FAQ

For asphalt shingle it is getting there, but age alone does not settle it. Asphalt shingles are generally rated at 15 to 30 years, and 3-tab shingles toward the short end at 15 to 20, so a 20-year-old roof deserves a proper reading, not an automatic replacement. If the granules are holding, the shingles lie flat, the flashings are sound and the attic shows no water tracks, it may have years left, and that estimate goes on paper.

When it stops being repairable, not on a calendar. Asphalt shingles are generally rated at 15 to 30 years and metal at 40 to 70, but a roof is done when it leaks in several places, sags, sheds shingles in every wind or needs a new repair every season. In Baytown there is often no permit record of the last re-roof, so the roof itself is the record.

Published Baytown estimates put a typical single-story home in standard architectural shingle at about $9,000 to $16,000, and full replacements generally from about $7,000 to $15,000 and up. A two-story house, a heavier material or extra layers to strip push it higher. Your own figure depends on the roof area, the layers and the deck, so it is a written quote once the roof has been seen.

In Baytown it depends on the deck. The city requires a permit when roof decking is installed, replaced or repaired, and does not require one for roof shingle replacement only. Permits come from the Building Services Division at 2401 Market St, and the contractor applies for a Baytown Professional License before one issues. A re-roof quote should say what happens if soft decking is found.

For architectural shingle on a typical single-story Baytown home, it is well above the estimated $9,000 to $16,000 range, so ask what is driving it. A large two-story house, a metal roof or a lot of decking can account for it. The total alone does not settle it; the itemized roof area, tear-off layers, decking rate and permit do.

Published Baytown figures put minor roof repairs at an estimated $300 to $1,500 and major damage at $1,500 to $5,000, and a national cost guide puts the average repair around $900. A few lifted shingles or a split pipe boot sits at the low end; rotten decking or a rebuilt valley sits higher. Every repair quote here also says how many years the rest of the roof has.

It is a repair-or-replace threshold some places use: when more than about a quarter of a roof is damaged or replaced, the whole roof may have to come up to current code. Baytown's own published line is a different one. Shingle-only replacement needs no city permit, while any work on the roof deck does, so the question to ask here is whether the deck will be touched.

Leaks in more than one place at once; shingles curling, cracking or bare of granules across whole slopes; a sag you can see from the street; daylight through the deck in the attic; and repairs needed every season. One sign by itself is usually a repair. The roof's age is a reason to have it read, and the reading is what decides.