Should I shingle my own roof or hire a professional Winnipeg roofer?

Basic roof complexities to consider

When renovating a roof, safety should be the first and foremost thought, always. Perhaps you have a fairly straightforward roof that’s not very sloped, or maybe you have a roof that has crazy angles and slopes. Possibly you have a single floor home, or you might live in a multi-story house. Whichever you have, always make sure you are doing it safely. Do you have the proper safety equipment?

Clearing the shingles

Scraping your old shingles off could be a cumbersome and tiring affair. It’s not easy work. Do you have the proper tools?

Condition under the shingles

Once you scrape off the old shingles, you should inspect the condition of the wood underneath. If the wood has rotted, you’ll need to replace it.

Eavestroughs, soffit, fascia

Are you also going to change your eavestroughs, soffit or fascia? This adds another layer of complexity to your roof. If you’ve never done these before, you’ll have to add a lot more time to the entire project, as well as be aware that you may be making mistakes.

Pros of replacing your roof by yourself

Don’t get us wrong, there are some pros to doing your roof by yourself.

• You’ll save money on the initial roof installation
• If you recently built your home, you might have leftover shingles that you could use and save on materials cost

Cons of shingling your roof by yourself

• Unless you already have experience doing roofing, the quality of your work will not match that of a professional Winnipeg roofing company. Sorry, it just won’t.
• If anything goes wrong later on, you are on the hook for repairs and the cost of repairing it. There is no warranty on workmanship if you do it yourself.
• If something does go wrong later on, the money you saved by not paying a professional Winnipeg roofing contractor will be negated by the money you now have to spend to fix it.
• If you get friends to help you, check your home insurance, as it may not cover them if any accidents happen. In all likelihood, it won’t.
• If something goes wrong, you may make it a bigger problem by not having the skills, tools, or knowledge of how to fix it
• You will be responsible for taking out a building permit

I’m sure we could think of a lot more cons to doing your roof on your own, but for the sake of brevity, we’ll leave it there.

On the opposite side, we literally cannot think of any other pros to doing your roof on your own. Also, the reason why we italicized initial in the pros is because after your roof is done, if anything else goes wrong with it until the next time your roof gets done, you have to minus that cost to fix off the money you initially saved.

Pros of hiring a professional Winnipeg roofer

• They are insured with the proper insurance for everything
• They have the experience, tools and knowledge to complete the roof within a minimal amount of time and disruption to your life
• Your roof will be done right, so less stress for you
• It’s safer for you physically
• Warranty on workmanship
• Materials manufacturer warranty if installed by professional Winnipeg roof contractor
• Advisement on any other potential issues with your roof

Cons to hiring a roofing company

• It will cost you more money than doing it yourself…in the short term
• You might have to wait for availability, as most roofing companies are booked early, so make sure to plan it out

As you can see, the pros definitely outweigh the cons for hiring a Winnipeg roofer. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t replace your roof by yourself.