Do I Need to Replace a Leaking Roof?
A discolored stain has appeared on your ceiling after a recent thunderstorm and a quick climb into the attic has revealed the culprit: your roof has sprung a leak. You placed a bucket under the leak to avoid any further damage to the insulation and drywall, but the question remains: is this a simple fix or is it time to consider replacing your roof?
A Small Roof Leak Might Be Easy to Repair
Hopefully, you caught your roof leak early before it had a chance to saturate your attic insulation, rot wood beams, or cause mold to grow on your home interior. There are plenty of reasons a roof may be leaking. Damaged flashing, clogged gutters, falling tree limbs, or blown off shingles and nails can cause small leaks that can be inexpensively serviced by our repair team. A quick visual inspection in your attic, while it’s raining, can help identify the source of your leak. If you’re in the attic on a sunny afternoon, you may be able to spot a pinpoint of light between the roof boards identifying the gap in shingle coverage.
A brief inspection from our service estimator will help determine if you simply need a few new replacement shingles, or if it’s time to explore the possibility of a complete roof replacement.
A Leak May Be a Sign of a Bigger Problem
Unfortunately, asphalt shingles don’t last forever. Years of exposure to the elements wear down and damage shingles, eventually limiting their effectiveness. Indicators like curled shingles oftentimes serve as the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” that your shingles are reaching the end of their service life.
Other visible indicators that your roof may need replacement include tar streaking, missing granules, mold and mildew, missing or cracked shingles, daylight shining through into your attic, sagging support beams, and increased energy bills. It’s especially important to keep an eye out for these red flags if it has been at least 15-20 years since your previous roof installation.
Re-Roof vs. Roof Replacement
When getting quotes from different roofers, it’s important to understand the process they use to re-roof homes. Some contractors offer a simple re-roof process where they install an additional layer of shingles above the original layer. This can oftentimes be less expensive, as it eliminates the tear-off stage of a roof replacement, but it does come with its own set of problems.
Roofs with multiple layers of shingles typically don’t last as long as complete roof replacements and don’t effectively resolve any issues that may be occurring with the roof deck. These re-roofs don’t address ventilation issues or identify any potential wood rot or warping that may be occurring beneath the shingles.
LH Krueger & Son’s roof replacement process ensures the highest quality of shingle replacement, broken down in a five-step process outlined in our Re-Roofing 101 document. By removing the original shingles and inspecting the roof deck, we can verify that your roof is 100% serviceable and supported by our Workmanship Warranty Program, helping avoid costly reworks and repairs for years to come.
For additional resources and guidelines, please visit our Roofing and Repairs pages. If you have any questions or would like to request a free roofing estimate, please contact our team today!
