Monday, April 12, 2010

How to Prepare for Roof Installation

You may be wondering what to do with yourself, your family and your pets while your roof is being replaced. There are a couple questions you will want to ask yourself: 1) Am I going to be home during the day while my roofing contractor is pounding above my head, and potentially shaking bits and pieces of dust and materials down on my head? If so, can I deal with this?

If the answer is no, or you have a baby or children, or need quiet because you work from home - you will need to figure out a solution. Two years ago, I hired a roofing contractor New York to replace my asphalt shingle roof Queens and I learned several good lessons for this experience. The first was this: If you can leave your home and stay nearby during construction, that is a nice option. Of course, this is not often an option and not as important if you work outside the home 8+ hours a day. However, I had a 3 cats, 2 dogs and a baby so this was a serious consideration.

The next thing to consider is how the roofing is going to effect your interior. In most finished interiors, it is not an issue. In my case, we had our office in a converted garage with open rafters covered by underlayment and about 4 layers of old asphalt shingle roofing Queens that needed to be removed. As the roofing progressed, debris came raining down on our home office and it continues to slowly waft down onto important items 2 years later. Needless to say, don't expect the roofing contractor Bronx will take preventative measures. Make sure prevention is in the contract and completed before construction, or do the work yourself before rooofing construction New York begins.
The next issue is your yard. Most licensed contractors Queens will make an effort to cover your landscape and lay a tarp down to collect fallen materials, including nails. Even so, don't count on it. Get it in writing or do it yourself. If you are very particular about parts of your garden cover them yourself. In my case, the contractor promised to collect the roofing nails with a magnet, but two years later I am still finding nails that could be stepped on or eaten by my toddler or dogs.
Finally, you should find a place to put your animals other than your yard while the roofing contractor is comleteing his or her work. Your dogs may become protective and try to attack the workers, creating liability issues for you. At the least, the roofing installers Queens may leave the gate open and let your animals out. In my case, both of these issues occurred - fortunately, I was at home to curtail the damage. But still, how much hassle do you want to have? Crating your dog or putting her in a dog run is your best bet if you won't be at home.


No comments:

Post a Comment