Roofing protects your biggest investment: your house. Don’t wait until you have water or rodent damage in your home before replacing the roof. Here are four indications that it’s time to call a roofing contractor.

Age. Shingles don’t last forever, and any roof over 20 years old should be replaced. If you’re unsure how old your roof is, watch what your neighbors do. When homes are built at the same time, their roofs usually need to be replaced at the same time as well.

Wear. When shingles are cracked or curled, have lost their granules, or are missing, it’s time to replace the roofing surface. This need may arise earlier than you anticipate, because inadequate ventilation and extreme weather conditions can prematurely damage your roof.

Roof Valley Damage. Can you spot missing or damaged shingles in this area? If so, you have a clear sign that the roof needs to be replaced. Roof valleys direct rainwater and snow runoff into your gutter system. Problems here will result in internal water damage to the home.

Old Chimney Flashing. Many older home constructions used tar or roof cement for flashing. If you have this, it’s time to replace it with metal flashing, which provides a water-tight fitting. Old-style flashing may also indicate the need for a new roof.

Roofing Inspections by Outstanding Local Roofing Contractor

Century Roof and Solar are Bay Area residential roofing experts. We use high quality materials and expert installers to ensure that your new roof adds value to your home. Contact us today by phone at 888-233-7548 or send us a message for a free quote.

1. Defer doing the project until things get really bad.

On any given weekend, you could get out your ladder, gloves, and other tools to sweep your gutters, remove debris, and do the usual maintenance. But other, more fun stuff typically beckons. You want to watch the football game with your son or try that new brunch place everyone’s been chatting about. So you wait and wait and wait. Meanwhile, your gutters stay clogged. Leaks then sprout in your roof. The end result? Massive water damage, respiratory dangers to your family, and structural damage to your house. Your pocketbook, all told, gets walloped to the tune of thousands of dollars.

So, stop deferring, and do something about those gutters right now!

2. Fail to learn from your gutter cleaning mistakes (and successes).

When DIY Bay Area gutter cleaners finally get around to doing the dirty work, they often do a minimal job “just to get it over with.” This can be a major mistake. By making small repairs now — e.g. installing gutter screens, patching up holes with roofing cement, polishing off rust spots, rinsing out your gutters, and installing overhangs — you will not only protect yourself against the dangers we discussed above (e.g. leaks, fire hazards, etc), but you’ll also make next year’s job that much easier.

Imagine this. Say you invest five hours this year systematically identifying what needs to be done every time you clean the gutters. This efficiency then saves you three hours of work every year you clean. If you own your home for ten years, then your investment of 5 hours up front pays back in 30 hours saved over the life of your home-ownership!

3. Do it all yourself.

Truth be told, with some elbow grease and good tools, you can do a fairly decent job of keeping your gutters in ship shape. However, unless you’re a professional, odds are, you’ll miss certain clues regarding potential damage – or cost saving shortcuts. Moreover, you have better things to do! (e.g. the football game we talked about above or the special brunch place, etc).

Instead, consider outsourcing the tough job to the expert gutter care team at Century Roof and Solar. Find out more about us online, or give us a call today for a free estimate about your job.