Repair5 min
Repair or replace? How to decide
Two out of three roofs we're called to look at only need a repair. Here's the honest math we use to tell you which one you're looking at.
Sam Calloway
Founder & Master Roofer
Start with the honest number
Two out of three roofs we're called to look at only need a repair. If a roofer's first answer to a ceiling stain is "you need a new roof," get a second opinion. The right answer depends on three things: age, extent, and what's coming.
The age test
An architectural shingle roof is built to last 25 to 30 years here. Under 15 years old with a local problem: one leak, a few missing shingles, a failed pipe boot? Almost every time, that's a repair. Past 20 years, every repair is buying time on a roof that's near the end either way, and the math starts favoring replacement.
The extent test
Count the problems. One slope with wind damage is a repair. Damage scattered across every slope, the classic hail pattern, usually isn't, because the same storm bruised everything, and the shingles that look fine today fail next season. That's why storm damage so often becomes a full replacement, and why insurance treats it that way.
The "what's coming" test
Planning to sell in the next few years? A documented repair with a transferable warranty is often all a sale needs. Staying for twenty? Repeated repairs on an aging roof are payments on a roof you'll replace anyway. You're just paying twice.
The repair-cost rule of thumb
When a repair quote passes about a quarter of the cost of replacement, stop and run the numbers. A $4,000 repair on a 22-year-old roof isn't a repair; it's money better put toward the replacement.
What we'll never do
Nail new shingles over old ones (it hides the problem and voids most warranties), patch soft decking without telling you, or sell you a replacement your roof doesn't need. Our repair crews carry a five-year written warranty on the repair itself. A full replacement carries our 25-year written warranty. Different jobs, different terms.
How to find out for free
The decision takes twenty minutes on your roof. Nobody can make it over the phone. Book a free inspection and you'll get a written report, an honest recommendation, and a fixed price for whichever one you actually need.
