Here in Plymouth, MI, roofing is extremely important to keep your home safe from the yearly snows and seasonal storms, so Plymouth homeowners are often familiar with working with roofers for repairs. The bigger the repair, the more you need to prepare for your roofers to arrive.
Your local roofing contractors will take care of the shingles and underlayment, but it also helps for homeowners to be prepared for the one-to-three day process for major repairs or installations. Serious roof repair is a little more involved than patching a few shingles and homes often shake a bit during the installation. There is also considerable debris from the sides of a roof being uninstalled. For these reasons, it’s important to prepare your home and your family for roofing-day safety.
Here’s how any Plymouth, MI homeowner could get ready for roof repair and installation like a pro:
Confirm the Schedule & the Weather
Start by confirming your schedule. Check the weather and call your roofers a week to a day ahead of time to ensure that your scheduled roofing days are still on. Roofing is remarkably dependent on weather so it’s good to be certain before you begin your preparations for the day. Your roofer will happily answer a call or email to confirm that the weather is clear, along with the hours you can expect your roofing team to arrive and be in-action.
Let Your Neighbors Know
Roofing is also a process that is unfortunately audible down the street. Your neighbors won’t be able to ignore the roof work, so give them a chance to be somewhere else on roofing day. Send a note or stop by and give a friendly heads-up to your neighbors about the days when roofing will be taking place. Let them know the hours to expect roofing sounds and apologize for the inconvenience.
This allows your neighbors plenty of time to make alternate plans or even take advantage of the situation. Some neighbors might spend the day on the town, some might take the time to watch a really loud movie while you’re already making noise. They’ll appreciate the forward warning.
Make Play-Date Plans for Children and Pets
Unlike minor repairs, roofing installation creates a lot of debris. Shingles, nails, and packaging alone make up a great deal of mess. In addition, your roofers will need to rip up the old roofing elements and toss them over the edge into a purpose-brought dumpster. Needless to say, you don’t want younger children or pets wandering unawares outside while this goes on.
We often recommend that parents and pet-owners make alternate plans. Schedule a play-date at a friend’s house or send your smaller family members to the grandparents for the weekend so they are absolutely safe from falling debris.
Choose an Available Power Outlet
Your roofers are going to need access to one externally available power outlet. Roofing requires certain power tools to do the job, and not all of them can be wireless. Your roofers can manage with a single outlet extended to the roof and split from there, but they do need one outlet. If your home has a protected outdoor outlet for lawn implements, this is great. If not, choose an outlet near a back door or side window that you wouldn’t mind the roofers attaching an extension-cord to.
Most often, an outlet is found near the back door or utility room. In some cases, you can run an extension line from the garage. By cracking the garage door, you don’t even need to compromise the AC.
Move Cars Out of the Driveway
Good roofers choose one place to drop debris, usually the driveway. You’ll want to clear the driveway to make room for a roofing dumpster. This is placed to catch the vast majority of the roofing debris. Your roofers can sometimes choose a different place, like a piece of yard, but you’ll want to move your cars either way. Roofing debris can do damage to nearby objects, so your vehicles should be tucked safely into the garage or parked at the curb, at a safe distance.
Clear the Perimeter and Secure a Path
A dumpster is placed in the driveway and most debris makes it in when dropped from roof edge. However, not all roofing debris does get into the dumpster. From roofing nails that roll off the edge to wind-caught packaging and fallen shingle pieces, there are many small impacts with the area surrounding your roof. Roofers sometimes offer to clean up your yard of nails, shingle scrap, and debris before leaving, but it’s also best to protect anything that this debris might fall onto.
So clear your patio furniture, toys, and personal items from the yard and porches surrounding your roof edge. Move everything underneath an overhang, indoors, or further toward the fence where roofing debris can’t reach. Cover flower beds and bushes with cloth, like winter freeze protection.
Also make sure there is clear, walkable space where your roofers might place ladders to access the roof from various points.
Empty or Cover the Attic
Your attic is going to shake as a roof is removed and reinstalled. There’s a decent chance your attic might be exposed if the underlayment is replaced. This means attic storage is something to consider. If you have anything stored in your attic, you have two options. The first is to clear out your attic. Take the opportunity to clean and sort before re-storing once the roof is complete. Your second option is to lay heavy drop-clothes over your attic items so they are protected from dust and debris during the re-roofing.
Remove Hanging Items & Secure Breakables
Many Plymouth MI homes have beautiful wall decorations like paintings, artwork, and family photos. Take these down. When the house shakes from the roof installation, it’s best if there is no risk of delicate items falling from their hooks. Likewise, you may want to secure, pad, or store delicate items stored on shelves against the wall. Consider the preparations you’d make if you could predict a very small earthquake shaking the home and take care of breakable items.
Go Out to Lunch or Stay to Watch
When your roofers arrive, have a talk about their plans and then, if you are comfortable, you can step out yourself. Roofing can happen while you are at work, shopping, or just spending time at the park where it’s quiet. Many people prefer to leave the house for most of the roof repair process. However, if you’re interested, you can also stay and watch or simply ignore the roofing and go about your day. Just be careful around the outside perimeter of your roof where debris may fall.
We are proud to offer local roof repairs here Plymouth MI. If you are a homeowner in need of roof installation or roof repairs, contact us today and we will be glad to begin your service promptly.
