What a roof replacement involves
- Inspect. Check shingles or panels, the flashing, vents, and the underside of the decking from the attic for soft or stained spots.
- Tear off the old roofing down to the decking.
- Replace bad decking. Soft, rotted or delaminated boards come out and new sheathing goes in.
- Drip edge and underlayment go down over the clean deck.
- Flash the weak points: valleys, chimneys, walls, pipes and vents. Most leaks start at flashing, not in the middle of the roof.
- Shingles or metal panels, then the ridge and vents.
- Clean up nails and debris from the yard and driveway.
Roof repairs
Not every leak needs a new roof. Repairs cover replacing damaged shingles, resealing or replacing flashing, and cutting out and replacing the decking under a leak.
Metal roofing
Metal roofs come in two broad kinds. Exposed-fastener panels are screwed through the face and cost less. Standing-seam panels hide their fasteners under raised seams and cost more, with fewer screw holes to maintain over the years.
What affects the cost of a roof
| Roof size | Measured in squares, each 100 square feet of roof surface. |
|---|---|
| Pitch | Steep roofs are slower to work and need more safety gear. |
| Layers to remove | Tearing off two old layers costs more than one. |
| Decking | How much rotten decking needs replacing often isn't known until the old roof is off. |
| Material | Architectural shingles, exposed-fastener metal and standing-seam metal are three different price points. |
| Details | Valleys, chimneys, skylights and dormers all need extra flashing and time. |
| Access and haul-off | Where the trailer can park, and how much old roofing has to be hauled away. |
[PLACEHOLDER: typical price ranges, e.g. a leak repair, and a shingle re-roof per square].
How long a roof takes
[PLACEHOLDER: typical timeline for a re-roof on an average house]. Roofing waits on dry weather: a roof isn't torn open with rain on the way.
After a storm
Central Arkansas gets hail and strong spring storms. If storm damage is why you're calling, call your insurance company as well. Your insurer may want photos of the damage before anything is torn off.