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4 Secrets a Scam Roofing Company Will Never Tell You

Owning your own house is a huge responsibility compared to renting one, and we are not even going to get into apartment living. That one is a walk in the park compared to having a house.

For houseowners, roof repair is typically the biggest point in periodic budgeting and you want to be able to entrust it to reputable hands. So here are four things to watch out for when considering contractors. Don’t get scammed!

1. Proper roof maintenance can save you a lot of money

This might sound like something tedious and complicated to keep up with, but it really is quite the opposite. Just do a little check up every few months and see whether your roof might need some tender loving care.

It may come down to just replacing a few shingles that got loose. Maybe there is some caulking work that needs to be done around your chimney. Doing this kind of basic touching up in regular intervals will prevent big damage from occurring and save you from costly large scale repairs in the long run.

Scammers will never tell you this, because average roof maintenance comes up to a few hundred dollars, as opposed to the tens of thousands they would take for complete replacement.

2. If you fail to care for it, your roof will last less than 30 years

It has been a long time since the average roof shingle was composed of sturdy clay and flexible straws, like those ancient composite bricks. Nowadays, the position of the primary material is held by asphalt, though probably not for long. Due to it being notably notenvironmentally friendly, manufacturers are looking for more eco-aware alternatives. You can read some more about those ideas in this handy article.

In the meantime, asphalt roof shingles are being manufactured with increasingly less asphalt and more “filler materials”. The most pervasive component of these fillers is crushed limestone, which leaves the infamous black streaks.Store-bought shingles are therefore always specified for composition, and the sellers will typically tell you that they will last around thirty years. The trouble is, that only applies to shingles that get optimal upkeep. If you just set them up and leave them sitting, they are likely to deteriorate at a rapid rate.

3. The warranty on your roof might be void

Typically, when installing a roof, you would get a warranty for it. These may vary a little between companies, depending on the roof type, materials used, and so on, but the essentials are the same. If you would like some in-depth insight into how roof warranties work, check out this link: https://www.proremodeler.com/roofing-warranties-straightening-out-confusion

However, these warranties are very easily voided, and you may not even know. All it takes is to not install your roof exactly according to manufacturer specifications. The most common issue is a mismatch in the number of nails or fasteners that are supposed to hold each shingle down. Right behind this is the improper placement of those components, followed by the issue of underventilation.

4. It usually takes two years for you to notice a leak

Most people, when the notice an ugly brownish stain on their ceiling, assume that the leak that caused it is a fairly recent development. That may be true if a water pipe in the ceiling has burst, but if this is a roof leak, then the problem has been a long time brewing.

Just consider the path that the leak has to take. The rain or snow that caused it first has to damage the shingles badly enough to get through them and into the roof. Then the water has to eat through the standard felt underlayment, then through the moisture barriers that are installed under it, precisely to combat rain, snow, and ice.

Finally, it has to get through the underlying plywood structure of your ceiling and then the insulation layer, which is typically about a foot thick. All this takes about two years. By the time you notice that ugly brownish stain above your head, there has already been expensive damage done to your house, on basically all levels of structure.

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