Roofing: To Hire or Do It Yourself

 In The Simpsons Movie, there’s a scene in which Homer, the father, is trying to install shingles on the roof of his house.  He hammers the final one in successfully, but he doesn’t realize until he gets up that the shingle has also been nailed to his pants.  He reacts by running around the roof, and subsequently, undoing all the shingles, which Bart, his mischievous son, (and we) find hilarious. 

Simpsons fans are used to laughing at Homer’s gaffes.  While they types of gaffes entertain audiences by the millions every Sunday night, when they happen in real life, the results aren’t quite so hilarious.  On the surface, roofing seems like an easy do-it-yourself task.  All you have to do is hammer a bunch of shingles on, right?  However, the typical homeowner doesn’t spend much time on a roof.  If you rock climb or skydive, chances are you’re already comfortable with heights.  Still, walking on a roof is a whole different ballgame.  When you’re skydiving, you have a parachute that will help you land safely.  While walking on a roof, wind gusts can come out of nowhere, and if you’re carrying heavy objects, there’s a good chance you’ll fall, and there’s no parachute or rope to keep you safe in that situation.

 Roofing Advice
If you’re in absolute need of a new roof, but cannot afford the heavy costs involved, talk to a contractor.  Some of them will allow you to tear out the old roof yourself so as to lower his labor costs.  In fact, during the summertime, some roofers are so busy that they’ll be happy to allow to do it, as it will save them time.  All it takes is muscle and some elbow grease.

On the other hand, if you’re not 100% handy and you don’t have roofing knowledge, we would encourage hiring a contractor.  Applying the roof requires a great deal of comfort with heights, and it needs to be done relatively quickly so that your roof doesn’t fall victim to the elements.  For how to go about hiring a contractor, click on our article entitled, “  Questions to Ask Your Roofing Contractor[C1] ”

 [C1]Rafael, This is where we might want to put a Hyperlink to that particular article, as they go hand-in-hand.