Roof repairs are a waste of money!

The cost of roof care and maintenance VS the cost of repairing a leaking roof

One of the most challenging sales roofing contractors faces is ongoing service and maintenance agreements. Something we know as contractors who do this work every day. It is vital to the successful long-term service life of any commercial roof. My theory is “out of sight, out of mind.” Most owners pay little to no attention to the roof until the roof is leaking and doing damage and disrupting their tenants. And if you are a commercial owner or manager, you know tenants often need more patience. Can you blame them, however? They need to keep making money just like the rest of us. Right?

What does a repair cost?

To start with, in most circumstances, any repair is a band-aid. It is meant only to keep your roofing going for a bit longer. Any money spent on a repair is too much under most circumstances. There are always exceptions, for example, some kind of physical damage due to an impact on an otherwise sound roof. But if the roof is old and it’s beginning to leak here and there. That is a sure sign that it’s nearing the end of its service life.

In our company, we typically start at the low end of $800 and up to as much as $10,000 or more for a repair. Unlike some other companies, we are very transparent with our clients. Letting them know if we think the repair is worth doing or not. And if they choose to do a repair, what to expect? We did a few repairs on one commercial building. It was leaking due to several installation mistakes by a contractor unknown to us. At about $15,000 in repair cost, the owners decided to have us apply a liquid roof restoration. This building was only 15 years old and should not have been leaking. The entire cost of the restoration was $30,000. But to this owner, the total cost ended up being $45,000.

Disruption to the tenants

Owners and managers depend on the tenants to make their living. The tenants depend on the building being in good condition to earn their living when a leak disruption challenges the tenant’s means of making a living, which could range from a simple annoyance to a shutdown for more significant repairs. They don’t like that. And I don’t blame them; neither would I. They may leave and take their leasing payments if the problem is severe enough. What does it cost to find a suitable tenant? More than losing one, that’s for sure.

What does a roof care and maintenance plan cost

Let’s talk about warranty. Every warranty I know of has some general roof maintenance and care requirements in its terms. If you don’t do these minimal things, any warranty claim may be denied, and you are on the hook for the total repair cost. Any warranty never covers negligence. It’s a strong word, but that is precisely what it is.

At our company, we offer what is known as a no-dollar-limit labor and materials warranty backed by the manufacturer we use. If there is a problem, the repair cost is completely covered. However, like most warranties, there are exceptions for negligence, even with a strong warranty like ours. You have a minimal burden to keep the roof in good condition.

We average charge from $1500 to $5000 (prices vary depending on the size and complexity of the roof care plan) per year for an ongoing roof care and maintenance plan, much less than the potential cost of repairing leaking roofs and several other associated costs. Remember the example I gave before. That owner spends half the cost of commercial roof restoration on repairs. The roof will perform longer and last longer.

When all is said and done. A roof care plan is one of the most intelligent and cost-saving things you can do for your commercial roof.

We offer free roof surveys and estimates. HERE