Replace the roof if you are thinking in selling a house but you are not sure if you should fix or repair the roof, this article is the right one for you.
My goal is to give you the the answer and discuss some important tips. Just remember some costs may be different in your city.
Knowing your roof type
Knowing what type of shingle you have in your house is important and this will help you determine if you are at the end of your roof life. if you know from the seller when it was installed, the better .
Some of you will not know the year when roof was installed, but that’s okay, I will give you some tips later on to help you make a decision.
Asphalt composition shingles “three tab” last 15 to 18 years and are the most economical shingle at time of purchase.
Asphalt architectural shingles, this is my favorite type of shingle and it is installed on all of our investment properties, it will last 24 to 30 years. There are several other roof types that I will not discuss in this article because I never use them and don’t want to miss guide you.
Signs to look for when inspecting the roof
There are different signs to look for when inspecting a roof to see if it’s time for replacement.
In our area (Houston, Texas), you can see black marks on your roof, but it does not mean that it needs to be replaced. This is, simply, Algae.
On the other hand, If your roof coloring when from being brown, red, black, or gray and now it is white and visible from the street, it’s time for a new roof.
The reason your roof now looks white is due to all the mineral granules lost. With a brown or red colored roof if you see lots of black spots from the ground this is also the same mineral granules lost and it’s time to replace your roof.
If the granule loss is focused on one area of the roof and it’s only by the side of the house it is probably due to a tree that was rubbing on the roof.
If so, only that small section needs to be replaced. Because of this, whenever you see a tree limb come in contact with your roof you should have it trimmed immediately.
Just because you may have a handful of shingle on your roof that is damaged or has granule loss does mean you need to replace the roof.
If you are uncertain about replacing your roof and you are getting ready to sale, do not rush to replace it, wait for the home inspector for the buyer and they will advise their client on whether it needs to be replaced. If the buyer of the property does not ask for it to be replaced then you’re good.
Finding a contractor to replace the roof
So, if you are at the end of your roof-life and it’s time to replace before it starts leaking, then you should find a good contractor.
We never do overlays on our roofs. We always have our contractor remove all the shingles down to the decking and start over. Shingles are very heavy and I do not want all the extra weight on my roof. I would recommend you reach out to 3 different contractors so you will have better idea of roof cost in your area.
Always have your contractor pull permits when replacing your roof. This will help ensure they do the job to code before paying them their final check. This is very important if you are in high wind areas. These areas require more nails and other code specific items.
What an investment company will pay vs what a homeowner will pay can be very different.
Working for a real estate company we pay $135 to $175 per square and homeowners are going to pay $200 to $300 per square.
The price is almost always going to be priced per square.
The average size roof we replaced is around 30 squares and there are 100 sq ft per square. So, a 30 square roof would be around $4,500 for an investor and the homeowner will spend around $6,750.
Why an investor get the job done for so much less? Because we provide our contractor with many roofs every year. Yes, you could even end up paying more.
Some houses have the multiple layers of shingle due to the overlay we discussed earlier. This could run $10 to $20 per square, per extra layer.
We just bought a house we had to remove three layers and the third layer was wood shingle so we had to install all new decking.
If your contractor has to replace lots of rotten decking this will, also, be an extra fee. They cannot charge you for this on the front side because they cannot see what’s rotten from a covered roof.
Depending on the size and amount of work the job should get done in one to two days.
Hope this can be very beneficial and good luck in your investments
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