Reasons That You May Need a Roof Replacement

Carrying out a roof replacement project is full of obstacles, and isn’t necessarily the most fun process for homeowners to go through. If you can find a high-quality roofing company to work with, it can be a bit easier, but its still something that you should not rush into without preparing for it.

Replacements are expensive, often costing over $10,000. Typically, when you drop that kind of money on something, you hope to use it every day, like your car. Though you are using your roof every day, as it protects you from wind and rain, it often doesn’t feel like it.

So how do you know that this expensive, disruptive, and often ignored project is something that you actually NEED?

In this blog, we go over some reasons that you may need a roof replacement, including:

• Aged shingles
• Damaged roof decking
• Extensive hail or wind damage
• Updated building code regulations
• Increasing your home’s value

Let’s get started!

Aged Shingles

The most common reason that your roof will need to be replaced, is that it has aged to the point where your shingles are no longer protecting your home they way they should be. This happens because of the beating they take over time.

Shingles are designed with granules of rock and metal that are fixed to an asphalt mat in the middle of the shingle. As the shingle is exposed to sunlight and other elements, the granules will come loose and fall off, reducing the shingle’s thickness, and ability to protect your roof.

Shingles also become more likely to receive wind damage over time, as the asphalt sealant that seals them to each other will start to wear down. Stronger winds will be able to blow up under these weakened shingles, and can create creases, or even blow them clean off. Having shingles with an advanced age is quite dangerous for a roof, and because this is a condition that affects the whole roof, a replacement will be required to deal with it.

The age at which this will happen though, depends on what kind of shingles you have on the roof.

Three-tab shingles, which are the least expensive kind of shingle, should last 10 to 20 years depending on the conditions, while architectural & luxury shingles, which have a more dimensional look to them, often last between 25 and 30 years.

Damaged Roof Decking

If your roof decking, which is the wood that your shingles are nailed to, has received any extensive damage from tree debris, or has started to show signs of widespread water damage, there’s a good chance that you’ll have to get your entire roof replaced to deal with the problem.

Leaks can pop up all over the roof, but they all are very likely to affect your roof decking. Your decking is the first place water goes after it infiltrates your roofing system. This water damage will show in dark patches in your attic.

To fix the decking, all of the leaky materials above it will have to be town off, then the whole sheet of decking replaced in order to ensure that it won’t happen again. If this damage is confined to a small area, you might be able to get by with just a repair, and replacing that section of shingles. However, if the damage is more widespread or in multiple areas, getting a roof replacement is going to be worth considering, especially on an older roof.

Hail or Wind Damage

Like we talked about earlier with the age of your roof, damage that occurs as a result of a hail storm or high winds can often lead to a roof needing to be replaced. Hail can dent, punch holes in, and crack shingles, while wind may blow up underneath them, potentially knocking them off of your roof, or causing creases that are both ugly to look at, and more likely to let water through.

Storms that cause this level of damage can often do significant damage to the entirety of your roof, rather than just one specific area, so that increases the likelihood that you'll need a roof replacement to solve the issues at hand, and prevent future problems. One silver lining that is worth mentioning, is that if you have adequate homeowners insurance coverage, it should be capable of paying for at least part of the damage that was caused by the storm, so hopefully that will be able to make the process easier for anyone dealing with that kind of damage.

Updated Building Code Regulations

As with all things, building codes change over time. We learn more about older materials are holding up every year, and that affects how the guidelines are set for future building projects. If your home was built, or your last roof was installed, a couple of decades ago, there’s a pretty strong chance that codes and laws have changed to the point where, your house is no longer up to par.

For example, we recently replaced the roof on a house where the entirety of the decking needed to be replaced, not because it was all damaged, but because it was thinner than the modern building code allows, and the old decking would not have been able to support the weight of the newer, stronger shingles.

So if you want to get back up the code, whether its for insurance purposes or selling the house, you’ll want to get that roof replaced to match what the laws in your area ask for now. Experienced local roofing companies should have the knowledge of your city or county codes, and the ability to bring the building up to code the right way.

Increasing Your Home’s Value

And last but certainly not least, a driving factor that you may have to get a roof replacement could be wanting to increase the value of your home before selling it. As anyone who’s bought a house knows, the last thing that you’ll want to do after that whole process is finished, is to start a major home renovation project.

As a result, a fresh roof replacement can make a home much more attractive to potential buyers, as it’s a project they wouldn’t have to do for at least a few decades after moving in. Additionally, it could also protect you from the buyer asking for more concessions to fix the roof after you’ve gone through much of the selling process.

If you’re interested in learning some more about how a roof replacement may affect the value of your home when it comes time to sell, check out our blog that we wrote on that topic!

On Tops Roofing has been helping Raleigh, NC homeowners through the roof replacement process since 1991. We’ve got the experience to handle everything that comes our way, so whatever your project requires, we are On Top of it!