Roof Restoration vs. Replacement: A Brief Guide
Reroofing your home can cost homeowners over $10,000. Because it can be so expensive, it may be beneficial to find other ways to improve the condition of your roof.
Residential roof restoration is a great way to do this. Keep reading to learn more about the differences between roof restoration vs. replacement.
What Is Roof Restoration?
When you don’t want to pay for the expense of a roof replacement, you may want to consider a roof restoration. Rather than tearing off and replacing the existing roof, roof restoration makes repairs. First, you will often clean the roof, repair any issues, and repaint the existing roof.
Often, it uses an engineered coating that is sprayed over the roof. This coating is durable and protects the roof beneath. It acts as a sealant and creates a bond with the roof! If you are going through home renovations, roof restoration is a great way to improve your current roof.
What Is Roof Replacement?
A roof replacement is a pretty straightforward service. However, the costs can often vary depending on the shape of your roof, the roofing contractor you use, and more.
When you are replacing your roof, the first thing that needs to happen is tearing off the existing roof. What many people don’t realize is that a roof isn’t only made up of shingles. There is a roof deck beneath which is essentially the foundation of the roof.
It seals your home from any leaks that come through the shingles.
When you tear off the roof, you take it down to the deck. Then, you put on new shingles for the new roof.
Because there is more labor included in tearing off a roof and replacing it, it often costs much more.
Benefits of Roof Restoration
There are quite a few benefits if you opt to restore your roof:
1. Saves You Money
The main benefit of restoring your roof rather than replacing it is that it costs much less than replacing your roof. While you will still have to pay to restore your roof, it will be less of an investment.
You will also save money in labor costs as roof restoration takes a lot less time to complete.
2. Better for the Environment
Another benefit of restoring your roof is that it is better for the environment! When you tear off a roof, there is nothing you can do with the old shingles. When these are discarded, it adds up to the millions of tons of waste in the landfills.
By using a roof restoration, you extend the life of the materials you already have. This means that rather than sending your roofing materials to the landfill to slowly degrade, you can use them for many more years.
It is a more sustainable option than replacing your entire roof!
3. Extends Your Roof Life
If you are looking to extend your roof life, that is another benefit of roof restoration. The coating that is put on your roof protects it from natural elements like rain, snow, and hail.
If you can’t afford to replace your roof for a while, you can protect your roof with a less expensive alternative!
4. It Prevents Loss
If you are experiencing roofing problems but can’t replace your roof, your roofing problems will likely get worse. If you leave your roof damaged for too long, you may not even be able to repair it.
By restoring your roof, it prevents it from becoming a total loss. It will also protect the people living in your home!
5. Saves You Time
Finally, roof restoration saves you a lot of time! When you are re-roofing your home, it can take several days to reinstall it. This means you will have several days when you have people working on your home and when your home is essentially a construction zone.
Roof restoration won’t take as long as reroofing and will save you time and stress!
Drawbacks of Roof Restoration
One of the negative aspects of roof restoration is that it is a patch. While it may help for a while, it acts as a bandaid. While it will repair the issue, bandaids will eventually wear off.
If you will have to replace your roof before too long, it may be a good idea to invest in a new roof.
When Should You Restore Your Roof?
If your roof has had several leaks or any other issues from natural elements, a roof restoration may be the best option for you! If you have experienced issues with rain, snow, or other types of weather, roof restoration is a less expensive fix!
Replacing your roof should be done when there isn’t another option. If you have serious damage to your roof that can’t be improved with a simple fix, you should contact a Warren roofing contractor (or a similar contractor in your area) for quotes on reroofing.
When Should You Replace Your Roof?
You should replace your roof if it is already old enough to need a replacement. Roofs generally last around 25 years. If your roof is over 20 years of age, you may need to replace it.
This is also true if there are visible issues with your roof. For example, cracked shingles, missing shingles, and any other extreme damage to your roof cannot usually be fixed by roof restoration.
If your roof has visible damage, you should probably get it replaced.
Find an Experienced Contractor to Learn More!
When you are experiencing roofing problems, it can be difficult to find the underlying cause for the issues. While it may cost a lot to replace a roof, you can often restore your roof to prevent further issues from occurring. However, either roof restoration or replacement are great options for homeowners experiencing roofing issues.
If you are experiencing roofing issues, you may need to contact an experienced contractor for a quote or to answer any other questions you may have. If you want to learn more about roof restoration, check out the other blog posts here on our website!