Roof Replacement - What would you do?

[Sanitary Stache]

Hi fellow DIY travelers.

I need to replace my roof.

I have known this for a while, but the rubber has met the road.

I have time to do it myself. I left my job last month and part of my personal justification was that I would stay busy replacing my roof. I have money. I budgeted $10,000 and saved it up. I have more cash than that now as well as part of my cushion for finding a new job. I have bought the materials and collected the tools. I have safety harnesses and roof staging and a dumpster in my driveway.

My dilemma has surfaced because I also have quotes to do the work. One quote all in for $16,300. This is over budget, but seemed reasonable as it’s only a little more than double my DIY cost estimate. I got this quote so I would know how much I was saving by doing it myself, but since I actually have the cash on hand, the quote made me seriously question whether DIy is the way to go. It also raised other questions about the cost of labor. These questions led me to a second quote, one for labor only.

This quote is $5,800. With my material costs that is a $12,000 job. Only $2,000 over budget and a dramatic reduction in work. I would still need to to some landscape repair and cleanup. This would get the real work done in a day by people that know how to do it.  I think it will take me more than 3 weeks.

Some serious rain has been falling. I haven’t even stood on the roof yet and I’m already up in the night thinking about whether I’ll be able to keep the roof water tight while I take days to rip a side and fasten underlayment.

My question is: am I being foolish for not going with the labor quote and getting it done in a day?

[GilesMM]

Unless you are an experienced roofer who can do a good job AND enjoy doing it AND are certain you can do it without any risk to your personal safety, I would not DIY.  It's not worth the risk of personal injury nor risk of a suboptimal result nor risk it takes you many weeks of your life that you'll never get back.

[RWD]

I personally would go with the labor quote. If just the thought of doing this yourself is keeping you up at night already I think you have your answer too.

[Sibley]

Even once it's been dried in, you do need the shingles on top. If you get a thunderstorm with a lot of wind or hail before you get shingles, it's game over.

[lhamo]

Pay for the labor of people who know what they are doing and when/how to do it right.

I feel your pain, though.  I just paid a deposit for a whole house electrical rewire and panel replacement -- 11k for the deposit on a 38k job.  Not a chance I would try to do THAT work myself.  I was able to put the deposit on my 0% CC at least.  But this is an investment in the safety and usability of the house I hope to be in for the next 30-40 years, so worth the money and the peace of mind to have it done properly.

[TreeLeaf]

I have rehabbed some houses in my day. Complete gut jobs. New flooring, drywall, paint, toilets, pipes, sinks, HVAC, water heater, roof, etc.

I also used to DIY all car repairs and maintenance, including oil changes, brake jobs, new exhaust systems, inner tie rods, cv axles, belts starters, alternators, batteries, etc, etc.

And of course I cut my own hair and cook my own food.

The *one* job I will never do again is a roof.

Hire someone else. It's not worth the savings.

[sonofsven]

Hire it out. Doing a roof solo is hard. Could you do it? Sure, I've seen it done, but it will take so long. How old are you? If you're young enough and tough as nails, then maybe.
Quick story: I was doing a big job next to a house that was bought as a fixer by a fellow contractor who was going to flip it, and he really wanted to save $$ by doing everything himself.
I went and talked to him a few times, he knew what he was doing. It wasn't a big roof, or complicated, and it had an eave height of about 12'. It needed three layers torn off, plywood installed, and paper and shingles.
He ended up falling off, onto the concrete driveway. We couldn't see him, or hear him (busy street). I went over at the end of the day and found him, he had serious injuries and broken bones, likely life changing.
It's not worth it

[Sibley]

Hire it out. Doing a roof solo is hard. Could you do it? Sure, I've seen it done, but it will take so long. How old are you? If you're young enough and tough as nails, then maybe.
Quick story: I was doing a big job next to a house that was bought as a fixer by a fellow contractor who was going to flip it, and he really wanted to save $$ by doing everything himself.
I went and talked to him a few times, he knew what he was doing. It wasn't a big roof, or complicated, and it had an eave height of about 12'. It needed three layers torn off, plywood installed, and paper and shingles.
He ended up falling off, onto the concrete driveway. We couldn't see him, or hear him (busy street). I went over at the end of the day and found him, he had serious injuries and broken bones, likely life changing.
It's not worth it

He really should have known better. It's a hard and fast rule: a 2nd person HAS to be around and keeping tabs on the person on the roof. No exceptions.

