The Risks of DIY Roof Repairs

There are plenty of home repair and maintenance jobs that are perfect for the weekend DIY enthusiast. However, roof repairs may not be one of them.

Roof repairs involve working with tools, while up high on a surface that may not be designed to carry your weight. And there’s plenty that can go wrong. From the risk of falling to damaging gutters, weakening roof structures and even damaging electrical wiring, there’s plenty that can go wrong.

So, before you put your home and your safety at risk, we have a few reasons why you should leave roof repairs to the professionals.

You might cause more damage

Unless you’ve had plenty of experience working on roofs, it’s easy to cause more harm than good. Roofs generally aren’t designed to support a person’s weight. Walking on the wrong section of a roof can damage shingles and other roofing materials and even cause leaks and holes, which can be expensive to fix.

Roofs can also be surprisingly fragile. Some tools should not be used on roofs unless you’ve had appropriate training and experience. For instance, a roof cleaning expert knows how to best use a power washer on a roof, but a DIY roof cleaner may end up breaking roof tiles.

You’ll likely spend more time and money than necessary

Without the experience a professional has, you can easily end up spending more time than necessary on the job. Teaching yourself how to complete the repairs can take a while, not to mention finding the right materials and equipment.

Additionally, if you don’t already have the knowledge, you may pay more than you need to on materials and equipment. For instance, you might buy more materials than you require or buy a higher quality than you need.

The end result won’t be as good

Along with costing more and taking more time, it’s likely your repair job won’t look as good as one done by a professional. From not quite matching the colour of replacement tiles to an uneven cleaning job, there’s a lot that can go wrong.

With a DIY job, chances are your work won’t be as high quality as a professional’s work. That means you could find yourself up on the roof fixing the problem again in a week’s time.

You might void the warranty

Many roofing materials come with a warranty. However, the majority of these warranties can be automatically voided if they aren’t installed by a professional. So, if the materials turn out to be faulty, you’ll be the one wearing the cost.

Your home insurance may be affected

Along with the warranty on materials, your home insurance can be affected if you choose to DIY.

It’s understandable that both insurance providers and roofing material manufacturers are quite strict about professionals completing the work. Roofs are an integral part to any home and a lot can go wrong if a roof is faulty. A problem with your roof can lead to serious moisture damage, including weakening of building structures and even foundation damage.

To avoid such disasters, insurers and roofing material manufacturers actively try to discourage DIY jobs. This saves everyone from a lot of hassle and prevents money from being wasted.

You might injure yourself

Finally, it’s frighteningly easy to injure yourself while working on a roof.

For starters, the necessary slope of most roofs makes it difficult to maintain your balance. Factor in that if you lose your balance, or even misplace a foot, you’ll be falling from a great height onto hard ground.

You can expect at least one broken bone from such a fall, if not many. Some falls even result in paralysis or death. Falls from heights, including roofs, are a major issue for professionals in many industries, let alone DIYers. Don’t let yourself become a statistic.

Additionally, working on a roof often means hours in the sun and in an awkward position. Therefore, even professional roofers have been known to suffer from back injuries as well as sunburn and heat stroke. And when you’re not feeling well, it can be easy to lose focus and slip.

When it comes to repairing a roof, the reasons for calling in the professionals far outweigh the benefits of doing it yourself.