Let’s say you have a 4645m² roof, with a 10-year design life. The cost to install it was R 500-00m². That means the roof cost R 2 322 500-00 to install. The cost per year of the roof is R 232 250-00. If the roof is not maintained, and it only lasts half of its design life, the yearly cost of this roof jumps to R 464 500-00 a year. If that happens, in 5 years, you will need another R 2 322 500-00 to replace it.
The cost to maintain a roof averages about 2 percent of the roof installation cost per year. In our example, that means R 46 450-00 a year. Over 10 years, that means R 464 500-00. Spending that money to keep the roof maintained means the roof should last its full service life, which in turn means that you will only have to spend that R 2 322 500-00 once. So even though you have spent R 464 500-00 over the roof’s service life, you may well have saved R 1 858 000-00 by not having to replace the roof prematurely.
The diagram below depicts the various weights of popular roofing systems in South Africa, this plays a crucial role, in the future longevity of your roof, it also depicts how much maintenance will be required for the structure, to support the roof in years to come.
The diagram below depicts the time taken to install a basic 300m² roof in South Africa, at present, with 5-6 labourers:
