Re-roofing is a preferred method of minimizing infrastructure expense on your commercial property since it is more substantial than roofing over an existing roof or simply making patchwork repairs. Knowing when to re-roof your property is difficult; work with your commercial roofing contractor to schedule re-roofing but learn some of the signs for yourself, so you know when to call in the pros.
Three Forces
Three separate forces collide when determining an ideal time to re-roof your property. You have to deal with:
- Cultural or organizational pressure — Does your CEO want a re-roof for marketing purposes, or are the facilities crews reporting increased repair costs? Are your tenants complaining, or are leaks opening up above leased equipment?
- Physical issues — The actual condition of the commercial roofing protecting your business
- Budgetary concerns — Will re-roofing harm cash flow from temporarily displaced tenants? Do other repairs (HVAC, parking lot paving, upgrading electrical systems) take all the money?
Sure Signs
Of the three issues, the only one to which your commercial roofing contractor can lend expertise is the physical condition of your roof:
- Leaks — The chief issue, says FacilitiesNet; the combination of leak location, number and duration determines re-roofing versus repair of commercial roofing
- Open seams or open laps in flashings
- Splits, tears or punctures
- Outside forces — Weather, window washers, HVAC technicians, changing laws regarding hurricane zones
Financial Security
Your roofer can advise you with some of the financial decisions, providing estimates for continued repair versus re-roofing costs. You can quickly estimate the yearly cost of the re-roof:
- Ask your commercial roofing contractor for the total cost of the re-roof
- Determine the design life (warranty length) of the re-roof
- Divide the total cost by the number of years of useful life (design life) to get your yearly cost
This quick calculation can help you determine the tipping point between continued repairs and re-roofing. If repair estimates are equal to or greater than the yearly cost of the new roof, opt for the re-roof installed by a local, reliable roofer.
To get expert guidance in re-roofing, and to learn more signs of the need for a re-roof project, contact us at PSI Roofing. We can assess your current roof assets and help you determine yearly costs of a whole new roof.
