When you own a home in Dearborn, roof repair is a pretty common occurrence. Between the seasonal storms and annual maintenance, most homes experience at least a small amount of roofing work each year. Replacing windblown shingles, hail-pocked shingles, and shingles broken by falling tree branches are things that most Dearborn homeowners hardly bat an eye at. Your roofer is a number posted on the fridge next to the number for your plumber and favorite pizza place.
Roof repair is something you learn from experience, and that is actually true on both sides of the coin. Each time, homeowners learn a little more about how to perfect their roof repair preparations, from scheduling early to prepping the house for optimal roofing service. You can improve your routine for preparing the home, the family, and your schedule to account for whatever type of roof repair you need this year. Whether you’re a first-timer to the seasonal roof damage here in Dearborn MI or you’re just looking to hone your roofing customer skills, we’ve put together a handy checklist of ten smart ways to prepare your home to get the best experience from your roofing service.
1) Get the Plan from Your Roof Inspector
The first step to preparing for your Dearborn roof repair is to talk to your roofing inspector when they come to assess for the quote. Your roofing inspector isn’t just looking at the damage, they’re mapping the entire roofing project in their minds which is how they come up with the quote in the first place. Because every roof repair is unique, there are a few things your roofing service inspector can tell you that will help you make smart preparations.
Ask Your Roof Inspector:
- What side of the house the repairs will occur on?
- How much of the yard or driveway do they need to be cleared?
- Will the repairs will be extensive enough to shake the house?
You’ll be applying the answers to these questions further on in your preparations.
2) Move Your Cars Out of the Driveway
No matter how big or small your roof repairs will be, it’s a good idea to move your cars out of the driveway. Whether you roll your vehicles into the garage or park them on the curb is up to you. But roofing has a tendency to drop debris off the side of the house, and not always in a controlled fashion. Imagine yourself working up there with roofing shingles, nails, and packaging material to deal with and you’ll quickly understand why.
Good roofers do their best to keep most of the debris falling into one location and they clean up afterward, but it’s smart to move your vehicles, all the same, to protect them from accidental falling shingles.
3) Clear the Yard & Patio on the Repair-Side of Your Home
Next, for the same reasons, pick up any toys out of your yard and clear the patio of grills or furniture. Particularly on the side of your house where the repairs will be taking place. It’s usually safe to drag these items into the garage or even just toward the fence-line where they will be safer from the chance of fallen roofing debris. This is not just good for your items, it’s courteous to the roofers. A quick clean-up of items you want in the yard will make it easier for the roofing team to quickly identify and clean up any fallen debris when the job is done. Plus, roofers love grilling as much as you do, and they’d hate to see a scratch on a fine patio smoker.
4) Take Down Wall Decorations and Breakable Knickknacks if Necessary
Some roof repairs are incredibly light work and you’ll hardly notice that there is a team of guys up there applying shingles or repairing your flashing. But some roofing requires extensive hammering, enough to shake the house while the work is being done. Depending on what your inspector reported, you may want to protect any items that could be damaged when the walls shake.
Take down anything hanging on the walls that could fall down. Consider temporarily packing up any fragile knickknacks or art pieces that could fall and break if the shelves they were on began to shake.
5) Put Dust-Covers Over Stored Attic Items
When your roof is being walked on and hammered upon, you can bet it’s going to shake down some dust. If you have anything in the attic that you don’t want to be covered in a layer of dust, cobwebs, and sawdust then it’s a good idea to put down dust-covers. Just a few old tarps or sheets can make a world of difference for not having to shake dust out of everything you’ve stored in the attic later on. When the repairs are done, you can fold the dust covers inward so it’s even easy to get all that dust into the trash.
6) Plan to Keep Children and Pets Indoors
Falling debris from roof repairs isn’t just perilous for your car’s paint finish, it can also be dangerous for children and pets. Not only can falling debris be a safety hazard, but debris that has already fallen can be dangerous as well. You do not want young children or pets picking up fallen roofing nails, for example.
Roof repairs aren’t as serious or long-lasting a risk as a full roof reinstallation, which will make it easy to keep your children and pets indoors for the few hours needed to take care of your repairs. Plan afternoon activities for your children inside the house and make it clear that they should not go outside until the roofers have finished and cleaned up all the fallen debris that landed in the grass.
7) Or Schedule Children and Pets to Stay Somewhere Else During Repairs
Alternately, if you are truly worried or know it will be difficult to keep children and pets indoors, you can arrange to keep them out of the house for the duration. Pets can go visit a pet-owning friend who will be happy to have an extra dog or cat in their yard for a few hours. Children might be permitted to visit a friend’s house, have an afternoon at the mall, or visit “Camp Grandma” for a few hours while your roofing repairs take place. Getting children and pets out of the house can be a big weight off the mind of both you and your roofers.
8) Cover Your Bushes and Flower Beds
If you have landscaping elements like bushes and flower beds that might be damaged from falling debris, break out the winter canvas and cover them over for protection. A single layer of protective canvas or even a tarp temporarily repurposed can protect flower petals and leaves from being bruised by the occasional fallen piece of removed roofing shingle and roofers will do their best to avoid dropping anything heavy on any area protected with a tarp.
9) Mark Fragile Landscaping Features in Neon
In fact, roofers often have special protocols to help you protect the elements of your landscaping that you care most about. If you have fragile flowers in your flowerbed or a prized flowering bush that you couldn’t bear to see damaged by fallen debris, mark these protective tarps with neon tape and let your roofers know that these items are to be protected at all costs.
Roofers work with residences professionally, and they understand how much you can care about flowers, bushes, and trees that might be in peril. As long as you mark special protected plantlife or yard art pieces in a way that can be seen from the roof, they will make sure that debris is not allowed to put your favorite immovable landscaping items in danger.
10) Mow the Lawn
For our final tip, take the lawnmower for a spin. You might wonder what on earth mowing the lawn has to do with Dearborn roof repairs, but it really matters. At least to courteous roofers.
Your roofers know that you don’t want a lawn full of accidental roofing debris like chunks of shingle or fallen nails in your lawn. Who would? So a good roofing team takes the time to scour your yard and pick up everything that has fallen once the roofing work is done. This task is about ten times easier when your grass is trimmed short so that roofers can quickly spot every scrap of debris and leave you with a yard as clear and safe for kids as when they arrived.
Just a quick once-over with the lawnmower can really help your roofers take care of your yard when they are finished.
Every Dearborn, Michigan homeowner needs roofing repairs from time to time. Every time you go through the repair process, you learn a little more about how to make next time even smoother and more satisfying for everyone. With these tips, you can prepare your home to be in the perfect state of readiness for your roof repairs and for your roofers. For more great roofing tips or to schedule your next Dearborn roof repair, contact us today!