What to do before the roofing crew arrives

A roof replacement is a big, loud job that happens directly above your head, and most residential installations are done in one to three days. A bit of preparation the day before makes the whole thing go faster and protects the things that are easiest to damage.

Outside: clear the perimeter

Move vehicles well away from the house. Out of the driveway is not far enough. Park them where falling debris and the dumpster cannot reach them. The same goes for anything with a trailer or a boat parked alongside.

Then clear the ground around the walls:

• Outdoor furniture, grills and planters
• Decorations, wind chimes and anything hanging on an exterior wall
• Potted plants sitting against the foundation
• Children's toys and anything light enough to be moved by wind

Anything that cannot be moved, such as an air conditioning unit or established landscaping, should be pointed out to the crew so it can be covered or worked around deliberately.

Trim the branches

Overhanging branches get in the way of the work and they are a hazard for people carrying materials on a slope. Trimming anything that reaches the roofline before the crew arrives is worth doing.

It also does the roof a favour independently of the job. Branches that touch a roof abrade the surface and hold moisture against it, which is a slow way to shorten its life.

Inside: the vibration is real

This is the part people are not warned about. Tearing off and re-nailing a roof produces steady vibration through the structure, and things on walls and shelves in upper rooms move.

Take down framed pictures and mirrors in upstairs rooms, particularly anything heavy or irreplaceable. Move ornaments off open shelving. If you have anything hanging from an upper ceiling, take it down for the duration.

The attic is worth ten minutes too. Dust and small debris come down between the decking boards during a tear off, so cover anything stored up there or move it out. Cardboard boxes of photographs are the classic casualty.

People, pets and the day itself

Work usually starts early to get ahead of the heat. If somebody in the house works nights or you have a baby napping in the afternoon, say so when the job is scheduled rather than on the morning.

Pets should be somewhere quiet at the back of the house or out for the day. The noise is genuinely startling to a dog, and gates being opened and closed by crew carrying materials is how animals get out.

You do not need to be home for the whole job, but being reachable matters. Once the old roof is off, the decking underneath is visible for the first time, and if there is rot that was not visible before, someone will need a decision from you.

What good looks like at the end

Cleanup is part of the job, not a favour. That means a magnetic sweep of the driveway and lawn for nails, debris cleared from beds and gutters, and the dumpster gone on schedule.

Walk the perimeter yourself afterwards anyway. It is your driveway and your kids' feet, and a second pass costs nothing. Anything you find, point it out. A crew that stands behind its work would rather hear it from you than from a neighbour.