[sonofsven]

Hire it out. Doing a roof solo is hard. Could you do it? Sure, I've seen it done, but it will take so long. How old are you? If you're young enough and tough as nails, then maybe.
Quick story: I was doing a big job next to a house that was bought as a fixer by a fellow contractor who was going to flip it, and he really wanted to save $$ by doing everything himself.
I went and talked to him a few times, he knew what he was doing. It wasn't a big roof, or complicated, and it had an eave height of about 12'. It needed three layers torn off, plywood installed, and paper and shingles.
He ended up falling off, onto the concrete driveway. We couldn't see him, or hear him (busy street). I went over at the end of the day and found him, he had serious injuries and broken bones, likely life changing.
It's not worth it

He really should have known better. It's a hard and fast rule: a 2nd person HAS to be around and keeping tabs on the person on the roof. No exceptions.

Agreed. That's why I went to check on him after work.

[GilesMM]

Moving material on and off the roof (especially on) can be risky. Roofers these days use a fancy machine that makes it easy.  Our roofer had a self-propelled Equipter he rented and pulled with his truck. I don't think carrying a square of presidential shingles up a ladder is even feasible unless you are the Hulk.

[TreeLeaf]

Moving material on and off the roof (especially on) can be risky. Roofers these days use a fancy machine that makes it easy.  Our roofer had a self-propelled Equipter he rented and pulled with his truck. I don't think carrying a square of presidential shingles up a ladder is even feasible unless you are the Hulk.

Actually it is feasible to carry 10-20 square of roofing shingles up a ladder, even if you are definitely not the hulk, but it will *completely* fuck up your back and shoulders unless you are wearing tons of padding and things.

The skin of my entire back and shoulders was lacerated all over the place after I did my roof, after carrying the bundles up the ladder.

I also felt like I nearly died from heat exhaustion from putting black onyx owens corning shingles down in July. It felt like the roof was 130-140 degrees or something and I definitely overheated / dehydrated while on my roof, got dizzy at times and nearly passed out.

I'm not trying to brag - this just shows how incredibly stupid I was when I was younger - because if I would have passed out on the roof I'm not even sure if I would still be alive today.

I also have two discs in my back that are slightly screwed up today, partially because of doing stupid things like this when I was younger I'm sure.

The point of my cautionary tale here is to tell OP to just let the professionals handle it. ...

Your back is worth more than gold.

[Sanitary Stache]

Thanks for all the quick responses.

The rain and weather forecast really effects my thinking on this.  All your input also does do.  I am going to see if I can do the porches over the next week and schedule the subcontractors for the week after next.  I'm asking the roofers if they would lower their labor quote for a reduced scope of just the main roof.

I also reduced some materials, sourced a less expensive shingle (the only one I can get delivered in time) and think I can get the cost estimate down to below my budget.

[lthenderson]

On all my past houses, I have always done my own roofing. As far as DIY goes, it is fairly easy to learn and do a good job at. But it is a lot of work. So when my current house needed a new roofing job, I decided my body, while probably was still up to the task, really didn't need all that manual labor/wear and tear so I hired it out. Where as when I did it myself, it was a long couple weeks of work, this crew came in, stripped the roof, repaired some issues and got started shingling on day 1 and finished up well before noon on day 2. The only thing I did was provide some ice cold Gaterade for their breaks. I decided after that experience, my shingling days are done.

