There are two approaches that roofing contractors are going to recommend to you when it comes to overhauling and improving your roof – the overlay and the tear off.
The overlay roofing solution essentially involves putting a brand-new roof on top of the roof that you already have, simply slapping new shingles or other roofing material on top of the existing material.
If your decking is in great condition, then overlay isn’t a bad choice. Catch-22 is, you can’t check the decking unless you take off the roof. You also won’t know if you’re experiencing sheathing rot, or ice and water damage.
Biggest reason to go with an overlay would be the cost. At a 25% average in savings, though, the difference isn’t spectacular. If those shingles don’t last very long, then you might need to get a tear off in the near future anyways.
Even deeper, with an overlay, heat becomes trapped between layers and causes pre-mature roof aging
A tear off, on the other hand, involves actually peeling off all the old layers of roofing right down to the decking, then building up a new roof from scratch. It’s a little bit more expensive, but you’re getting a much safer, more stable, and more reliable roof than you would ever get with an overlay job.
Yes, a tear off job is going to be a little more expensive up front, but you will basically be getting a brand new roof that can provide you 25 to 30 years of protection in a way that overlay roof jobs never could.
On top of that you don’t have to worry about the extra weight building up over time when you start layering new roof material on top of old roof material – especially if this kind of approach has already been done in the past.
When you see a sagging roof, it’s mostly because they are overloaded with three or four “roofs” on top of standard framing – a perfect cocktail for destruction and more problems than you ever want to deal with.
A good roofing company can assess the condition of your roof and give you the best recommendation moving forward. Generally speaking though, when we’re talking about the roof, you don’t want to cut any corners.
Tear offs is a specialty of Warner Roofing, and something we highly recommend as a long-term investment. To receive an inspection, give our office a call.
