subject: Do You Really Need A Replacement Roof [print this page] Your homes roof is the most essential part of its weatherproofing and a leaking roof is more than a nuisance at any time, but especially during the winter.
When the rain and snow is coming down on a daily basis a single leaky spot in your roof can cause all kinds of damage both inside and outside your house in a very short time .
The trouble is that it can be hard to get a roofer out to make simple repairs. Roof replacement is more their game and is a higher cost job as well.
Often though a roofing professionals reluctance to repair rather than replace is not an attempt to fleece homeowners out of more of their hard earned cash but instead an effort to protect themselves and their reputations.
If you understand this reasoning you will have a better chance of getting a roofer to agree to make the roof repairs that you so desperately need.
Dont Pressure a Roofer to Make a Quick Diagnosis
Any professional roofer knows that roof repair can be a thankless task. To properly diagnose what is wrong with a roof takes time in many cases, but homeowners tend not to be the most patient of people. They often do not see any value in the roofer being up there for an hour if they dont see any immediate results.
Under this kind of pressure many a roofer feels that they need to make a quick diagnosis that may not be the only solution. If you let the roofer know that you understand that it takes time to figure out what is wrong they are likely to be more willing to talk repairs instead of just pushing a roof replacement.
A Repaired Roof May Still Fail in the Future.
Another reason even the very best roofer may be reluctant to undertake a roof repair job is that after they spent hours fixing a leak in a homeowners roof, a few months later a different, totally separate leak springs up. The homeowner though often decides that this new leak should be fixed for free, since the roofer was only there just a few weeks ago.
This means that the roofer is left between a rock and a hard place; irritate the customer, which is rarely a good idea, or repair the new (and totally unrelated) leak at no charge. Few roofers want to be put in this position, so they recommend a full roof replacement the first time around instead, so that they can be sure that the roof wont be leaking at all any time soon. If you can reassure the roofer that you understand that a tree falling on the roof in three months time will not be his responsibility he may be more open to discuss making just minor repairs as problems arise.
Sometimes You Just Need a New Roof
However good your roof is it is not going to last forever. If your roof is starting to leak and is more than 15 years old, a roof replacement really is the best way to go in 99% of cases. At this point you will just need to bite the bullet and face up to the fact that roof repairs just arent going to cut it any more and it really is time for off with the old and on with the new roof.
