When to buy and sell stock? Simple: buy low, sell high. When to replace your flat roof? Also simple: when the weather, your budget, and your commercial roofer are all in complete harmony. We’re kidding a little, of course. In reality, scheduling commercial roof replacement is a complex issue. Let’s examine some factors affecting the timing of total roof replacement. 

A Little Bird

Consider replacing your company’s commercial roof when a little bird, in the guise of your nearby roofer, tells you to. When you partner with a full-time, professional roofing contractor specializing in commercial roofing, you gain an enormous asset:

Why take your roofer’s word for such a huge decision? Your commercial roofing contractor wants to retain you as a customer for years into the future. Demonstrating knowledge and reliability is key to that effort, so you can rest assured your roofer will give you the absolute best thinking on when to replace the roof. 

If you are fortunate enough not to need a new roof immediately, your roofer can work with you to design a roof assets management program while also planning for complete roof replacement. Protect what you have now even as you prepare for its successor. 

Customers

No commercial roofer wants to drive away business; not for themselves and certainly not for clients. Be certain to communicate fully and honestly with your roofer about possible conflicts with a full roof replacement. Your business may be seasonal, so off-season for you (whenever it falls) could be the best time to have roofing work performed by highly skilled roofers from your neighborhood contractor. 

You can get reasonably granular with scheduling around customers, too. In addition to working in your company’s slow season, most roofers will work in late afternoons or through weekends to perform their tasks without disturbing your clientele. Often, roof replacement can be noisy, smelly work. If you have any concerns about your company’s customers, say so. Your roofer will make every effort to work around your schedule. 

Aging

A commercial roof ages in two ways: chronologically, just by lasting through the march of years, and meteorologically, by being subjected to punishing winds, hard rains, and brutal sunlight. Your commercial roofer can assess both ages of your roof and provide you with a realistic timetable for replacement. 

Knowing you face total roof replacement in, say, five years, you start your budgeting and planning now. You put in capital reserves each year so when the right time arrives you have a significant part of the complete estimate in the bank, ready to apply to the necessary replacement. 

Weather

While weather shortens a roof’s life, it also factors into immediate decisions about a roof replacement. In Florida, hurricane season (the mid-August to mid-October time of uncertainty and dread) may not be ideal for roofing work. Still, roofers cannot stop their projects merely on suspicions of impending nasty weather. 

Still, if you can work with your roofer to avoid the very soggy summer months and hurricane season, your roofing project can probably move from start to finish with few, if any, down days for weather. 

Plan with your commercial roofer to schedule full roof replacement from mid-October through late May, and you should face very few weather-related problems. Since the typical “cold” day in Florida is still in the high 40s, a lot of roofing work can proceed even in January. 

Emergency

We have shown how customers, a roof’s age, and the weather should all be considered when picking a great time to replace your company’s roof. When, then, is a bad time to replace a roof? A terrible time to replace a commercial roof is when you must, because of an emergency. 

Roofing emergencies can ruin inventory, soak equipment, destroy supplies, and force workers to face furloughs. Roofing emergencies can permanently shutter a business. And, the emergency means costs can skyrocket; you may be paying premium rates for overnight or weekend emergency attention. 

Avoid emergencies. Replace your roof on your schedule, not Mother Nature’s. Work with your commercial roofer for routine inspection, repair, and maintenance of your roof. Work with your roofer, too, to design a roof succession plan, which is a strategy for replacing the roof in an unhurried, budget-friendly way. 

To improve your odds of avoiding an emergency full roof replacement, make sure your building’s roof is always in its best shape. Inspections and maintenance are essential, but so is the prompt repair of any minor issues. 

When you connect with us today at PSI Roofing, you will speak to highly skilled roofing professionals. We are in the Fort Lauderdale area and throughout southern Florida to help you with all aspects of your commercial or industrial roof, from spot repairs to full roof replacement.