If you’re proud of your yard and landscaping then you’re probably wondering how they’ll be protected during your upcoming roof replacement. Don’t worry, the local reputable roofing contractor you hire will take good care of your yard, landscaping, and more.
Bill Ragan Roofing has been providing high-quality roofing services to the residents of Nashville for over 30 years. We always take the utmost precautions to ensure your property is protected anytime we’re working on your roof. Always willing to answer any concerns clients or the public have, I’m going to educate you on how your property is protected during your roof replacement.
By the end of this article, you’ll know what a contractor does to protect your property and what you can do yourself.
How a contractor protects your property during a roof replacement
One of the main jobs of a roofing contractor is protecting your property anytime they’re on your roof. This is especially important during a roof replacement. To protect your property they’ll cover your attic, landscaping, move anything on your patio, and stay on only paved surfaces.
Covering your attic
During the roof tear-off process your attic gets a good dusting of roofing debris that’ll cover everything you have up there. And when the shingle installation process begins, the nails coming through the decking add to the debris with a bunch of little wood splinters. This causes a mess that can ruin whatever you have in your attic if it isn’t properly covered.
To protect your attic, your contractor will either put plastic up on the ceilings and make a tent so it shields everything or lay tarping or plastic to cover everything up. After your roof replacement is completed, they’ll roll the plastic up and take all the debris out with them as part of the cleanup process.
You know better than your contractor what’s in your attic and if anything in there needs to be covered. If you have nothing up there then there might not be a reason to cover it. Everyone’s situation is different and it’ll be up to you and your contractor to decide how much protection your attic will need
Tarping the foliage/landscaping around the base of your home during the tear-off process
If you’re proud of the landscaping or foliage around your home, one of the first things you should ask your contractor is how they’ll protect it. Roofing contractors have come up with a simple and effective method for this.
Your contractor will angle a tarp that’s secured from the gutters down to a “dump” tarp on the ground to cover the foliage and landscaping that surrounds the base of your home.
When the roofing debris lands on the angled tarp, it’ll slide down to the ground instead of falling and damaging your plant life.
Moving everything off your patio or deck
If you have a nice patio or wooden deck, everything on it will have to be moved to ensure none of your items get damaged. You can move these things yourself but a contractor is more than happy to protect your property any way they can.
Before your contractor starts the replacement process, they’ll take pictures of the way everything was laid out on the patio or deck. They’ll move everything a safe distance away and begin replacing your roof.
After the replacement and cleanup, they can look at the pictures to place everything the way it was before they got there. The only time they won’t move something is if it’s connected to a gas line, like a grill. In that case, they’ll take plywood and make some kind of shelter to protect it.
Covering your pool
Your pool was an investment just like your roof replacement. So it’s important for you to know how your contractor will protect it.
Your roofing contractor must cover your entire pool with a fresh out of the wrapper tarp. The tarp will be left covering your pool until the entire roof replacement process is completed.
If the tarp isn’t new or if the pool isn’t covered at all, the fiberglass in the air from the shingles being torn off will stick to the top of the water. The fiberglass will run through the filter and clog and potentially damage your pool’s pumps.
Staying on paved surfaces
When your roof is replaced, all the contractor’s vehicles have to stay on paved surfaces. The reason for this is to protect your lawn, landscaping, and everything lying underneath the ground.
You don’t want a truck with a dump trailer tearing through your grass causing divets and ripping up the lawn you’re proud of. This also goes for anything underneath like sprinkler systems, gas lines, power lines, septic tanks, etc.
The last thing you and the contractor need is a heavy truck sinking into the ground and hitting a septic tank, causing it to rupture. Your contractor should always protect your yard and the important things underneath by keeping all vehicles on paved surfaces.
What can you do to protect your property during a roof replacement?
The contractor you hire will protect the outside of your home and the attic if it needs to be covered. The only thing you, as the homeowner, will have to protect is whatever is hanging on the walls in your home, especially if the installation method is hand nailing.
You can take things down until the replacement is completed or you can make sure they’re firmly secured so the vibrations won’t knock them down. I recommend that if you have anything irreplaceable or valuable on a shelf, in a hallway, or on a mantle, just take it off and set it on the floor.
But in the end, it’s up to you how to protect your pictures or everything else you have hanging up in the interior of your house.
What does the entire roof replacement process look like?
The contractor you hire should do everything they can to protect your home, yard, and anything else on your property when they’re working on your roof.
Protecting your property is a huge part of the roof replacement process. But do you know the rest of the process?
If you don't, you're not alone. Most people don't know what to expect on the day their roof is replaced.
Understanding the replacement process is crucial to ensure you're prepared for the most important day in your roof's life. To help you further, we already broke it down for you.
The team at Bill Ragan Roofing has been replacing roofs in the Nashville area since 1990. We give you an experience rare in the roofing industry with our high-quality workmanship and honesty. That's why we're proud to provide you with a lifetime warranty.
Check out this article on the 8-Step Process to Replace Your Roof so you know exactly what to expect on the day of your replacement.