[GuitarStv]

My dad is 76 and lost his right leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident when I was a kid.  He successfully re-roofed his one story house by himself with a ladder and some gumption a few years back.  He fell off the ladder and broke his ankle which put a three month delay on finishing the re-roofing (and we're all pretty sure that dad keeps taking these risks because he's worried about going into a retirement home and is hoping to kill himself before he physically gets to that point).

So, I mean . . . it's possible to do.  I'm not sure I'd recommend it though.

[dougstash]

I’ve replaced multiple roofs. They are hard work. There is tear off, clean up, sheathing replacement where needed, layout, drip edge, gutters, ice and rain, underlayment, possibly valley flashing, step flashing, ridges, vents, and of course material handling. Getting supplies up to your roof is a task all by itself. It’s a lot of work. I will do more roofs in the future but I would not without hiring some extra hands. You need them to ensure the roof gets dried in before it rains. If you have little experience that could also factor into me recommending hiring a competent contractor to do it. With all of that said I’d double check the credentials of anyone who is going to charge only double what it costs to DIY. At least around here most roofers are pretty booked and as such they are charging more. Your area may differ but it’s something to keep in mid. I can’t really imagine them pulling any profit charging so little. Think of overhead they might have… a company truck, insurance, equipment, warehouse/storage/office, employee payroll and associated payroll taxes…

[Sanitary Stache]

I worked Friday and Saturday on a porch roof. Took off the old roof and made a repair to a rafter and sheathing. On Saturday an acquaintance who has a home improvement business came over to help. He has a connection to a slightly more local roofing crew. Three guys showed up on Sunday and replaced the main roof. And prepped the last porch. One of them is supposed to come back today. The other two were moonlighting from a roofing co tractor.

I would have been stressing about rain and working 5 hour days (cause that’s all I can handle of this type of work) until November if these guys hadn’t come save me. The price was $4,500 for the labor.

[Glenstache]

Get three quotes and write the check. It is hard to come out ahead doing the roof yourself, and you have someone to call if it leaks. I do a lot of DIY work (will return to HVAC work in the crawlspace after lunch... ugh), but a roof is worth paying to have done for all the reasons listed by others above.

[roomtempmayo]

I worked Friday and Saturday on a porch roof. Took off the old roof and made a repair to a rafter and sheathing. On Saturday an acquaintance who has a home improvement business came over to help. He has a connection to a slightly more local roofing crew. Three guys showed up on Sunday and replaced the main roof. And prepped the last porch. One of them is supposed to come back today. The other two were moonlighting from a roofing co tractor.

I would have been stressing about rain and working 5 hour days (cause that’s all I can handle of this type of work) until November if these guys hadn’t come save me. The price was $4,500 for the labor.

Good deal to get it done.

There are lots of reasons roofers work in crews, and not taking until November to get the job done is a big one.

[Sanitary Stache]

I am very glad that I hired roofers to do this work.  We have been experiencing some emotional effects from serious rainfall (rain is now scary and causes stress because soo much infrastructure is failing and people have died) and it would be so much worse if the roof was in the middle of replacement or had actually failed in this last storm.

I am going to add gutters myself to better control the water coming off the roof since it has caused some erosion on our steep banks.

[spartana]

Im Gonna get yelled at but Im one of those people who go up on my roof (alone) to do repairs, remove debris (including large tree branches) and have even re-roofed my old house solo. I like hanging out on my relatively small, single story,  not-too-steep roof just to look at the stars. I have "a system" of 2 ladders - one a 6 ft one with a large flat top to hold my materials and tools and a tall extention ladder next to it to that I go up half way, unload my stuff from the top of the short ladder to the roof edge, then go up onto the roof. Rinse repeat. That way I don't have to carry shingles or anything up a ladder. Once everything is on the roof I start working on it. It's a lot of work but still enjoy it. However if I were the OP I'd get some pros to do the big stuff and then finish off the smaller thing yourself. I doubt I'll ever do a whole roof replacement myself again (including hauling up 4 x 8 plywood under sheeting/underlayment) except on a very small home,  and even then very unlikely to do much but small repairs. But I still plan to go hang out on my roof - especially on cool evenings - and will do that as long as I can still climb a tall extension ladder safely.

