When to replace roof (for sale, insurance, how much)

[ATXIronHorse]

Hi all,

Under normal wear and tear conditions, is a 13-year old shingle roof considered old and ready to replace?

thanks!

[Mckellyb]

Wood shingle or asphalt shingle?

If wood, they should, in theory, last forever.

Asphalt shingles can last 25 years...but depending on the weather, they can be 'worn out' in 10. If it's asphalt, go look and see if there is a bunch of the black asphalt base shingle showing through the itty-bitty pebbles. If so, start shopping, but no huge hurry, probably.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by ATXIronHorse

Hi all,

Under normal wear and tear conditions, is a 13-year old shingle roof considered old and ready to replace?

thanks!

That sounds a little early for replacement in my experience. What is giving you the idea that it needs replacement? Leaks? Shingles falling off? Streaking? Streaking can happen to a relatively young roof depending on the material, and is mostly cosmetic.

Many people here replace their roofs after a hail storm; depending on the age and your insurance policy, it may make sense for you to wait until the inevitable hail storm to damage your aging roof...

[jwb123]

Given our hail storms, from what I hear from my neighbors - roofs last about 4-6 yrs around here. Many are replacing right now after last months storm... we just did. Most replaced after the storm from 4 yrs ago. We have composite.

If wood, they should, in theory, last forever.

We had a cedar shingle roof in WA - it lasted 23 yrs and was in serious need of replacing when we sold our house. "forever" for wood roofs would be about 20-30 years.

[Trainwreck20]

Shingle roofs should last ~10 years minimum, even if cheap construction, unless you get a severe hailstorm right on the house. A good roof will last at least 15 years, maybe longer. A brand new roof can weather a pretty serious hail storm, even, while the shingles are still really pliable.

Look for grit in the gutters, bare spots, or 'star' like cracks in the shingles. Anyway, most house are getting close to needing a new roof around 13 years....

[HappyTexan]

The 100 degree heat also takes its toll on a roof..especially asphalt. It dries out.
When I replaced my 10 year old roof (due to wind damage) the shingles still on the roof just crumbled when the roofer took them off.

Weather (hail, wind, strong sun) all play a part in roof deterioration so a 25 year roof really doesn't last those 25 years.

BTW..I ended up with a metal roof after doing some research on how often roof's need to get replaced here in Texas.

[mandib]

we had a builder installed roof. that was 8 years ago. we just had to replace it after an inspector (before we put it up for sale) found that it was slightly hail damaged but installed in such a slipshod manner that staples (not the nails they were supposed to use) were exposed and had rusted and worn away. they neglected across the entire roof to overlap the next row of shingles.

So then shingles fell off, and the whole roof needed replacing. But we didn't know until someone went up there. It seemed fine and we didn't have leakage. It's good that we did the pre-inspection just for that reason.

I had Acura roofing redo it and they were great. The owner spoke with me at length about the problems and how he'd fix it.

[Mckellyb]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

We had a cedar shingle roof in WA - it lasted 23 yrs and was in serious need of replacing when we sold our house. "forever" for wood roofs would be about 20-30 years.

Yeah, that's why it's theoretical.

"Forever" is under ideal conditions. As soon as you add storms, a tree hanging over, excess moisture, a critter looking for a winter home, etc., you enter the real-world.

I'm with you on wood lasting about 30 years, max. In Washington state, the moss-coating after year five should help significantly in keeping water out...though it does create other issues.

Now tile...there's a forever roofing material.... Just don't step on it...or live where there is baseball-sized hail.

[G Grasshopper]

We had a wood shake roof but needed to replace it after about 15 years due to "burn-out" - weathering that actually produced big holes in the shakes. We started finding shakes out on the lawn after storms. We replaced it with a 50 year guaranteed steel tile roof. It has been great so far (5 years), but we don't get much in the way of hail here. Now sure how it would do with big hail. You also have to be careful about walking on it; it can dent if you don't walk in the right place on each tile. Ours was actually installed on a frame work over the old roof. You really can't hear rain at all. Most of the time, we wouldn't know it was raining if it weren't for our skylight. I understand that metal roof - the raised seam type - are popular in Texas, especially when you are trying to collect rain. Are they fairly resistant to hail damage?

[atlanta hope]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

We replaced it with a 50 year guaranteed steel tile roof.

Never heard of that before -- just googled it and it looks pretty cool. How much more expensive is that than a standard asphalt roof?