One of the biggest investments most people own is their home and, like any good investment, it pays to take care of your home as well as possible and take care of any home improvement necessities as quickly as possible.
One of the most vital parts of your home and indeed the one that helps keep the majority of bad weather out of your living room is the roof. It is extremely important that you maintain your roof in great shape at all times. That being said, we also realize that a roof replacement is no small cost. With that in mind we put together a blog about how to take care of your roof and some tips on saving money on roof repairs. Enjoy
One of the first decisions that you will need to make if you have leaks in your roof is whether or not to be a cheapskate and simply patch the leak with new shingles or completely remove the roof. If you decide to completely replace it you also will then have to decide whether to put the new roof over the old one or remove the old one first and then put down the new one. Depending on the size of your house this can greatly affect the cost and should be discussed with your contractor beforehand.
As easy as it may seem to replace a number of shingles that, for example, were torn off or damaged during a storm, there is a downside to doing that. Unless you have new shingles that perfectly match the old shingles you may end up with a noticeable ‘patch’ in your roof that, if you try to sell the house, may not be appealing to new buyers.
That being said, if you do happen to have tiles that match and can affect a proper fix that will help your roof to last a few more years then we definitely recommend making the patch. This is especially true if you’re not planning on moving or selling for the next few years.
One thing to keep in mind is that, contrary to popular belief, a partial reroofing job actually will cost you more on a square foot basis than a complete reroofing job. This has to do with increased labor costs to remove the old roof and install new shingles and other new roofing parts.
In fact, if you are already contemplating having your roof partially done it may be a good idea, while the contractors are there with their men, ladders and other equipment, to just go for it and completely reroof the entire house.
Knowing exactly when to reroof your home means knowing a number of different variables including the type of shingles that you have, the type of wear that they face year in and year out from the weather where you live and obviously the actual age of the roof itself.
We mentioned before that there is also the choice of putting a new roof right over the old roof or removing the old roof before putting the new one on. What you do here depends on a number of things including the expense that you will encounter now and the possible future expenses that you will encounter depending on which way you go.
If you already have done this once then the decision actually has been made for you as the International Residential Code prohibits anyone from putting a third layer of roofing on any house. The main reason for this is that the weight of three layers of shingles can adversely affect the overall structure of your home and make it unsafe.
Leaving the old roof on and putting the new one directly over it will indeed save you money right now but the fact is that shingles attached directly to the roof deck will hold better and if you remove the old roof you will have direct access to them and be able to better determine if any of the roof deck itself needs to be replaced. Indeed this can be very valuable information because wood rot and inadequate sheeting fasteners can also be a huge problem and lead to even bigger problems.
Simply put, we realize that a new roof is a huge expense but it should also last you for at least 20 to 30 years and, if you do it right, it will be one less home maintenance task that you have to worry about, especially when storm season comes back. It may also save you money on your homeowners insurance so make sure to give your insurance company a call and take advantage of this if it does.