Raising the Roof!

As you drive around New Hyde Park, you will see small signs on front lawns. They are not decorative signs for the fall season with pumpkins and leaves. They are roofing companies' signs. Many new roofs have been going up in the area for the past few weeks. This is all due to the summer's hail storm damage.

I have spent the last couple of weeks getting estimates from roofing companies. How many estimates? Too many.

I had some damage to my fence but repairing that was easy. I called the company that installed the fence and they sent someone out to look at it. They then scheduled a date to send a repair crew. I also had a few screens damaged but my husband will make a trip to a local hardware store that repairs screens and take care of those. But the roof has been another story.

I have received a crash course in what goes into putting up a roof. First there is the plywood, two or three sheets are included in the price, any additional sheets that are damaged, there is a charge. Then a water and ice shield will be applied and felt paper in 15 or 30 pound weight. Pipe flanges will be installed and flashing. The shingles are made by three different companies. Which is best? Depends are whom you are asking. Special shingles called hip and ridge shingles will be used on all hips and ridges. Six nails are better than four when putting up the shingles and the nails had to be placed at the proper spot in order for the warranty to be effective. HELP! I was lost after the plywood. The estimates were several thousand dollars apart, ranging from lowest to highest. Were the higher ones giving us better material and better workmanship? I don't know.

So my husband and I sat down with all of the estimates and tried to decipher exactly what each one was doing and compare it to the others. I have learned over the years of being a homeowner that the cheapest price is not always the way to go but neither is the highest. We finally settled on one and this is why. My neighbor had his roof done and from my kitchen window I could see the work, layer by layer. The crew did a neat job, cleaned up all debris, and the roof looked very good after it was completed. But what really helped us to make up our minds was that my neighbor had the roof done ten years earlier by the same roofer and it turns out that my other neighbor next door also used this roofer, some ten years ago. They were both very happy with the roof and only had a problem when the hail storm hit. That was a good enough recommendation for us. So we have found our roofer!

On the up side of all of this, I met some very nice fellow New Hyde Parkians that I probably would not have met otherwise. If I saw a roof being done by one of the companies that I had called, I stopped to look at the job. If the home owner was outside, they were very happy to offer their opinion and relate their own story of where they were and what they had to deal with during the hail storm. These "new" neighbors were very friendly and we wished one another the best in trying to repair our damaged properties. It was nice to know that the community was a very supportive one in times of trouble.

Well, finally all the needed repairs will be made in the next few weeks. If you are dealing with the same issues, hang in, do comparison shopping before you decide. Talk with your neighbors, they are an invaluable resource and guide. I know that I will be be glad in the middle of the winter that the roof has been fixed. Winter will be here before you know it. I'm beginning to wonder what kind of winter it will be. I sure hope that the summer that we just had is not an indication of the winter yet to come!