Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, it is important to maintain your roof regularly. A well-maintained roof is essential for the overall integrity and longevity of your home. Neglecting your roof can potentially result in structural damage, leaks, a loss of energy efficiency, mold growth, animal intrusion, and other problems. On the other hand, a roof that is regularly inspected and kept in good repair provides the best protection from the elements, cost savings over time, and better home value.

The frequency of roof inspections can vary depending on several factors, such as the age of the roof, the type of roofing material used, the weather conditions in your area, and any previous issues or damage. As a general guideline, it is recommended to have your roof inspected at least once a year, but you should also consider scheduling an inspection after a severe weather event or before buying or selling a home.

This all depends on what needs to be done. Some roof repairs are simple and will only cost several hundred dollars. Others are very involved and can be many thousands. The best thing to do is to have a professional come out to do a thorough inspection, and advise you on what needs to happen.

There are a few ways to tell if your roof will need to be replaced or if a repair will handle it. One is the age of the roof – if your roof is over 20 years old it’s not a very good idea to try to repair it. At this point, the shingles are old and brittle, and repairing them is quite difficult. Plus any repairs will just have to be removed when the roof needs replaced in the near future. There are other signs that you need to replace your roofs like curling/cracked shingles, blown-off shingles, dark spots on your roof, or even excessive moss growth.

Some roof repairs need to be done to fix errors that were made during the installation. As long as these are fixed correctly, then the problem should not be recurring. However, another problem that can occur is when a roof leak is diagnosed incorrectly. Many times when a roof leak shows up in a home, it can be difficult to figure out exactly where it’s coming from. If you look right above where the leak is occurring everything will look fine. This can lead some inexperienced roofers to repair the wrong area, and in this case, the leak will not stop, and it happens more than you’d think. Roof leaks need to be properly diagnosed, as water can drip and run in directions that you may not expect.

This all depends on the amount of work that is needed to repair the problem area. The majority of roof repairs can be done in just a few hours. Some bigger and more involved roof repairs can span multiple days. The first step is finding what the actual problem is, then we can figure out what is needed to be done to fix it. When we diagnose repairs we will look for only the required amount of work to fix the problem to keep costs down and be as efficient as possible.

If you find a leak in your home, then there’s a very good chance you’ll have a bit of other repair work to do along with the roof. It’s been estimated that once a leak shows up in your home, you’ve already had at least a gallon of water come into your home. This is because it has to get under the shingles, travel down the plywood, find an entry point, soak into insulation, and finally puddle on the drywall before it will soak through the drywall mud and paint to show up inside your home. This is why it’s so important to get your roof installed right the first time and avoid these problems altogether. If it’s too late though, and the problem is already there, then catching it and getting it fixed as soon as possible is highly recommended!

Water that gets into a roof can travel in some very unintuitive ways. It can travel many feet across the roof (instead of down) in some circumstances. After it gets through the shingles and into the attic, again it can travel along beams, across ceilings, and down walls to end up in some weird spots. A lot of the time the area you’d think the water is coming in is not where it actually is coming in. The best way to find a leak is to know how a roof is put together, and where the potential weak spots are. With the proper experience and training, a professional will be able to point these out so they can be fixed the first time, rather than fixing the wrong area of the roof.

This all depends on the size and difficulty of the roof. Your average home with a walkable roof should take between 1-3 days to completely remove the old roof and install the new roof. If you have a large, complicated, or steep roof these will all add extra time.

There are many factors that go into the price of a full roof replacement: Size; Pitch (steepness); Difficulty; Scope (multiple layers and other work that needs to be done). Most roof replacements we do fall between $12,000 and $18,000 – which includes our full process listed above.

If you find shingles in your yard, this is a major indicator of failure. Others are curled or cracked shingles, or dark spots on your roof (a sign of granule loss). If your roof has any of these indicators it will deteriorate quickly over the next few years and should be replaced soon.

If you have damage from a storm, such as a wind storm or a hail storm, then there is a good chance insurance will pay for part or all of your roof replacement. If it’s just getting old and at the end of its life, then it is not a candidate for an insurance claim.

When installed correctly, a new roof should last 25-30 years or more. This is due to proper workmanship as well as a quality product. Many roofs we’ve inspected were installed so quickly and with little care and started leaking or having other problems less than 5 years after the installation.

We always recommend tearing off the existing roof before installing the new one. In fact, we won’t even install a new roof over an existing roof (known as a layover). This is because it prevents us from inspecting the plywood and the whole roof could fail shortly after it was installed. Since we stand fully behind all our new roofs, we can’t take this risk (and we recommend you don’t either)!

Sometimes, but not always. We’ve seen many cases where a roof that has many years of life left was already leaking. Why? Because of poor workmanship. Whoever installed it did not take the time to do it correctly (usually by taking some shortcut), and water started getting into the home the very next time it rained after the installation. To be sure, give us a call at (208) 487-6617 and take advantage of our free roof inspection!