The Costly Dangers Of Delaying Basic Repairs To Your Home

Homeownership can be a perpetual headache. Daily chores and routine home maintenance are bad enough, but inevitably, something someday is going to break. It could be a hole in the drywall or an outlet that stops working, but whatever it is, it's beyond your skill to fix on your own, and the hassle and cost of bringing in someone to do the job just seems like too much. If it's not supporting the very structure of the house, surely it can wait. After all, the price of home repairs is on the rise; inflation's made its mark, the supply chain still isn't settled, and there are more repairs outstanding than there are handypeople to fix them.

According to Today's Homeowner, which surveyed 1,000 homeowners in 2023 about homeowners insurance, the vast majority of American homeowners (82%) report having at least one issue in their homes in need of repair. However, nearly 60% of them were choosing to put off fixing those issues due to cost concerns. But as difficult as it might be to manage the cost of home repairs, it's better to take care of them when you first catch them than to wait and see. Home repairs put off today could easily cost you much more tomorrow, as we'll soon see.

Declining systems and minor damage to pieces of a house can't be counted on to stay minor forever. A few roof shingles blown off by a storm might not seem like much, and not worth the cost — $150 to $1,500 as of 2024 (per Forbes). But leave those shingles alone for too long, and you're guaranteed a leaky roof that can end up staining your walls and ruining your home's insulation, to say nothing of the condition of the roof itself after taking on all that water damage. A full roof replacement can be anywhere between $6,000 and over $60,000 (on average, according to Forbes and Angi), depending on materials and the age and size of the house — and that's before factoring in the cost of repairs the rest of the house will need at that point.

As above, so below; repairs to a home's foundation average out to $4,500 (per This Old House), not an insignificant sum. When they catch early warning signs of foundational troubles, such as cracks or bowing walls, many homeowners sell before the damage. But eventually, that damage needs to get fixed, and if left to grow too long, the price tag can jump as high as $25,000.

As intimidating as home repair costs can be today, there are ways to offset at least part of the bill. The cost of homeowners insurance is on the rise, moving some to adjust their policies, with 78% of Americans reporting reducing coverage due to cost considerations, according to Nationwide. But if the expense can be shouldered, it's probably best to bear it. For accidents, weather, and vandalism, it can be vital if you have it and sorely missed if you don't. (On that note, here's how to determine if you have enough homeowners insurance.)

But don't count on your homeowners insurance to cover home repairs that have been put off, and therefore grown more expensive with time. Insurance policies have conditions for coverage, and delaying repairs after initially spotting the damage may violate your plan. To go back to the example of damaged shingles on the roof, letting those sit and the collateral damage fester may well end in your claim being denied, leaving you to eat the full cost of repairs.