How long will my roof last?
By Jacob Knapp ( Virginia State Home Inspections ).
This is such a loaded question because the life expectancy of your roof depends on so many factors.
What area of the country do you live in? What kind of roof do you have / What type of roofing material do you have? What style of roof do you have? Was it installed by professionals?
The very best question you can ask yourself is… What can I do to help my roof last longer? I have another follow up blog to answer this question.
What area of the country do you live in?
How long your roof will last mostly depends on the area you live in. Different roofing materials and the way homes are built in general are much different in Florida versus Michigan.
Since I work as a professional home inspector in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, this is the area I will discuss for your roof.
What kind of roofing material do you have?
We see a lot of 3 tab shingle roofs or architectural grade shingle roofs in the Hampton Roads area. We’ll stick to these today for this roofing blog.
3 Tab Shingle Roofs:
Typically, 3 tab shingle roofs last an estimated 15 to 20 years depending on many factors.
In the Hampton Roads area, we have a decent amount of wind and quite a bit of moisture. Humidity is pretty high as well.
For most of these roof systems (in my experience), they don’t last the entire 20 years. The roof lasts closer to 15 years due to the heavier amounts of rain, moisture / humidity, higher winds, the heat, direct sunlight, etc.
Even for the 15 years or 20 years it might last, that doesn’t mean your roof won’t need repairs over that time as well. A home is something that is never finished as they say and maintenance is always going to be required for our homes.
Architectural Grade Shingles:
This roofing system is designed to last an estimated 25 to 30 years. This also depends on many environmental factors.
This roof also lasts about 25 years (in my experience again) due to the environmental conditions of the Hampton Roads area.
Repairs are also expected during that 25 year time as well. Shingles blow off over time and other repairs may be needed as well after a hail storm for example.
What kind / style of roof do I have?
The style or roof design will affect a lot of things when it comes to how long your roof may last to how much repairs and replacement are for your roof.
PRO TIP: As a general rule, the more complex of a design for a roof, the more it’s going to cost you to have replaced in the future.
This is because more roofing materials (flashing, roof decking, shingles, underlayment, etc.) are going to be needed and a lot more thinking goes into the pathways for water shedding.
PRO TIP: Another roof item worth noting is the pitch or steepness of your roof. Another general roofing rule is the steeper your roof, the longer it lasts (again, based on my field experience as a home inspector).
What direction does your home face? The parts of the roof that are south facing will most likely wear out faster due to the higher amounts of direct sunlight that hit the roof on a daily basis. This shingles get sun baked over time.
Was your roof installed by professionals?
I cannot stress this enough, if you’re not extremely well versed in roofing installation & how things are built today. Please hire a professional to install your new roof.
As a home inspector, we see a lot of attempts at roof repairs and replacements from the diy (do it yourself) type of homeowners.
There are a lot of things I encourage DIY homeowners to tackle, but roofing is not one of them due to the high costs of roof replacements and roofing materials.
I understand people are trying to save money but, I don’t want you to have to buy a roof twice because the roof wasn’t done right the first time.
I recently inspected (January 2019) a home with a 2 year old roof (practically brand new right?) The entire roof was installed incorrectly and needed replacement. It had been leaking for probably those entire 2 years and the roof sheathing / substructure needed replacing from the moisture damage (wood rot). That particular seller had to buy that roof twice because it needed to be completely redone.
Please hire the professionals to build your roof right the first time.
PRO TIP: As a perk to having it done correctly, if the home inspector finds that your roof has some installation errors from the professional roofer / roofing company, there is someone to call to come back and fix it correctly. It doesn’t happen very often, but it can happen.
Personally, if I hired a professional tradesman to come and do a job at my home and I find out that it wasn’t done correctly (to code or to the industry standards), I’d blow that phone up and have them fix all of it for free. A professional is supposed to do things the right way and know the current standards. I’m still paying for the new roof of course (don’t go crazy, they have families to feed too) but, correcting the installation errors and making the roof up to the current standards is coming out of their pocket if it wasn’t done right the first time.
Live in the Hampton Roads area and need a home inspection? Call Virginia State Home Inspections today at 757-503-3677 to book Jacob Knapp as your trusted certified / licensed home inspector.
Virginia State Home Inspections is veteran owned and operated. Military / Veteran discounts are available
