Roof woes - and the path forward

My roof sprung a leak, right in my kitchen. In a panic, I gathered some recommendations for roofers and called a few. Two came out and gave estimates. I did not tell either roofing company about the other.

One came out and took samples of my shingles, found they had failed, and tried to start the warranty process with the manufacturer. This included pulling off some of my shingles to send to the manufacturer. (The roofer replaced those shingles with temporary ones of an obviously different make.) The manufacturer needed proof of purchase to continue the warranty, and I did not have it since the roof was put on shortly before I bought the house, and the sellers had left the country and I had no way to track them down. So that roofer sorta stalled and said "Well, that sucks. So do you want us to put on a new roof for you anyway?"

The other roofer seemed enthusiastic about the possibility of claiming wind or hail damage, but found the replacement shingles from the first company and seemed to think this would somehow make it more difficult because now the roof had technically been partially repaired (or something?). I'm actually not really clear on what this roofer is saying, but he started out making it sound like he could easily get my insurance to cover a new roof but now he is making it sound like he can't, because now he's talking about trying to get me to finance the whole thing.

I make this sound like it happened fast, but it didn't. It's been slow, as I've had to prod the roofing companies for communication amid my already very busy schedule. Most days I don't even want to deal with it. I'm embarrassed to say this has stretched on not just for weeks but going on months. I do little things to keep things moving but it's getting closer to time to fish or cut bait.

The way I see it, I have three options. The first two have two variations, one with each roofing company:

A) try to get the roofing company to fight for my insurance claim
B) don't try to fight with my insurance, just pay the roofing company to put on a new roof
C) try to repair the leak myself

This last option has pros and cons. I'll list the pros that I know of first:

1) I have crawled up in the attic during a rainstorm to observe things, and I was successful at seeing exactly where water is coming in through my decking, so I am reasonably sure I could at least find the problem area.
2) I am pretty handy, and though I've never done roof work I bet I could Youtube it and borrow any appropriate tools I don't currently have; fixing it myself would be immensely satisfying
3) It would save me thousands of dollars in the short term (I would have to take time off from work, so I would be out more than just the cost of materials, but this would still be cheaper than paying a roofer)

And now the cons that I know of:

1) I have no experience working on roofs, so I could fail to fix the leak or even make the problem worse
2) I can't warranty or guarantee the work
3) It'd be a pain
4) There's a possibility I open something up to discover a larger problem, and I'm pretty sure it would be much harder to get a roofer to take over a project I started than to just have the whole thing be their project

Could another con be that it would cause me some sort of issue down the road--like with my insurance or something? Or if I sell my house?

So, I probably won't take option C. But I want to make sure I considered it fully. Let me know if you think I haven't.

What would you do? Have you ever been in this situation already?

Personally, I would add another diy con - and it's a biggie. The possibility of injury is always there, and has the potential to be very serious. Someone else doing it keeps you employed, alive, and in one piece. If someone else is injured, their workers comp will take care of them. Obviously, the hope is for no one to be injured. But, the risks roofers take is the bigger reason they get paid so well.

I DIY lots of things, and intend to keep doing so.


That's what I was doing, building a shed, when the ladder tipped out from under me.. now I have a crippled foot that prevents me working a full day, or walking any substantial distance without pain. I have also incurred costs running well into 6 digits due to the unfortunate timing of shattering a bone at the beginning of a large project with deadlines involved. Between the injury and the ripple effects, it's been pretty life-changing.

It hasn't stopped me DIYing at heights, but now when I work on a roof or a tall ladder I get the shakes and have aching muscles for days due to how tense it leaves me. Can't really recommend the experience.

If I was a more reasonable person, it certainly would have stopped me DIYing at heights.



As to your specific situation, what's your roof like? A modest sized simple gable roof at around 4/12 pitch, I'd do myself, and no doubt will again. I don't like steeper roofs and I wouldn't want to fuck about with a more complicated roof with lots of valleys, dormers, hips, skylights, etc.

Whatever your choice is, seems like it's time to get things moving.. winter is coming and around here roofers get damned busy in in fall!