Roof Repair or Replacement? How to Decide Honestly

Every roofer has an incentive to sell you a replacement. Every homeowner has an incentive to hope for a cheap repair. The truth sits between them and it is decided by the roof, not by anyone's preference. Here is how we make the call on inspections across the Bay Area.

Repair makes sense when

• The problem is isolated: one flashing detail, one valley, a cracked pipe boot, a few wind lifted shingles.
• The surrounding roof has real life left. Shingles are flexible, granules are intact, the deck is solid.
• The roof is under about 15 years old, or it is a tile roof where the tile is fine and a local underlayment repair will hold.
• This is the first leak, not the fourth.

Replacement makes sense when

• Leaks keep appearing in new places. That is a system failing, not a detail failing.
• Shingles are curling, cracking or bald across whole slopes. Repairs cannot fix a surface that is done.
• The deck is soft, sagging or stained from below. Water has been in for a long time.
• The roof is past 20 years for shingle or past 25 for tile underlayment, and you plan to stay in the home.
• You are adding solar. Putting panels on a roof with five years left means paying to remove and reinstall them later.

The math of repeat repairs

A repair that solves a defined problem is money well spent. Three repairs in three winters on an aging roof is a replacement paid for in installments, with interior damage thrown in for free. If you have paid for the same leak twice, the source was never found, and the next step is a real inspection rather than another patch.

Ask for the photos

Whatever a contractor recommends, ask to see the photos behind it. Granule loss, cracked flashing, rotten decking and lifted seams are all visible on camera. We photograph every inspection from the roof and from the air and show you exactly why we are recommending what we recommend. If it is a repair, we say repair.