Your roof is a complex system that’s largely responsible for keeping its occupants and essential interior belongings safe and dry. It’s meant to protect your home from harsh weather conditions and other natural elements. But even with regular care and maintenance, there will come a time when your roof is at the end of its lifespan. When that time comes, you’ll need to work with professional roofing companies to get a new replacement.
A roof replacement is a big investment, so it shouldn’t be taken lightly. It affects every aspect of your home from enhancing its visual exterior to keeping its interiors comfortable and dry. And depending on the type of material you choose, it even helps improve your home’s energy efficiency! But as you discuss with your hired contractor how they’ll undertake the renovation process, you’ll need to figure out how you can prevent accidental damage to your home’s exterior and landscape.
A successful roofing replacement takes careful planning and consideration with a capable contractor. And as one of the best roofing companies in the area, you can trust the team at Next Level Roofers to ensure your property stays intact during the renovation process. Of course, you can also take precautions to protect your home’s exteriors and landscaping with these useful tips:
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Check Your Home’s Surroundings – This is as simple as taking a stroll around your home’s exteriors and landscape before the project starts. You and your contractor will need to take note of any pre-existing damage or other issues by taking pictures or videos so that they won’t be falsely accused of something after the roofing job has been completed. They may even bring your attention to some damage that you haven’t noticed before the roof replacement starts.
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Protect Your Windows – Your windows will be one of the most vulnerable parts of your home’s exterior during a roof replacement job. This is because of the materials and debris that may fall off during the renovation process. Other tools or hardware can also scratch and break them if precautions weren’t taken. Make sure that your hired contractor has secured your windows with wooden boards especially while they remove the old roofing materials.
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Check Your Home’s Landscape – Professional roofers also know that inspecting the landscape is important before starting the roof renovation. This is to avoid costly accidents during the installation process. This includes the shrubs, bushes, and gardens around your home’s exterior. These should be covered by tarps so that they’re protected from falling debris and materials throughout the roof renovation process.
Even if other areas of your landscape such as children’s play areas, pools, and jacuzzis are at a safe distance away from your roof, it’s still important to take precautions to cover them, especially during windy weather. As for smaller plants and flowers, they’ll need additional protection to ensure they won’t get trampled accidentally throughout the roofing process. Make sure to place the tarps over some lengths of lumber carefully angled and leaning against the house walls. Also, make sure to check the weather forecasts in your area so that you can take additional steps to protect your property in case of strong winds!
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Cut Grass Before the Renovation Starts – This is one of the best ways to keep the site safe as it makes it easier to spot smaller debris such as nails and clean them off properly. Of course, most roofers use drop cloths and tarps to protect your landscaping and grass, but they’ll only cover the immediate perimeter of your home which is about 5-10 feet. Some debris and other objects could still fall further into your yard, so it’s still important to cut your grass the day before installation. Having your grass cut can also make the clean-up process quicker and more thorough.
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Ensure Proper Placement of Trash Bin/Dumpster – To efficiently throw old materials off the roof, contractors will figure out where to appropriately place your trash bin or dumpster. The bins are usually placed on your driveway, and to protect the pavement from dents and scrapes, they’ll put plywood sheets under them. When placing new materials such as stacked pallets of shingles on the driveway, there should be some tarps or plywood laid over to prevent damage. They should be placed on hard surfaces as well instead of on the grass to avoid “killing” it or leaving unsightly ruts in the yard.
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Keep the Site Clean – That means ensuring they have all the tools necessary to keep the site clean during the roofing process. This includes brooms, rakes, smaller garbage cans, and so on. We also suggest using other tools such as the magnetic sweeper for better convenience when cleaning. These can be used to sweep the entire area to catch nails and other small metal debris!
Other Tips to Keep in Mind
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Inform Your Neighbors – Before you start your roofing installation, you’ll need to inform your neighbors about the upcoming project as a courtesy. A roof replacement job will be noisy and full of commotion, which can distract your neighbors if they weren’t previously warned. The debris can also fall into their yard depending on the weather and their proximity, so it’s best to warn them about what may happen during the roofing process.
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Prepare the Exterior Power Outlets – The workers on your roofing project will also need access to your home’s electrical outlets, so be sure to mark the ones that they can use. If your garage runs on a separate circuit, we suggest letting them use its power outlets to prevent overloading while they use their equipment. You can do this by running extension cords from the garage or even the interior of your home if you don’t have any exterior outlets.
An experienced contractor knows how to ensure a proper roof replacement while also keeping your property intact. If you’re looking for a trusted contractor for your roofing project, Next Level Roofers is your best choice! To get started, call us at (407) 237-7960 or by filling out our convenient contact form online. We serve our customers in Florida, including The Villages (Leesburg) and Sumter County.
