Making good choices is crucial to lessening near and long-lasting costs connected to any residence enhancement. This is specifically true for large, complicated work like re-roofing. If trying to decide to re-roof or simply do a basic repair, essential decisions ought to be made prior to you hiring a roof repair contractor or roofing company to replace your roof.
The very first decision is whether to simply patch leaks and damaged locations or whether partial or total re-roofing is in order. If you choose the latter, you’ll also need to choose whether to replace shingles over your existing roof covering or whether to remove it. There are price differences in either case.
Going the Fixing Course – Repairing Your Roof
Fixing tiles as a result of wind or tree damage is reasonably easy and also affordable. Torn or chipped tiles can be removed, and replaced with brand-new ones. The downside is that unless your roofing system is relatively new and you happen to have spare tiles your patching work may not match the existing roof color. However this may be something you can live with if the repair work would prolong the life of your current roof covering for an additional 10 or 15 years! Nevertheless, if you prepare to market your home in the following couple of years, ask your service provider to get roof shingles that match as carefully as possible. A roof covering with a noticeable patch is unattractive and may dissuade prospective buyers.
Partial Reroofing Is an Option Too
If the damage is a lot more significant, partial re-roofing is an option that will certainly cost less than doing the whole roof. In addition, repairing a larger section of roof may blend better with the old roof because slight color distinctions will be less noticeable.
Counter to intuition, partial re-roofing work can be extra costly on a cost per square (a 10 ′ x 10 ′ area) basis, especially if an asphalt roof covering currently has 2 or more layers. All layers will certainly need to be eliminated in order for the partial re-roofing to proceed. So along with raised labor as well as disposal costs, you might face the opportunity of an uneven effect at ridges, with the old roofing system winding up a couple of inches higher than the new one.
Is a New Roof Cheaper over time?
Even if just part of your roof is revealing signs of wear, it’s smart to think about doing the whole job while the team is on-site with its scaffolding, ladders, and equipment. This will likely be cheaper than doing one component currently and the remainder in a couple of years.
When to reroof depends upon several variables, including the shingles’ wear as well as age, the environment in your area, and also your house’s susceptibility to future damages.
Detach or Roof Over?
Once you have actually decided to re-roof, you’ll have to choose whether to mount your brand-new roofing system over the existing one or whether to tear the old one off. Once more, the selection boils down to conserving a little cash now and also taking the chance of higher expenses down the road, or investing now to do the work right and lessen future costs.
If you currently have 2 layers of shingles, the decision is made for you. The International Residential Roofing Code states that you cannot put a new roofing system over two or more applications of any type of roof covering. Part of the reason has to do with weight and its impact on the structure of your house. A shingle in your hand might not feel as though it weighs much, but cover a roof with 1,500 square feet of them and you’re talking about a substantial amount of weight!
If you have just one layer of asphalt roof shingles, you may choose to have them removed even though you’re not required to. Doing so might conserve you money in the future. For instance, if you stay in an area that is subject to high winds, remember that shingles will hold better if attached straight to the roof deck. In addition, getting rid of the old roof shingles will certainly allow you to examine the roof deck or sheathing for damage.
The chance to see the condition of your roofing deck is important, insofar as you can check for wood rot as well as the visibility of inadequate sheathing fasteners. By making any type of necessary repairs and adding bolts to sheathing (particularly annular nails or screws), you will certainly avoid the significant losses created when sheathing blows off the roof covering, allowing rain to trigger substantial interior damage.
Starting your roofing work with a clean roofing system deck (old shingles and roof felt eliminated) will also allow you to have the alternative of adding an ice-and-water-shield membrane layer along the eaves. It must be applied to a clean deck but will assist in preventing damages as a result of ice dams.
A brand-new roof is a big expenditure but nonetheless will last you for decades. If you do it right you’ll have one less thing to worry about when tornado or blizzard winds blow. In the long-term, you’ll likewise wind up with even more money in your pocket.