Shelly and I enjoy writing about property management for a number of reasons, one of the main reasons is to hopefully prevent our readers from making the same mistakes we have, the other main reason is to show our readers a way to solve a problem.

We pride our selves on looking after our properties, and are huge believers in preventative maintenance, however, we recently made an error in judgement in waiting too long to replace a roof and it lead to a leak inside the house during a recent rain storm.

It all began about one year ago when a piece of aluminum facia blew off the edge of the building.  I had my general contractor re-attach it, and had him take a look at the roof surface.

He told me the wood under the aluminum facia was in poor condition, also the roof appeared to be close to the end of its life.

It is a flat roofed building, so I figured I would get a couple of quotes on flat roof replacement, and the cost of changing it to a pitched roof.

I had my general contractor price up the supplies for turning it into a pitched roof.  He suggested I contact a roofing specialist to get a quote on both a flat and a pitched roof.

I contacted a roofer and when they provided their

flat roof quote, it was cheaper than I expected, so I asked them to price up the cost to change it to a pitched roof.

That is where my problem began, over the next four months it became a game of telephone tag due to some staff turnover.  The roofing company I deal with also does snow removal, so I figured I would wait until March, then really be persistent and get the quote.

I know the company does great work, for extremely competitive prices, so I wanted to deal with them specifically.

The unfortunate part is due to my lack of persistence, the roof started to leak.

The great news, is that I contacted the company that I was getting to quote on the job and they came over and did an emergency repair.  I really appreciated there quick action and help.

Here is what I learned from the experience:

The company I was trying to get a quote from obviously care about there customers, and were able to help me in an emergency, so I really appreciated the service.

It would have been better for me to have been more persistent with this company or moved on to another company to get the roof replaced.

I also realized that I am really lucky, because we were able to stop the leak before it did any significant damage to the interior of the house.

It also reinforced the importance of preventative maintenance, I should not have delayed the roof replacement, as long as I did.

And of course I also learned that I got my full moneys worth out of the current roof.  We used it right to the end.

Until next time,

Design your landlord experience,

Michael P Currie

Also make sure to check out:

Spring Maintenance, 4 common concerns

What to look for when inspecting a rental property

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