How to Budget For a Roofing Project

We know first-hand how difficult that it can be to financially plan for a big expense such as a roofing project. In fact, most homeowners believe that a new roof is the single most expensive part of home ownership. However, we’ve found that most people are not prepared at all when they start reaching out for roofing quotes.

We’ve put together a few ways that will help you prepare you for the day you come to realize that you do, in fact, need a new roof on your home.

Don’t Rush The Process

Don’t look at a roof replacement like you do your lawn. It’s not just another simple item on your to-do list. A new roof is an extremely complicated process that can be tens of thousands of dollars. While you might hire the neighborhood kid to cut your grass with last minute notice, you do NOT want to treat the roofing process the same way.

Take your time to do plenty of research first. When you go to purchase a car do you just walk on the lot and tell the car salesman to give you whatever is the cheapest. No. You’ll do intense research. You’ll pick out all of your favorite options that fit within your budget. You’ll choose all of the specific specs that the car has down to the stitching in the leather.

You don’t have to be a mechanic to choose your ideal car. You also don’t have to be a roofer to choose your ideal roof.

The point is to take your time, do the research, and carefully consider your options.

Research Ballpark Prices

Just like when you picked out your car and chose all of the options, you also want to research prices for this project. This means you’ll have to talk to potential contractors in your area who you might actually hire for the project. You can do a quick Google search to see what the average roofing replacement costs. However, the most accurate way to get an estimate is to actually get a written estimate from the contractor.

Just like cars, the prices of roofs vary greatly. Ideally you want to choose a reputable company in the area. Don’t even get quotes from “contractors” with no reputation. Pay a little more to work with a roofer who crosses their t’s and dots their I’s. You might even have to pay for an estimate from these reputable companies. It’s worth it.

Prepare for the Worst

A roofer isn’t going to spend all week investigating your roof just to give you a written quote, especially if you’re not paying for the estimate. When a roofer gives you an estimate they are strictly giving you a quote based on what they see on the surface. A roofer doesn’t always know what they are getting into until they start pulling off the old shingles. There could be structural damage, additional rot that needs repaired etc. For this reason it’s a good idea to plan for these additional costs.

We recommend having a fund in place to cover these extra expenses. Think of these expenses as an emergency, so you’ll want to save up an additional emergency fund.

Stick to the Plan

It can be tempting to make changes once the project has started. You signed a contract with a roofer and then you started to talk to your co-workers, friends, and family about how you’re getting a new roof. They are going to start making recommendations, suggestions, and giving opinions.

Feel free to take the recommendations however, just remember that making changes to a project that’s underway is not free and it’s one of the most common ways that people go over budget on their roofing project.