Is your roof giving you trouble? It’s not an issue to take likely. After all, your roof is your home’s first line of defense against the elements. It’s one of the most important components of your house.
If your roof isn’t in good condition, it could be letting in rain and moisture. It might be letting a lot of hot air in in the summertime, and letting warm air out in the wintertime. And it also might be allowing pests to get under your shingles and into your attic.
Roof Repair vs replacement, how do you know which is right for you? Regardless of how small or large, your roofing problems are, it needs to be dealt with immediately before it becomes an even bigger problem.
How Much Do Roof Repairs And Replacement Cost Today?
Roof repairs and replacement are undoubtedly an expensive house project, but it’s an investment for your home and safety. Before any potential repairs and replacement, you should be financially prepared. Ideally, it’s best to set aside funds for household repairs and renovations alone.
According to Home Advisor, roof repairs cost an average of USD $990, with minor fixes ranging from USD $150 to USD $400, which is quite a significant amount from your pocket. Before hiring roofing professionals for repair, a good tip is to check your roof first for any clogs because unclogging them yourself will significantly reduce your fees in hiring professionals. Ideally, you can only do so if you can confidently perform the task well for safety reasons.
For major repairs, you’ll need to contact roofing experts and spend from USD $1,500 to USD $7,000. Typically, major repairs involve more than roof work, such as HVAC, plumbing, engineering, and electrical work.
Without question, the cost of a new roof is significantly higher than that of repairs. If your roof badly needs replacement, you shouldn’t hesitate in replacing it as pushing for repairs will only waste your money. A new roof usually costs USD $8,000 and more. Comparing it to major repairs that cost up to USD $7,000, it would be wiser to replace your roof.
Keep reading to learn when to hire a roofing contractor, and how to decide if you need an entire roof replacement, or if you can settle for a more affordable roof repair.
The Age of the Roof
The first question you should ask if how old your roof is. Most Americans have a standard asphalt roof. Asphalt shingles are only designed to last for about 25 or 30 years if you’re lucky.
Once they reach their mid-20s, asphalt shingles start to deteriorate quickly, especially in northern climates where snow and ice sit on top of them for months at a time.
Whenever you move into a new home, you should always ask the previous homeowner how old the roof is. If you don’t know, a roof company may be able to give you a rough idea of its age.
But in general, if your roof is more than 20 years old, it’s best to consider a replacement rather than a repair when comparing roofing options. At this point in time, repairs are only going to be bandaids on the larger problem at hand.
Check Underneath
When considering the health of your roof, you always want to check underneath the shingles as well. There should be something called underlayment.
These are sheets of material placed under the shingles to prevent and moisture from getting into the house, should moisture be able to get under the shingles.
If your roof is older, there may not be underlayment under your shingles. As early as 30 years ago, it wasn’t yet nationwide standard to put a layer of plastic under the shingles. Today, however, it is.
So if your roof is missing a layer of underlayment, you’ll need to tear off the old shingles and install a new roof, starting with underlayment. A trusted roofing company like Trinity Roofing and Restoration would be able to evaluate your current underlayment and replace it if necessary.
Look for Missing or Damaged Shingles
If you look at your roof and notice that there are individual shingles that are damaged or missing, you may be able to have those repaired with ease.
Fixing and replacing individual shingles is quite easy for a roofing contractor to do. It’s possible that in a storm or heavy weather for individual shingles to come loose.
Also, check for warped shingles. Warping or bending can happen to shingles due to intense amounts of sunlight over time.
If the shingle problems are contained to just a few shingles, you can get away with a simple and cheap repair.
However, if the single problems are numerous across the roof, that can be a sign of aging shingles or poor installation of your previous roof. A replacement would be a better option unless you want to continually pay for repairs throughout the year.
You Want to Improve Appearance or Efficiency
Are you hoping to improve the appearance of your home by changing the way your roof looks? Or do you want to improve your home’s energy efficiency by improving roofing materials? Then you’ll need to replace the roof entirely.
When you decide to replace the roof, you have more options than you realize. Most homeowners stick with the most budget-friendly, black asphalt shingle roof.
These offer a basic appearance that looks pretty good for a couple of years. But there are other types of roofing materials to consider. You can opt for an upgraded type of asphalt shingle for an improved appearance. Of you can choose a different material altogether, like tile or synthetic tile, made of rubber.
On top of improved aesthetics, other types of roofing materials may be more energy-efficient as well. Certain materials, such as metal, can help reflect the sunlight away from the home, whereas asphalt generally absorbs the sun’s rays, causing your home to heat up.
Better roofing material can also add extra insulation, keeping your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
Plus, most other roofing materials last way longer than asphalt shingles. So while you will pay more upfront, you may never need to replace your roof again, depending o the material chosen.
Tear Off the Old When Adding a New Roof
If you opt to add a new asphalt roof to replace your old one, the temptation is to add it over the existing one. This has been common practice in recent decades, as it saves time and money.
But for best results, it’s best to spend a little extra to have the old roof completely removed. That way, if there are any repairs that need to be made to the structure of your roof, they can be made.
You’ll also get a brand new, modern layer of underlayment to offer the best protection from moisture. And the tiles will go on perfectly and will look much better than if you were to install new tiles right on top of old ones.
For best results, you’ll want to ensure the old roof is torn off, a job that may only take a couple of hours for an experienced company.
Roof Repair vs Replacement: How to Choose
Roof repair vs replacement, which should you choose? It really comes down to the age of your roof and the extent of the damage.
If the roof is less than 20 years old, and the damage is small, repairs should be fine. But if your roof is over 20 years old, you’re going to have to make regular repairs to it. You might as well replace it and not have to think about it for another 20 or 30 years.
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