I need an advice. My husband wants to replace the roof of our house and I want to get a professional to do the job. He insists he can do it; even though he doesn't have any of the tools and never has even tried to do a minor repair to a roof. We filed a claim with our insurance, and eventhough they deducted almost half of the actual value of the roof (around 12 years old roof), we got a check that I believe will cover the replacement of the roof by a professional. He wants to save money and do it himself. I'm afraid he won't do it right, and at the end we will have to call somebody else any ways. Should I let him do it? Or how can I convince him that the best way would be to leave it to a professional? Are both options about the same in price, if you don’t have the tools yet?
Please help me!

 

I always recommend a professional do the job. If money is tight and your hubby is in good shape, asphalt shingles can be installed by anyone with a hammer and a utility knife. The directions are on the back of the shingle bundles. Maybe the best thing to do is get a few bids from local roofers, get the materials price from your local roofing distributor and compare. Is the old roof to be torn off? If so, do you have the equipment to get it to the dump? Trash containers go for about $350/dump around here.
Jim

 

If he insists on working on it himself, do you know of anyone experienced doing roofing that can give him a hand to get started?

 

There are several leaks all over the roof. He says he will repair them, but I think we should replace the whole roof. We have already filed a clam with our insurance and got a check, it is not much since the roof was already some years old. Do you think he is right in wanting just to repair the leaks? By the way our roof is 2 layers. Thanks

 

I guess you own your house free and clear if the insurance check was made out just to you and not to the mortgage company as well!

WHEN is your husband going to do this work. Roofing is time consuming and the days are getting shorter. It's also not something that you can start and stop and start and stop. Since you have two layers on right now they'll have to be stripped to the deck before starting the new one. Moving around bundles is hard work, stripping an old roof is backbreaking work, even with the tools.

If he's never done one, it's not real difficult, the hard part is the starting and finishing courses, valleys, gables and ridges. Like most jobs doing these "fine points" is critical to the success of the job. The other 90%, nailing the "field" is basic scut work, but that's where the time goes.

Frank

 

Patching a leak on a roof with 2 layers is about as easy as finding a needle in a haystack. I would recommend removing both layers, checking the sheathing for damage and then reshingle. And as Frank said, the days are getting shorter, plus colder temps and the time change is coming up soon.