Having construction work in progress around your home can affect your lifestyle and convenience. Tempers get frayed. Everyone wishes it was over already. So what should you expect when you decide it’s time to replace your whole roof? What can you do to minimise the inconvenience to you?
Image Source – www.heraldsun.com.au
Time needed
Unfortunately, there’s no simple formula for this. Replacing a roof with a fairly standard Colorbond roof product shouldn’t take long, but it will take longer if you have to replace rafters that have cracked. Ask your roofing contractor for their best guess. An experienced contractor should be able to give you an indication of the time needed to replace your roof. Usually, it won’t take more than two or three days to get the job done.
Can you stay in your house during the project?
You may be relieved to discover that yes, you can live in your house and usually the project won’t take more than a couple of days – but consider staying somewhere else for the duration anyway. There will be noise, there’s a potential hazard from things falling off the roof during work and you can expect lots of traffic and activity around the house until the job’s done. If you work from home or at home during the day, you may find all the disruption stressful, so consider going somewhere quieter for two or three days until the job is done.
What about the old roof?
A professional roofing contractor should have plans in place for disposing of your old roof, but it’s best not to take anything as ‘read’. Ask about disposal of the old roof and ensure that it’s part of the contract from the word ‘go’.
Wall hangings and decoration: better safe than sorry
You can be sure that there will be a fair amount of vibration taking place during construction. If you have fragile items hanging on your walls, you might want to consider packing them away until things have settled down.
What about my garden?
A good roofing contractor won’t leave your garden looking like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but it’s a good idea to check with your contractor. Does he foresee any problems with manoeuvring materials through your garden? Are there any areas that may be at risk of damage? You can move things like garden furniture out of the way, but if your plants are precious to you, make sure you know what impact the project may have on your garden.
Will my satellite dish be safe?
Professional roofers usually try to re-install your satellite dish exactly where it was before, but you can expect the need to re-adjust the settings once the job is done. If you’re not particularly good a technical issues with your satellite dish, be ready to call out your service provider to get everything working smoothly once again.
Ensure that your contractor is licensed and insured
As a homeowner, you don’t want to find yourself being held responsible for any injuries or accidents and you want to be sure of the highest standard of professionalism. Make sure that your contractor is licenced and fully insured before you cinch the deal.