When to Replace Your Home’s Roof

It’s a question many homeowners don’t know the answer to: When should you consider replacing your residential roof? Since a roof represents a significant investment for most households, this is a serious matter to property owners. The home contractor website Angie’s List reports that, while prices vary based upon materials, location and project size, the average cost of a complete roof replacement in the United States totals around $12,000. (source) In some situations, this important home improvement runs upwards of $25,000. How should you determine when to make this type of expenditure?

Essentially, three common considerations indicate the time has arrived to replace your roof. Individual motivations and financial considerations vary widely, of course:

1. Necessity: Your Roof Requires Replacement

A homeowner may decide to replace a roof based on the recommendation of a professional roofer. When the cost of necessary repairs equals or exceeds the cost of replacing the roof, or when an existing roof has exceeded the scope of its natural lifespan and now requires extensive renovations, a roofer may urge a homeowner to consider installing a completely new roof as a practical cost-saving measure.

Purchasing a brand new roof often yields vital cost benefits. A leaking roof may damage the interior of the dwelling, costing additional thousands of dollars in repair bills. By contrast, a new, sound roof prevents dampness from creating mold and mildew problems within the residence.

2. Technology: Your Roof Can Benefit from New Advancements

In other situations, a property owner resolves to replace an existing roof in order to take full advantage of new technology. For instance, in wooded mountainous areas, natural cedar shake roof tiles gained widespread popularity in the past. Yet these types of tiles easily catch fire and burn.

Innovative new metal roofs may offer a far more protective, fire-resistant exterior. Alarmed by the issue of structural safety in locations subject to forest fires, homeowners frequently opt to replace cedar shake roofs in order to benefit from improved technologies.

3. Preference: You Simply Want a New Roof!

Property owners also sometimes choose to replace an existing roof in order to transform the appearance of the property dramatically. Changing the type or color of tiles alters the decorative qualities of a residence. For instance, if a homeowner decides to install white vinyl siding with green trim, the property owner may decide to replace a red roof with a black or green one to carry forward a more unifying color scheme.

Individual property owners vary widely in their willingness to replace a roof in order to enhance “curb appeal”, yet this motivation does frequently enter into a careful home improvement analysis. Dwellings with an attractive exterior appearance tend to sell more quickly when owners place real estate on the market.

Most property owners give serious consideration to the issue of roof replacement. Weighing the advantages versus the disadvantages before making the jump will lead to a well-informed, satisfying decision on replacing your home’s roof.