Do I Need To Patch or Repair My Roof?
As a Greater Houston homeowner, no one needs to preach to you about the importance of your roof. You’re fully aware of how critical it is to have a sturdy, trustworthy, and dependable roof over your property (and everything there within).
You also know as time passes your roof needs TLC in the form of inspections, ongoing maintenance, and spot repairs when necessary.
The reason you’re here today, reading this particular content on a local Houston-only roofer’s website (Houston Roofing & Construction), is because you’d like some helpful information in terms of how to know the difference:
- Roof Repair
- Roof Patch
- Roof Replacement
While every roof eventually needs to be replaced in modern residential dwellings, they’re costly and we’re sure you’d like to avoid it if it’s not completely necessary.
First, let’s briefly skip through the common and generalized warning signs. These could signify everything from minor wear and tear, to substantial structural damage.
How Healthy is My Roof? General Warning Signs
- General Shingle Status: Maybe from the street view, or safely from the top of a ladder looking over the roof, the general status of your top-layer shingles looks stressed with curling shingles or obviously older shingles, lots of cracking amidst them, etc.
- Actual Missing Patches: Whether this has been an ongoing disintegration or a sudden development, is there a section of shingles missing? Are they beginning to blow off from one section, or from here and there? Seeing them in the yard more often?
- Discolored Sections: One or more areas of your roof discolored from the rest as a result of moisture. This could be moss or algae (common on older Houston area roofs past their service lifetime, or that have really never been maintained), or worse.
- Rot, Leaks & Visible Sunlight: Not to be too obvious, but well, once roof disintegration (or as a result of storm damage, a tree branch, etc.) reaches the point where you can see rot, water leaking into the home, or sunlight shining through, that’s a problem!
- Sagging Roof Syndrome: Arguably the worst sign of trouble is a sagging roof, which is really a mix of scientific principles in our world loudly declaring, ‘This roof is unsafe!’
- Miscellaneous Signs: There are so many. Like, lots of granules from your shingles washing out through the gutter system, dark streaks running down the roof onto the home, loose roofing nails in the area, damaged soffits, excessive gutter buildup, etc.
Roof Replacement vs. Roof Repair: Leave It To Professionals
Now that we’ve covered the signs, let’s quickly go over the two BIGGEST MISTAKES homeowners make that lead to full roof replacement outside natural events and roof’s just reaching the end of their service lifetime.
- Underestimating the warning signs they see. Innocently mistaking something serious for minor wear and tear that can be put off for roof repair later on.
- Having their roofing system installed by lesser-qualified and lower-quality contractors to save on upfront installation costs.
Definitely not ALWAYS, but more often than not these two decisions lead to issues down the road. Sometimes it’s a ways down the road, sometimes not.
A third one could be all the many DIY roof repair risks and mistakes as well, but those aren’t nearly as common as the first two. These days homeowners are far less likely to mess with roofing systems under warranty with manufacturers like GAF, which we specialize in.
In Houston? Roofing Inspections Are Typically FREE!
These days it doesn’t have to cost you one penny to find out whether or not you’re blundering into #1 above, or, whether perhaps the previous homeowner committed #2 and the signs are beginning to show. Roof inspections are free.
If you’re in the Houston area for example, you can call Houston Roofing & Construction and we’ll send a specialist out to ENSURE, 100%, you know exactly what’s going on.
Tip #1: Know Your Roof’s Material – we’re GAF Master Elite-Certified roofers and specialize in only these kinds of premium roofing systems (#1 roofing manufacturer in North America). If you happen to live in a hobbit-like hut, you would probably want to call a different kind of roofer. While common residential roofing systems are one thing, if you have a rare luxury material-based roof then these types of specialists are ideal unless you want to replace your roof with a Lifetime Guaranteed GAF-certified asphalt shingle roofing system. Then call us!
Tip #2: Make a Wise Decision – the roofer you have conduct an inspection of your roof is as important in many ways as the contractor you hire to perform any installation! In Texas, it’s critical you know exactly who you’re working with. Can you trust their assessment? Are they taking you for a ride?
Another big tip would be, try to avoid a company that’s obviously geared towards full replacements. With this kind of roofer, you might not really need a full replacement but they’re going to do everything they can to try and get you to agree to one.
Wrapping Up: Avoid The DIY Roof Repair Risks
If you’re a Houston area homeowner, don’t tackle the Roof Replacement VS Roof Repair issue alone, when professional help costs nothing. The DIY roof repair risks are too great these days, with so much depending on your home. Call Houston Roofing & Construction and we’ll happily answer any of your questions, help ease concerns, or have a specialist out to your home quickly! We look forward to hearing from you.