New siding. Check.
New windows. Check.
Refinish kitchen wood floors. Check.
New carpet. Check.
New roof. Not quite yet.
As you make your way through the list of home improvements that you want to make for the upcoming graduations, you are getting more and more excited. With one daughter graduating from college and one daughter graduating from high school, the spring will be busy. Fortunately, with the exception of hearing back from the roofing contractors you have made your way through most of the items that you have wanted to update and repair. You feel as if you are running out of time, but the three different roofing contractors you have contacted have promised that you will have bids by the end of the month and they are all prepared to get you on their schedules before the winter weather arrives.
Sometimes it takes a big event like a college or high school graduation or a wedding to motivate homeowners to make needed repairs and renovations. The fact of the matter is, however, the most diligent homeowners understand that home repair and updates should actually be scheduled into yearly maintenance budgets. In fact, some financial advisers recommend setting aside as much as 1% to 4% of a home’s value for needed work every year. On a $200,000 home that could amount to at least $2,000 a year. As a house ages, obviously, this percentage should increase.
Of all the repairs and updates that a house needs, the decision to install a new roof may be one of the most important. And given that as much as 40% of a home’s exterior may show as roofing, it is clear that shingle choices are not a small detail. From painted metal roofs that retain 95% of their initial reflectance and emittance over time, to the newest composite shingle materials, the decision to purchase a new roof involves many choices. In a time when metal roofs often have a minimum recycled content of 25% and impact resistant roofing products can limit the amount of damage is done by a heavy wind and hail storm, roofing decisions are often best made with the help of a qualified and resepcted roofing contractor.