The technical side of Roofing in Los Angeles is a rather unknown subject for most homeowners. An annual roof checkup seems unnecessary. In reality, we are not worried about pelting rainstorms in the summer or inches of snow over our head each winter, so what’s the big deal? J and J Roofing owner, Matt Glass, describes the big deal here…
While some homeowners may know a thing or two about plumbing, carpentry and so forth, most homeowners don’t know a lot about roofing. There is so much to understand in order to determine its condition, analyze problems and so forth. Most homeowners typically rely on roofing professionals to advise them.
It’s also safe to say that most homeowners do not want to call a roofer out to their home until they actually have a problem, for fear they will find themselves being sold something – whether it’s needed or not. As a contractor myself, not having a great deal of expertise in dealing with HVAC and plumbing, I have to call other contractors just like you do for many things around my home that I may not be able to handle. It’s usually not much fun.
With roofing though, a little money spent on prevention can go a long way if you have a good local contractor that has an annual roof checkup program. Let’s face it, a roof leak discovered after the rains not only requires you to pay a roofer to fix your leak, you’re then often obliged to call a painter (or worse, some sort emergency abatement team) in order to deal with the interior damage.
As well, there are several other good reasons to get an annual roof check-up. The most important reason, which is immediately obvious, is that certain roof problems, if caught earlier on, can be more easily and cheaply dealt before they escalate and damage the inside of the house.
I’ve seen countless instances where a roof was indeed compromised (for example there was water between the layers of roofing membrane) and so it was indeed technically a leak but, that water had not yet leaked and caused damage to the interior of the home. It was only a matter of time until it caused ceiling damage adding to the repair bill.
I’ve been on flat roofs doing inspections where all the drains were clogged and the roof was filled with over 1000 gallons of water. There was one instance where there was so much water up there that when I unclogged their drains, the tenants called the fire department when they heard the water rushing through the pipes – they thought a water main broke.
You may not need to have your roof thoroughly inspected every year. But based on all the inspections I’ve done, I’d have to say that in over 95% of cases, paying that small inspection fee either in fact did save them from a certain leak or from what could potentially have been a leak.
The way our company, Los Angeles roofer, J and J, handles this, for instance, is that we charge $155 to do an annual inspection. We will look over every inch of your roof and seal anything that we find that needs to be handled. If there is more work there than we can handle on this (say, one hour) inspection then we wouldn’t charge you anything. We’d simply change it to a free estimate, for which is no obligation. My inspector would bring the info back to the office and I would email you a detailed repair estimate.
The bottom line is that, at least the way we’ve always done it, the worst case scenario is that you have paid $155, and a professional with a reputable company has gone over your roof and ensured it is in good condition. Otherwise you are appraised of what needs to be done and given a no obligation estimate price to handle it.
If you can find a roofer in your area that has such a program, it’s worth it to take them up on it.
J&J Roofing – top Roofing Contractor in Los Angeles – provides an annual roof check-up service which is reasonable. This includes a roof inspection and also simple maintenance to help ensure your roofing system works. Call us at 877 7MY ROOF for further details and scheduling.