How To Tell If You Need Complete Roof Replacement Or Just A Layover
When the time is near to replace your roof, you will need to make a decision about how you want to go about doing it. You can tear off all of the old roofing material and replace it with new material, or you can have the new roofing material installed directly over the old material. The latter is known as a layover roof and is a viable way to replace your roof in certain situations. This may cause you to wonder what method you should use for your roof replacement. Here are a few tips that will help guide your decision.
Roof Replacement
Complete roof replacement will be necessary if you have problems with the structure of your roof that need to be addressed. This is usually when you have some sort of notable roof damage that should be repaired to prevent the roof from getting worse. For example, if you have a leak in your roof, then the membrane and roof deck will be wet in places. Ideally, you should replace the membrane and repair damaged parts of your roof deck to ensure that the roof is in good condition. The only way to do this is by tearing off all of the old roofing material and getting down to the structure of the roof.
You may be forced to do complete roof replacement based on the local building codes in your area. Be aware that there are limits to how many layers of roofing material you can put on a home. If you or a previous owner already added a layover roof, adding another layer may not be an option.
Layover Replacement
You may be interested in roof replacement as a preemptive measure to maintain your roof. It could be motivated by the roofing material being well past its estimated lifespan or seeing signs of wear and tear of the roofing material—for example, asphalt shingles that are missing a lot of granules or edges that are becoming brittle. A layover roof would be a fine choice because there is no underlying damage to the roofing material.
A new roof may also be motivated by wanting to put a different roofing material on your home. You could place a metal roof on top of your asphalt roofing material, even though they are completely different. As long as you do not have damage that needs to be repaired, this is a potential option for roof replacement.
For more information, contact a local roofing company such as Lagunas Interstate Construction, LLC.