Jessica 
My neighbor recently went through a complete gut renovation of the upper floor of her house. The cause of the renovation was a small leak in the corner of her bedroom that had been allowed to run for two years. The leak had been dismissed as being caused by a missing shingle and had worked its way down into the ceiling joist space and saturated the insulation in that area. The contractor that she finally hired to fix the leak said that the repair would be simple but in looking at the attic space he realized that the leak had saturated a large portion of the upper floor and that a complete gut renovation of half of the upper floor would be required. The fix of the roof was just the beginning of the repairs and the least expensive portion of the repair.
On the other hand my neighbor waited two years for a leaky roof corner to turn into a disaster in her upstairs bedroom. The water worked its way into the ceiling’s wood framing after the contractor discovered the water had entered the insulation in the attic. She claims that if they had only inspected the attic before her calling them she could have had an easy repair. As it stands now the water damage in the upper floor of her half of the dual residence is near complete – probably going to require a full gut renovation of half her home. The roof itself was just the first major part of the repair costs, the highest cost by far.
The mistakes that cost people the most
There are many mistakes that people make prior to contacting a roofer. Many of these are obvious, but there are some that are less than obvious to many homeowners. Of the many mistakes that are made prior to contacting a roofer, the biggest mistake that a homeowner can make is to select the lowest price bid for a new roof. This is one of the most obvious mistakes a homeowner can make when it comes to roof replacement Columbia MD.
When considering repairs to a roof some common mistakes of homeowners include choosing the cheapest roofing contractors to fix the roof, waiting for the roof to leak inside before fixing the problem, never inspecting the attic for signs of water entry before the problem becomes severe, and the worst mistake, contractors installing new roofing shingles on top of the old roofing without a full tear-off of the old roofing, including the old roofing decking. This can lead to a slow leak of moisture into the house with the worst of the damage occurring under the new roofing. I have seen this happen time and time again and it is just unbelievable to me that contractors are willing to offer such a product to homeowners in need of a new roof.
A roof that is maintained properly will last for a long time to come and with good quality roofing you can expect it to last for as long as twenty-five to thirty years or more. However, when a roof is not maintained properly and it starts to deteriorate just a few years past its useful life it can end up costing you a lot of money in repairs. So in the end, the maintenance of your roof to keep it in good shape and to last for a long time to come will end up saving you a lot of money in the long run in repairs to damaged roofing, had you taken the time to properly and timely maintain the roof to begin with.
What a new roof actually changes
When people typically here the word “roofing” they immediately think of a couple of scenarios. The first is that water is entering into the home through various leaks. The second is that a strong wind comes through and removes some or all of the shingles from the roof. Many homeowners who are in need of a new roof immediately assume that all they need to do is to remove the old roof and put a new one on. What they fail to realize is that there are a multitude of other components that make up the roof. These can include ventilation, flashing, skylights, and more.
A host of modern roof coverings are designed with enhanced water shedding characteristics to move water off the roof more quickly than their older counterparts. They are also engineered to withstand higher wind uplift forces. And lastly many of the roofing products on the market today have been designed with solar reflectance in mind. These roofing products are specifically designed to reflect solar radiation during the day in order to keep the temperatures in the attic cooler. An overheated attic can cause the shingles on the roof to bake on the inside of the roof. This can cause the shingles to deteriorate prematurely. In addition an overheated attic can cause cooling costs to skyrocket throughout the year.
Even when a house is receiving a complete re-roof, new roofing materials are only part of the renovation cost. Underlayment, flashings, and ridgecaps are typically replaced as well, all items that can spring leaks around chimneys, skylights, vents, etc. Typically such areas deteriorate slowly so that by the time water begins leaking into a ceiling above, other shingles appear to be just fine.
