It has always been said that a bad roof can only get worse if people don’t act on it immediately. However, a delayed repair job could also become more expensive, sometimes reaching the 6-digit price range, as one church in Pittsburgh has found out. According to the Ellwood City Ledger, the repairs to the 120-year old St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Beaver Falls will cost at least $1.5 million, including roof restoration work; an amount that the local diocese simply can’t afford.
What does this mean for households in Maryland? Well, for one thing, some of the materials used in building church roofs are the same ones used in making residential roofing systems, like slate and cedar. While these two have fairly long service lives, they can and will deteriorate given enough time, which means that homeowners still need to keep in touch with their favorite roofing contractors for roof repairs or restoration work. Some of these contractors, like the guys from Roof Masters who offer services for roofing in Rockville, MD, and elsewhere, even offer free inspections and estimates for any bad roof that they’ve been called upon to work on.
These free offers are quite useful, especially for roofs that can be very expensive to repair. Case in point are slate tiles, which normally last for about 50 or more years. What adds to their price is the fact that these materials are derived from natural rocks (which means they’re not “manufactured”) and they require the assistance of roofing professionals before they can be installed. One homeowner in Mississippi has managed to build his slate roof by himself, although the process was admittedly slow, installing only 100 sq. ft. a day on his 2,240 sq. ft. roof.
If repairs and maintenance work are already difficult for these durable, high-quality roofing materials, then what more can be said for the relatively weaker, yet more affordable products like asphalt shingles? Short of calling in professional roofers for some minor roof restoration, homeowners can perform quick fixes like installing aluminum flashings underneath the damaged or broken shingles on the roof. However, this requires some construction know-how that roofers are more likely to have, so it may be best to simply call the experts. Fortunately, some contractors that offer roof repair in Rockville, MD, like Roof Masters, are always available even for the most minor patch-up work that their clients from Maryland and Northern Virginia ask them to do.
(Article Information and Image from Former parishioners trying to save St. Mary’s, Ellwood City Ledger, January 2, 2014)