ETA: just saw the OP hired someone! Curious how much it cost. I'm in the process of selling and moving so roofing won't be an issue but I did get a quote awhile back to have some large high tree branches cut and removed that were close to my roof, house, and especially powerlines and it was crazy high!. I just bought a pole chain saw, went up on my roof or on a ladder and did it myself.

[Just Joe]

I recently had two trees taken down by a crew for - - - $350. Crazy cheap. I initially priced just having them put on the ground and I would clean them up but for $100 more they cleaned up and left me the trunks laying on the ground. I may split those and make benches for around our fire pit.

I found these guys cleaning the right of way for the telephone company. Five guys and x3 trucks showed up, one pulling a chipper.

They new they could get it done in ~2 hours and they did.

[lthenderson]

I recently had two trees taken down by a crew for - - - $350. Crazy cheap. I initially priced just having them put on the ground and I would clean them up but for $100 more they cleaned up and left me the trunks laying on the ground. I may split those and make benches for around our fire pit.

I found these guys cleaning the right of way for the telephone company. Five guys and x3 trucks showed up, one pulling a chipper.

They new they could get it done in ~2 hours and they did.

Sometimes it pays to get lucky. About a decade ago, I saw a guy removing hundreds of trees from a nearby golf course and grinding the stumps. I asked what it would cost to grind out the 30 or 40 stumps I had in my yard. He quoted me a ridiculously low quote since was already in the area, actually lived several hundred miles away and had a crew that he wanted to keep busy. He would send them over to grind stumps for an hour or two every morning instead of standing around waiting for him to fell and remove trees first.

[Just Joe]

Yep, he told me if they had to travel or if it had to be schedule and not just when they could get to it, the price would be higher.

[spartana]

I recently had two trees taken down by a crew for - - - $350. Crazy cheap. I initially priced just having them put on the ground and I would clean them up but for $100 more they cleaned up and left me the trunks laying on the ground. I may split those and make benches for around our fire pit.

I found these guys cleaning the right of way for the telephone company. Five guys and x3 trucks showed up, one pulling a chipper.

They new they could get it done in ~2 hours and they did.

I'd likely hire that stuff out now if needed unless it was just topping trees. My old house was surrounded by Italian Cypress trees (maybe 75 in total) and they were really high but easy to just lop off in one big branches with a tall ladder and a bow saw (and me and the ladder harnessed to the trees). But the clean up was a pita. I have mixed feeling about DIY now. On the one hand I enjoy it and it make me feel both physically good and kind of accomplished and useful. On the other hand it just takes away from so many other things I like to do that I get a bit annoyed if I there's too many things (and there always is!!).

[Just Joe]

The difference in time between their method (chipper, 2 hours) and my method (a day of work, chainsaw, fire pit once the wood had seasoned enough to burn) is hard to compare. 

I have another tree I took down and my chainsaw conked out. Due to other projects and responsibilities, I still don't have that tree cleaned up. It'll burn well at least by the time I get it on to the fire pit.

I too like DIY work. Good for body and mind. Don't always have the necessary time if anything "goes wrong" like rotted out chainsaw fuel lines this time.

[WVstache]

I apologize, but I'm not reading all the replies.

I roofed in college.  Made decent money - know what I am doing.

I'm 40 now.  And have a job and a family.

It would take a compelling reason to get me on a roof.  Just not worth the risk.

The one exception I would make is if I decide to change my roof from architectural shingles to slate or tile. 

Shingles, you are paying maybe $400 to $600 a square.  Roofers get better deals on shingles than you do.  Retail, I pay like $280 a square for materials.  Let those roofers make some money for the work/risk.  They will have it done in 2 days max.

HOWEVER - if I go to a slate roof, retail would be $75,000+.  I can buy materials for maybe 20% of that and do the install myself.  Over time and with the proper equipment, scaffolding, etc.