Does your roof need to be replaced, or can it be repaired? For Birmingham-area homeowners, repair always sounds less expensive, but is it really? How do roofers know if a home’s roof can be repaired or should be replaced?
Unbiased
You may suspect roofing contractors make decisions about roofs based on their needs. They need a new air compressor, so you need a new shingle or metal roof. Nope! A roofer earns and keeps your business by performing a careful, unbiased inspection and speaking frankly with you about your roof’s health.
Roofers realize a typical Birmingham-area homeowner may only replace one roof in a lifetime. All the other roofing services turn you into a repeat customer, so expect a roofer to provide an honest, unbiased appraisal of your home’s roof.
Four Considerations
An excellent residential roofer uses four factors to determine if your Alabama home’s roof can get by with repair or requires a complete roof replacement:
- The roof’s actual age — All roofing materials eventually give out; your roof may be near the end of its expected life span
- The roof’s weather age — Your roof may have suffered years of scorching sun, driving rains, and high winds; it simply will not last another year
- The quality of roofing materials — Typically, metal roofs outlast shingle roofs, but a cheaply made, thin metal roof may not survive the next Gulf storm; every roofing material comes in a range of quality, so your roofer will check out your roof to see if the original owner opted for “bargain” materials
- The quality of the installation — Good materials plus excellent installation make for a roofing success; a good contractor can make modestly priced materials last many years, while a bad contractor can ruin expensive roofing materials
No Go
It is the roofer’s job, not yours, to navigate your roof, crawl around your attic, and develop options for repair versus replacement. Residential roofs are “steep-slope” roofs and are very dangerous. Stay off your roof!
Your roofer will safely inspect your roof to:
- Determine its age
- Evaluate weathering damage
- Uncover earlier repairs
- Judge the quality of installed materials
- Assess the existing installation’s quality
After the inspection, your roofer’s representative will sit down with you to discuss roof replacement vs. repair.For your Birmingham-area home, please contact us today at Yellowhammer Roofing. We look forward to working with you to protect your home’s roof and everything — and everyone — beneath it!
