Roof checks don’t have to just be when you move house
As anyone who has ever bought a house will know, it is a requirement to have some form of survey and, for older properties the need for greater investigation is typical.
The surveys typically throw up all manner of issues, some most purchasers decide can be put on a back burner, if not ignored. Others are inevitably more pressing.
It is rare for the roof not to be mentioned.
The precise details will always vary, but it often goes a lot like this…
The survey suggests there are longstanding issues with the roof, these are impacting the house’s heating efficiency and are also cited as a reason for some damp concerns.
A fix will have some expense but, the survey suggests, it is also essential work, work that will more than pay for itself in the long term.
The work is also required before other jobs can be undertaken, for instance there is little point replastering or decorating any room if issues with the roof or drainage may create minor damp issues in the room.
Often, the cost of the work will be at least partially negotiated off the selling price.
If you are the seller, the potential buyer will be asking for this money off and the entire sale process will be delayed, if not disrupted.
However, why do we wait?
At the point of selling the house, or buying, the work needs doing, a huge percentage of surveys show that the roof is in need of some degree of repair or maintenance.
The purchaser undertakes this work, perhaps with a slight degree of reluctance, because to do so makes financial sense. It helps reduce energy bills, it allows other remedial and decorative work to be undertaken with confidence.
The same work is likely to also have been needed a year before sale, or two years before, or five years before. Maybe the issue was less severe, but still present.
It is also worth noting that if less severe, it is also likely to have been that a less expensive remedy was possible.
The survey of the roof is carried out through necessity when we buy, but why is it less common to carry out a survey of the roof through choice.
If we stay in a house for a number of years, then it is somewhat naive to suspect that issues won’t arise.
Pay a Little Now or a little later
At Improve A Roof, our key message is that it is better to pay a little now in the form of regular maintenance than it is to get hit with a sizeable bill for repairs at some point in the future.
It is also a false economy to put off any work, even if you might sense an out of sight, out of mind attitude is best.
The work will need doing at some stage, it will cost more in future and you are also likely to have acquired ongoing costs that could have been avoided.
The energy bill will have been higher than was required, remedial, short term fixes will have been paid for (gutter cleaning for example) when there was a bigger issue to in fact address.
About Improve A Roof
At Improve a Roof, we offer roof coating that will extend the life of your roof and also reduce heating bills, and also an annual wash and refurbish option – this would clean your roof but also address any maintenance issues such as loose or missing tiles, the capping of gutters, re-mortaring of the ridge and many more common issues.
Our testimonials are universally positive.