How to Prepare Your Home For a Roof Survey

We know how stressful it is when contractors come into your home, but we’re aiming to make life easier and simpler for you by telling you what you can do in advance, not just to make your own life easier, but also to make your contractors’ lives easier. When you are as prepared as you can be, with full and real expectations of what's going to happen once work starts, the entire process will be much less stressful.



1 - Don’t try to book a roofer when there is bad weather coming.
Not only will it be very dangerous for anyone to be up on the roof during a torrential downpour of rain, or a sudden frenzy of high winds, but it could also be detrimental to the actual roof itself. If the contractor has removed a few tiles to replace them, but it starts pouring down with rain halfway through and the contractor needs to stop, you're going to need to work hard to ensure that rainwater doesn't come pouring into your home — and fast.

Keep your eye on what the news and weather reporters are saying. If it sounds like the weekend is going to be full of bad weather, it might be worth rescheduling your roofer for another date. At the same time, be prepared for a contractor or company to cancel/rearrange an inspection or roof work if there is bad weather.

2 - Don't book a dinner party.
People forgetting to cancel social plans when a contractor is at the property is actually much more common than you'd think, but we recommend cancelling any dinner parties, house parties, or any other parties you may be planning to have at that location. There is a good chance that your life will be disrupted a little. If the roof survey doesn’t go well and you need repairs or restorations done, the contractors are going to be there longer than planned. Either that or they’ll need to book another date to come back and do the work.

3 - Tell people what's going on.
You can tell the whole world on Facebook if you want to, but we’re actually talking about letting your neighbors and other homes in the area know that you are having work done. This is actually for a number of reasons. To start with, if there is work required on the roof, there may be some banging or noise. It is polite to let your neighbors know when you're going to be making a racket.

Moving on, you don’t really want one of the houses in the neighborhood giving the cops a call because some random chap appears to be crawling around on your roof and trying to get inside the building. That's what it might look like to someone who isn’t in the know. And you know what neighbors are like … always trying to be ‘helpful’. (We’re just kidding; where would we be without them?!) If you tell people that you have contractors coming to the house and that they may make a noise, you won't face any angry complaints later on. Wouldn't you want your neighbors to let you know if someone were working on their/your roof?

4 - Check to see whether or not your TV dishes outside will interfere with any work going on.
You may need to remove it or have someone do it for you, and this may also mean that you're without some of your favorite TV shows for a while. Time to get those DVDs and Blu-Rays out!

5 - Remove items that are cluttering up where the roofers will work.
This might mean emptying your attic, or making sure that items are covered if you’d rather they didn't get covered in mess and debris. It might also mean moving any vehicles that are sitting on the drive. The easier you’ll make life for your roofing contractor, the quicker and easier it will be for him or her to complete the job.

6 - Put the kettle on.
Because all contractors work better when you fuel them with cups of tea and coffee! The inspection itself should only take a couple of hours, depending on the size of the property, roof, and material. Some companies will offer this inspection for free, whereas others will charge. The average hourly rate of a professional roofer will be in the region of $40 to $80 per hour, depending on experience and specialist field.

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