The most critical component of a home is its roof. The roofing structure needs to be durable and the roofing materials need to be able to withstand wear and tear. If damage has occurred to your roof, it either needs to be repaired or replaced. Roof replacement can be a tricky task and is not for the faint of heart. Roof replacement can also take a significant amount of time, so finding the best time of year will help your project go off without issue. Here are some tips to help you schedule your roof replacement and how to choose the best timeline for your schedule. 

Consider The Age Of Your Roof First

Not all homes need roof replacement to look their best. Some older roofs need to be replaced because of bacteria growth or deterioration. If your home is older than 20-25 years, you may want to schedule replacement sooner rather than later. If your roof isn’t past this window, you may be able to push off the service to a warmer season or when roofers are less busy. 

Although you should take the age of your roofing material into consideration, age is not the only determining factor to indicate when your roof needs to be replaced. In certain climates, roofing materials may deteriorate faster. If you have not maintained your roof over the years, roof replacement may be needed sooner because of wood rotting or moisture seeping into the structure. 

Avoiding Peak Seasons

The spring or fall weather are optimal times to work on a roof, however, these can be busy seasons for roofing companies. If you want to hire a roofing professional to replace your roof, considering when their schedule might be less full will help your project get completed faster. For homeowners who can push off the replacement without compromising their safety, you can benefit by potentially having the roofers work around your schedule and save money due to lower demand. 

Challenges Of Roof Replacement In Winter

Each season of the year will come with its own set of challenges when working on a roof. Working on a roof during the winter in Idaho can come with longer timelines and malfunctions in materials. During the winter, roofers may encounter heavy snow, rain, and high winds. All of these can mix together to create unsafe working conditions. Working in the snow or rain can lead to injury or falls. 

Winter can also cause shingles to become cold and brittle during installation. When shingles are cold, they become harder to bend and cut to the perfect shape for your roof. Applying shingles to ridge caps, hips, or roof valleys will be more difficult because you need to manipulate the shingles quite a lot in these areas. 

The adhesive of shingles also can be weakened by the lower temperatures. Once temperatures drop between 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the adhesive properties start to change. This makes it hard for them to stick to the roofing structure and other shingles.

To work around this issue, you may have to choose another roofing material if you want the roof replacement to happen during the winter. 

Challenges Of Roof Replacement In Summer

Having roof replacements in the summer can also pose challenges for a roofing company. Summer temperatures can also be difficult to work in since your roof can be around 20 degrees hotter than the ground. This makes it dangerous to work on your roof on extremely hot days when the sun is beating down. Your roofers will need to stay hydrated and take more breaks to avoid heat exhaustion.

Just like the cold weather can alter roofing materials, the sun can also change the shingles or roofing tiles. The sun can cause them to deteriorate quickly, especially if you are using asphalt shingles. To avoid this, many roofing companies work in the early hours of the morning during the summer or in the late afternoon when the sun is not as high in the sky. This can be a challenge to your schedule or disrupt your daily routine when the roofers are not working during typical working hours.

The summertime can also make your roof more susceptible to leaks because materials expand and contract. If your roof was leaking before scheduling a roof replacement, this could cause your leaks to expand and become more of a major problem. If the leaks are small and can be coped with, roof replacement can take place during the summer. 

Some roofing contractors may have the tools to help keep leaks at bay during roof replacement. Other problems can always arise during a home project, so roofing contractors should be able to adapt. However, any challenges you experience during different seasons can push the completion of your project back a few weeks or months.

Having gutters on your home is essential to protect your investment in a home. Gutters move rainwater, snow, and other moisture away from the foundation of a home, but only if they are installed properly. Many homeowners ask the question of whether they can DIY their gutter installation. Hiring a professional may seem like too high a cost to pay for something like gutters, but will professional gutter installation actually improve the way that water exits your premises? 

Below are some more elements to consider before installing gutters and the pros and cons of DIY and professional gutter installation. 

Professionals Have Experience And Expertise

Working with a professional company to install gutters on your home gives you access to their knowledge and insight. They have the experience to do their job well and complete a project in a timely manner without sacrificing functionality. Applying gutters with the right fasteners and at the right slope is the only way that water will be moved away from your roof and foundation. 

Professionals will know how to implement gutters of all different materials and how they need to fit on homes of all different sizes. This will cut down on the time needed to complete the project, especially if you choose to DIY. While installing your own gutters may give you more knowledge for a future project, installing them for the first time will still include some mistakes because of the learning curve. 

DIY Projects Could Cause More Damage To Your Home

Without expertise, installing gutters to your soffit or roofing material can be tricky. If you install the gutters incorrectly, this could cause tears in the roofing materials or cause you to have to remove and re-install the gutters. This can limit the efficiency of the gutter system or make major mistakes when taking a DIY approach. 

Often times when you need new gutters, you may also need to replace the fascia, soffit, or roofing material because it is also damaged. If gutters are installed on rotting materials, this can cause leaks in your home or cause the gutters to fall off. Keeping your home safe is only possible when your gutters are installed correctly. 

The Cost Of DIY Vs. Professional Gutter Installation

You may be hesitant to choose a professional gutter company because of the higher cost. Gutter installation can be time-consuming and requires precision. When you work with a professional company, you get their expertise while also paying for their labor. The average cost for gutter installation is $20 per liner foot. Installing the gutters yourself may save you some money upfront, but over time your gutters may start to deteriorate and need to be replaced. This will add up if you are replacing the gutter system every year. 

Better Access To Different Materials

Working with a professional company will give you more options for materials that can be used for your gutter system. Popular materials that are used for gutters include:

• Aluminum
• Galvanized Steel
• Vinyl
• Copper
• Preweathered Zinc

Some of these materials are in high demand, especially when they are crafted into gutters and downspouts. Working with a professional gutter installation company means that you could get gutters straight from the manufacturer, instead of waiting to pick them up at a home improvement store. 

Warranty And Quality 

Installing gutters on your own will not provide a warranty on the materials or the installation. This can lead to disaster down the road when your gutters may be damaged, or if you installed them incorrectly. Not only will you lose money, but improperly installed gutters could also void the warranty you have on your roof or home. 

Professional gutter installation will guarantee that you use high-quality materials and protect your home. Our team at Premier Roofing And Restoration can add gutters to any kind of home while protecting the structural integrity of the space. Avoiding DIY gutters will bring better functionality to the home. 

Gutter Installation From Premier Roofing And Restoration

Our goal at Premier is to install gutters in your home in the most hassle-free way. You want your gutters to last when they are applied to your roof. Our team doesn’t believe in just installing gutters and never worrying about them again. We offer gutter maintenance for homeowners or business owners to help avoid ice dams, clogs from leaves, and limit fire hazards. We check for leaks and other damage and will repair your gutters immediately to help keep your home safe. Contact us to improve your Idaho Falls or Pocatello home today!