The industry standard is 12-15 years, but a lot of factors play into how often you should replace your roof.
Here in Charlotte, your roof is subject to hotter weather and more frequent storms than most of the country, so roofs need to be replaced more often than the average roof life quoted above. Many people wait too long to replace their roofs just because they don’t see any obvious leaking, but that can lead to serious structural damage to your home.
What is Normal Wear and Tear?
Your roof takes a beating, day in and day out. It gets worn down by sun, heat, rain, wind, ice, snow and age. Different types of shingles handle the normal wear and tear all roofs undergo with different levels of resistance. How your roof fares will depend on:
* The quality of the shingles
* The type of shingles or roof you have
* The craftsmanship of the roofing contractors who worked on your roof last
* The type of weather your roof has had to endure
Storm Damage
Here in Charlotte, we get hit by some pretty stormy weather. It’s not uncommon for roofs to get damaged by storms, straight-line winds, high winds, hail, hurricanes or thunder storms.
After a storm, it’s common for your roof to sustain serious damage, causing a leaking roof or missing shingles. Even if you don’t experience leaking right away, your shingles may be loosened enough to leave your roof vulnerable to subsequent roof damage.
The problem is this: you can’t see the roof damage from the ground. Unless you know what you’re looking for, you might not notice the damage even if you climb up on your roof.
Do I Need a New Roof? How Can I Tell?
Sometimes you’ll see evidence of a leaking roof, but too often homes have attics (and who goes up into the attic often enough to recognize roof damage?) or storage spaces. Between the insulation and all the stuff most people have in their attics, most people won’t recognize the leaking roof until the damage is serious. This can lead to several problems, including:
* Wood rot, which attracts termites and can cause serious structural damage to main support beams, floors, walls, ceilings and drywall
* Damage to items kept in storage
* Further deterioration of the roof since the loose shingles allow moisture to get in
Do I Need a New Roof? Take Advantage of Our Charlotte Free Roof Inspections
This is why we offer free roof inspections to check for storm damage.
We know what insurance companies will and won’t cover, and we have a great reputation with the local representatives from insurance agencies (these are the claims adjustors, who will need to look at your roof after we do in order to determine how much your insurance company will cover.) We’ll tell you what we believe your roof repair will cost and then we’ll get up on the roof with your insurance company’s claims adjustor to figure out what will be covered.
Then we’ll present you with the final figures. In most cases, you’ll just have to pay the deductible to your insurance company, meaning you’ll get an affordable roof repair or roof replacement.
Contact us or call us at (704) 751-1935 for a free roof inspection from AMS Roofing Consultants Inc and let us answer the question “Do I need a new roof?” for you!