Sometimes it’s obvious when you need a new roof. This can be from extensive storm damage, or if your roof is old and you’re getting leaks.
But other times, it’s not so obvious where your roof is at in its lifecycle. Here are the 3 main things you can look for to determine whether or not you should prepare for getting a roof replacement soon.
1. Your neighbors are getting their roofs replaced
If you live in a development, roofs are typically around the same age. So if you see neighbors getting their roofs replaced, it can mean that yours is in the same condition as theirs and will need to be replaced soon.
This can be true even if you don’t live in a development because neighboring homes are often around the same age, which means the roofs are often around the same age. Even when the homes are not the same age, neighbors sometimes have a tendency to sync up maintenance, remodeling, and construction projects for the home.
This isn’t always the case, but it’s good to know if it is because it can tell you if you should expect to replace your roof soon.
2. Your roof is losing granules
Pay attention to what comes out of your downspouts by checking the ground by the spout exits. If it’s always water and nature’s debris, your roof is probably in good shape. But if you start noticing tiny rocks either sitting in your gutters or around your downspouts exits, it can mean that your roofing shingles are losing granules.
These are of the utmost important to a roof’s health because the granules are the main line of defense against sunlight and weathering. Once those go, it means the whole system is going. You could have a few years left on the roof, or it could be much shorter than that. Leaks will probably start showing up not too long after there is a speed up in amount of granules falling into gutters and landing on the ground from your downspouts.
3. Your roof shingles are malformed.
This can be any sort of disfigurement: buckling, balding, cracking, curling, blistering, rotting, fiberglass exposure, or loss of edges or entire shingles.
When shingles get towards the end of their lifecycle, the granule loss coincides with and speeds up the process of malformation of the shingles. At this point, leaks are imminent if not already happening.
It can be really tough to tell exactly when or where leaks will begin with malformed shingles. This can depend on many factors, like how much rain the area of the roof gets or how robust the underlayment is. But these mitigating circumstances do not hold for that long.
If your roof has these malformed shingles, it means you should plan to call a roofing contractor sooner than later. And often the longer the wait, the more likely there will be damage to the wood structure of the house because leaks travel through the system in strange ways and can remain hidden for a long time, rotting wood out. Any damaged wood will need to be replaced at the time of replacing the roof, and that can be costly.
A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that the closer to the end of the roof’s lifecycle, the more waiting to address the problem then the greater increase in potential cost of replacement. The amount of damage that a bad roof can cause a house in just a month if it is left unchecked is vast.
If you live in the South Puget Sound of Washington State and see any of these signs on your roof, please give us a call at (253) 544-3651 or fill out our quick estimate form. We would love to provide a full inspection and get you with the best roof possible.
