In Rochester, New York, the weather can get pretty nasty-which means that Rochester-area homeowners have to be extra cognizant about the conditions of their roofs. Steve Moutray, owner of Moutray Exteriors, Inc., is here to help us understand when re-roofing is necessary.
What is re-roofing? “Re-roofing means you’re going over an existing roof,” Moutray clarifies. In other words, re-roofing is when you renovate your roof.
According to Moutray, you have to be able to recognize the signs that something is wrong with your roof. “The signs would be like you start to see deterioration on your shingles or on the roof beams in your attic,” says Moutray. “Basically, it’s cheaper to do a re-roof than to rip out the roof and rebuild the whole thing from scratch, frame and everything. ”
Moutray continues, “When you start to see deterioration, and you want a re-roof instead of going through the expense of tearing the whole thing off, you have to do that re-roof before the shingles get into such a bad condition that you’d be forced to rip the whole roof off and rebuild.” Basically, there’s a small window of opportunity to do a re-roof. It’s between when you notice bent shingles or a little mold, and when the problem has spread so badly that the structure itself is fundamentally damaged. That’s because a re-roof requires the basic structure to still be safe and sound.
“If your roof isn’t even structurally sound, you don’t want to re-roof, because the new surface wouldn’t even stay flat. It would curve and distort with the distorted, ruined frame beneath,” Moutray says.
Much of the time, Moutray’s Rochester home improvement company recommends that homeowners tear off their roofs completely because the damage has gone too far—even though this is technically more expensive. There’s a very practical explanation for this—but it’s also technical, so Moutray tries to lay it out nicely and simply: “When you do a re-roof, you don’t have access to any wall flashings, since those are part of the structure under the roof. As a result, people shove the new shingles up against the existing flashing. To make up for this, many people think that tarring the re-roofing will make it totally waterproof.”
But this is a huge mistake. Moutray insists, “This doesn’t solve the problem. In this case, if water gets under those shingles because they don’t have proper flashing, then water just stays there and causes mold. Then it happens all over again. The roof gets ruined all over again.”
On the other hand, if you just go straight for the roof tear-off and rebuild, you are also rebuilding the flashing into the whole new roof. This is a surefire way to keep that new, expensive work nice and waterproof. “And while you’re at it, with rebuilding the roof, you can update your ice protection,” adds Moutray. That’s another important step in protecting your roof against those harsh Rochester winters.