Does It Make Sense To Save Now & Spend Later? Part 2
Our last post tried to give you an overview of the thought process of trying to save now and spend later. Going over the pros and cons, the idea of saving money on your roof now and to put off spending a large amount of money with the hope of being in a better position to do so in a few years.
The idea for the post comes from years of hearing stories of homeowners trying to do this and having clients going through the process.
That being said, we wanted to give you a real-world example of what a client went through trying to save in the short term.
The Best Laid Plans…
Our client had a 30-year-old home, with two courses of asphalt shingles on the roof and if was time to re-roof. They wanted to go with a metal roof but kept their options open while getting estimates for their new roof.
After sitting with 6 different contractors they were faced with a number of options all more expensive than the next. They wanted to be able to take care of the roof and not have to worry about it again. Something we hear all the time.
They looked at their options and their budget. The owners came to the decision that while they knew what the really wanted, the idea of coming up the funds now would just be a mountain they couldn’t climb at the time. So they thought to save now and spend in a few years.
The homeowners went with the cheapest estimate with the thought of going this route would give them time to save the money over time and buy a metal roof when they were in a better position. Thinking that if they could 5-10 years out of this short-term shingle roof it would all work out in the end.
Unfortunately, things don’t always work out as we plan. They started having problems with their new roof after just over a year. A loose shingle here, a flashing problem there, then a leak. Each time having to spend more money to fix the problems as they turned up. Then the crazy storms started popping up.
Nature Doesn’t Help Matters Either
As you know, we’ve had some pretty crazy storms hit us over the last few years. High winds, crazy cold, and intense rainstorms. When all this hits a sub-par roof, it’s a recipe for homeowner headaches.
3 years into these homeowners new roof, they knew the needs to take a look at having their roof replaced again. In the quest of trying to save now, they ended up spending an additional $2500 over the course of those 3 years to keep the roof from leaking and shingle from flying off.
It’s hard for a homeowner to know exactly what they are paying for, or in this case how the contractor was able to bring in such a low estimate. It could be the quality of the materials used or the quality of the installation itself. Any combination will end up in a subpar roof.
No Matter How Bad, There is Always Help
The sad part of this story is the owners, after spending the extra $2500 were only $700 away from a better, more reputable contractor. And now, about 7 years before they thought they would have to they are replacing their roof again. Only this time they are biting the bullet and going ahead with a standing seam metal roof and looking forward to 50 years of not thinking about again.
We were happy to help these homeowners and would be happy to help you with your new roof. No matter what material you’d like to use for your roof, DYMI Construction is happy and capable to answer all of your roofing questions. Just give us a call or drop us a line.