Signs you’re past the point of patching
The most common errors in how homeowners deal with leaks of their roofs are: 1. Choosing the lowest price for repairs to the roof 2. Waiting until a leak appears in the interior of a home before starting repairs to the roof 3. Not doing an inspection of the attic space before starting repairs to the roof 4. Having a contractor install new shingles on top of the old roofing materials without doing a complete tear-off of the old roofing materials first.
- Granule loss in your gutters. Not a little, but consistent buildup after rainstorms. This means the protective coating on your shingles is shedding, and the underlying material is now exposed to UV degradation.
- Daylight visible in the attic. If you can stand in your attic during the day and see pinpoints of light coming through, water can find the same path.
- Shingles cupping or curling at the edges. This usually signals moisture imbalance and age, and it means the shingles are no longer lying flat enough to channel water properly.
- Energy bills creeping up without explanation. Poor attic ventilation caused by compromised roofing often reads as an HVAC problem first.
When two or more of the above signs of roof decline begin to show in your home, it’s time to start thinking about the cost of patching instead of how to extend the life of your leaking roof. The cost of patching a roof will increase exponentially until it’s eventually more cost effective to have a new roof installed. Just like bailing water out of a sinking boat with a coffee mug, there comes a point where throwing more money at the problem will eventually fail.
What to expect from the replacement process
When searching for the best contractor to complete the work on your home there are many items to consider when reviewing the many options and materials that will be used on your home. Below is an example of a step by step guide for the process of removing and replacing a roof on a single family home. The process outlined below is general and may vary based on numerous factors. The best way to review the specific steps for your home would be to schedule an appointment for a free inspection and estimate with Homegenius Exteriors.
- Inspection and measurement of the existing roof, including decking condition beneath the shingles.
- Material selection, where you’ll choose shingle style, weight class, and color (more decisions than you’d expect, honestly).
- Tear-off of the old roof down to the decking, with inspection and repair of any rotted or soft sections.
- Installation of underlayment, then shingles, then flashing and ridge cap.
- Cleanup and final walkthrough, where a good contractor will check every valley and penetration point.
The work itself can take one or two days to complete for a full tear-off. The biggest disruption to your daily life will be cleaning up after the work has been done, but that is a small price to pay for a solid, long lasting roof.
Roofing in the Mid-Atlantic region presents unique challenges for homeowners. The freeze-thaw cycles of winter can cause damage to roofing materials, the humid weather of summer can cause roofing materials to deteriorate, and the occasional severe weather event can have a profound impact on a roof. For these reasons, it is critical that a homeowner chooses the best roofing materials for their home, and that the roof is installed correctly. Homeowners should be wary of bids that are significantly lower than those of competing contractors. The old adage, you get what you pay for, is particularly relevant when it comes to roofing.
(On a related note: be wary of any contractor who can tell if you need a new roof by inspecting from the ground with a pair of binoculars. If they won’t physically get on your roof and inspect it before giving you a quote to replace it, don’t hire them.)
So is it worth it?
The other thing that home owners are very interested in knowing when they call a roofer is whether or not they should be spending money right now to replace their roof, or if they can wait a few years, and save some money in the short term. That they can fix their old roof, rather than replacing it entirely.
Yes, there are times when it is absolutely necessary to spend the money to get a new roof. The roof on my house is now 15 years old. I can see the granules starting to flake off the shingles, but as of now, the roof is structurally sound and I have good attic ventilation. So I believe it will last another 10 years or so. But, the longer you wait to fix problems with your roof, the potential for secondary damage to increase geometrically with each passing year. And, the cost to fix a roof will increase in a more linear fashion. My neighbor recently had a leak in her ceiling. She was very disappointed because she had known that there were a couple of curled up shingles on her roof for years. She had just put off repairing them until it was too late. If she had repaired the shingles when they first started to curl, she wouldn’t have had a leak in the ceiling and a lot of expensive damage to the supporting joists and drywall.
The math always works out to repair or replace the roof before too much additional damage occurs and thus ends up being more expensive in the long run.
