand new car with a transmission that needs to be replaced after a month or a year, or seat coverings that tore every time you sat on them, or a CD player that didnt work the moment you left the lot? Of course you wouldnt.
Question:
- Why do so many homeowners accept a 5, 10, 30 thousand dollar or more roof replacement on their hourse that performs to the sub standard level of the new car in our example?
Answer(s).
- Most homeowners dont know the difference between a poor, good, or great roof replacement job until its too late.
- Also, sadly, most sloped residential roofing installers dont know what it means to install a roof to the highest roofing standards possible. Which usually is no fault of their own, its just that many roofers have never been trained to know any different. Sure, there are roof installation technicians of poor character, or those that dont know what they are doing, but in most instances, it is simply a case of not knowing what the highest standard of roof application is.
- And finally, most homeowners, when presented with roof replacement quotes that vary greatly in price, will more often than not choose a roof replacement quote that is low because they naturally think "this shingle is the same as that shingle, so it must be the same roof". But what they dont know, is that the shingle itself (or tile, shake, slate, or rubber roof) is a small portion of a successful roof replacement install. The roofing material underlay, the roofer's application principles, the type of roofing materials installed relative to the geographical area, and the way roof openings and roof flashings are done are most important.
- A roof replacement installed wrong can void your roof material manufacturer warranty.
o We attend emergency roof repair calls every week that have us informing home owners, at times with relatively new roofs, that because of the way their roof replacement was installed, not only will they continue to have problems, but over time the problems they are experiencing with roof leaks will only escalate. And worse yet, many homeowners now need to replace their roof soon, and more often than not, the material manufacturer will not honour a warranty on a misapplied roof.
- An improper roof replacement application will cause your new roof to leak.
o You may not see it or know it at first, and it may take a few seasons to show up in your home, but a misapplied roof will leak. Roof leaks can be very costly and very frustrating.
- There are ways to replace and install your new roof so it will last many, many years longer.
o A sound roof replacement installation will give you peace of mind, and will save you time and money (over the span of the roof life cycle).
- The roofing material you choose is also important. The type of roofing material and roof underlay, the roof material manufacturer itself, and the various roof flashings and flashing installation detail can affect the lifetime of your roof greatly.
Question:
- If there is in fact a wide divergence in roof installation methods when replacing a roof that profoundly affect the quality of a homeowners roof, that result in greatly varied degrees of lifecycle costs and peace of mind, why do so many roofing contractors accept sub standard or just standard roof application methodologies and roofing materials?
Answer(s):
- The roofing contractor becomes frustrated. Instead of taking the time and putting forth the effort to educate the consumer about poor - good or great roof replacement, many roofing contractors succumb to the marketplace pricing pressure, and conduct business on price point or business volume and not on roof installation integrity.
We only use roofing material and we only allow roof installers to apply our roof replacements that allow us to be confident in guaranteeing our roofing workmanship for life. An unconditional lifetime workmanship guarantee is the best you can get. We have to be very confident in our re roofing installation professionals to stand behind a lifetime guarantee.
So we made the decision, that if we were going to stand behind a Lifetime Unconditional Workmanship Guarantee on Every Roof Replacement, we not only needed to put that guarantee in writing, but we also needed to be absolutely sure that our roof installers knew and unequivocally understood, that nothing less than the highest standard of roof installation and roofing material would be acceptable.
The challenge, however, is how does a roofing company with such a high standard of roof installation integrity then hire, train, nurture, develop, and hold accountable their roof installation teams to such a standard?
Answer(s):
- We hire roof installers and labour support on character and attitude and not ability. Ability can be trained.
- We hire roofing installation managers that are known to be the best at what they do - deep in knowledge and experience.
- We remunerate in accordance to our expectation to be the best at what they do. We maintain a very competitive base pay scale and honour great roofing work with quality and performance bonuses and we maintain a company benefits plan.
- Every roof we put on a residence is inspected by a third party provincially recognized and approved roofing inspector. We know of no other residential roof installation company that calls in a third party inspection on every residential roof installed.
- We invest in our people. Our roofers are company sponsored and certified in all categories of roof application for sloped and flat roofing (or are booked to be certified if they are new to the company).
- Our roof replacement installation checklist is very detailed and to the highest acceptable roofing standard, and is checked by the foreman and installation manager on every roof.
- And perhaps most importantly, every person on your roof is an employee - results driven partner. This means there are no sub trades installing the roof on your house. This means we have control over every detail and level of roof application standards. Our roofing teams are results driven through a company profit sharing plan tied directly to their performance, quality, and character displayed in the field.
The Result?
A roofing crew that cares about how and what they are doing - many of us consider it a lifetime craft, a roof on your home that is the best we know how to put on, and a new customer that is secured for years to come with a roof that will last and perform as it was designed - or hopefully better.
Flat Roofing Contractor: New, Re Roof and Retro-Fit (Tar and Gravel "BUR", SBS, TPO, PVC, EPDM)
Pitched Roofing: New Installations and Re-Roofs (Shingle, Metal, Tile, Shake, Rubber)
Metal Roofing & Flashings: (Standing Seam, Corrugated, Architectural, etc)
Building Envelope Solutions: Complete Exterior Building Systems
Flat Roof Maintenance Programs: Flat Roof Repair, Inspection, and Maintenance
Green Roofing: Day-lighting, Solar, and Skylights
Free Estimates
Commercial | Industrial | Institutional
General Roofing Systems Canada is a Building Envelope and Roofing Contractor Serving Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Clients Through-Out Western Canada. Building Envelope and Roofing Contractors in Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Lloydminster, Canmore, Banff, Regina, Saskatoon, Kelowna, Vancouver, Whistler and points between.
