How Often Should a Roof Be Replaced?
Most commercial roofs are flat, EPDM single-ply membrane. The average lifespan of a flat rubber roof, when maintained every year and under the best circumstances, is 15-20 years.
Relying on averages isn’t the right approach, however, to proper facility management. There could be issues with your building’s roof that require immediate attention regardless of the age of your roof system.
Warning Signs That You Need a New Roof
The most obvious warning sign that you need a new roof is visual evidence of water leaking into your building.
Unfortunately, leaks could be happening for years without presenting anything inside. Usually, by the time you’re seeing the leaking inside, your roof has been leaking for some time.
That’s why it’s best to have a professional get on the roof a couple of times a year to inspect the top side. With proper equipment and expertise, a roofing professional can look for holes, seams pulling, and cracks or caulk that has hardened and become brittle.
He or she will look for any ways that water may be getting in currently or may get in down the road.
How Much Does It Cost To Replace A Roof?
There is no typical cost to replace a roof. It depends on the size of the roof, the condition of the roof, and the materials used to replace the roof.
We can be definitive in this: Getting to a roof issue before the roof is too far gone will save you a lot of money in the long run. Leaving a roof, that is on its last leg go uninspected or without routine maintenance can lead to costly additional work when replacing it.
Having to replace rotted decking and framing can really drive the price up. Add to that the likelihood of having to fix interior damage.
The other benefit of getting to it before its completely shot is being able to go the coating route. As a Conklin certified installer, we have several coating options for roofs that allow us to leave the original roof intact, reinforce, and coat it.
Roof restoration through J. Smucker could cost about $5 per square foot. Other companies will typically charge about $10 per square foot for a roof replacement. You can save as much as 50% on a roof restoration while still giving you the same warranty!
We offer our customers a good/better/best approach to commercial roof repairs and restoration. We work with large and small businesses. It’s important to us to make sure you are fully informed of the options available that best suit your budget.
How Long Does It Take To Replace A Roof?
This is another question that is dependent on the size of the roof and material used, but on average it takes 1-2 weeks to replace a roof.
More importantly, a roof restoration with J. Smucker does not require any downtime on your part. Your facility can continue its normal business operations.
Can You Replace Only Half A Roof?
There are occasions when only part of a roof needs to be replaced or repaired. This is especially true when a commercial building has roof sections that differ in the roofing material. For instance, this can happen when an older building undergoes reconstruction and a new section might be added.
This is something to discuss with a roofing consultant and given careful consideration.
For instance, it might seem like a leak is coming from one spot, yet the source could be from multiple spots. There could also be issues with varying slope levels or insufficient slope that aren’t obvious yet cause destructive ponding.
You can just be chasing your tail replacing the roof piece by piece and remediation could cost more in the long run.
Is It Better To Repair Or Replace A Roof?
This all depends on the size of the repair, the age of your roof, and the condition of the roof.
Is your roof 5-7 years old and the repair is small? Then a repair is fine. But if the roof is 14 years old, and you’re repairing 25% of the roof, it’s smarter to just replace it.
There really isn’t a “best time” of year to replace your roof.
Certainly, spring and summer are our busiest times. But when it comes to most of our roof replacement options, we can replace any time of year.
Winter does lessen roof replacement options. There are coatings we can’t install in winter, but most of our roof restoration systems are mechanically fastened and not impacted by winter temperatures.
J. Smucker Contracting specializes in commercial roof restorations and repairs and we offer free roof inspections to our potential clients. We encourage you to schedule your roof inspection today.
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