Repair or replace? How we decide

Start with the honest number — Two out of three roofs we are called to look at get a repair, or nothing at all. If a contractor's first answer to a ceiling stain is a full replacement, get a second opinion before anyone gets on the roof with a shovel. The decision comes down to three things: age, spread, and how long you are staying.

The age test — An architectural shingle roof gives you twenty to twenty-five years in this climate, less on a west-facing slope with no shade. Under fifteen with a local problem — one slope, a cracked pipe boot, a lifted ridge cap, a valley that was never lined — repair it. Past twenty, every repair is buying months on an assembly that is at the end of its service life anyway, and the sealant strips have long since given up.

The spread test — Count the problems and look at where they are. Wind damage on one elevation is a repair. Bruising scattered across every slope, which is the classic hail signature, usually is not, because the same storm hit everything. The shingles that look acceptable today lost granules too, and they fail a season or two behind the obvious ones. That is why hail so often becomes a replacement, and why carriers scope it that way.

The staying test — Selling in two or three years? A documented repair with a transferable workmanship warranty is often all the sale needs, and a stack of photos of the work reassures a buyer's inspector. Staying twenty? Repeated repairs on an aging roof are installments on a replacement you will still buy.

The rule of thumb we use — When the repair starts approaching a meaningful fraction of the replacement, stop and look at the age. Rebuilding two slopes and a valley on a twenty-two-year-old roof is not a repair. It is half a replacement, done in the wrong order, on a deck nobody has looked at.

Things we will not do — Nail new shingles over old ones. Patch over soft decking without telling you it is soft. Reuse step flashing at a sidewall. Sell you a replacement your roof does not need, which is the fastest way to lose the next three jobs on your street.

How to find out — Twenty minutes on the roof, not a guess over the phone. Book a free inspection and you will get the photo set, a straight recommendation, and a written scope for whichever of the two you actually need.