Guide
When patching stops being worth it
Most roofs give you two or three years of warning. The trouble is that the warnings are easy to explain away one at a time.
Get it looked at
Three questions, and up to three Los Alamitos contractors. Free either way.
You are on the list.
No provider in Los Alamitos is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Granules in the gutter
The granules are the sunscreen. Losing them in volume means the asphalt beneath is being cooked directly, and from that point the roof ages in years rather than decades.
Daylight or damp in the attic
The attic tells the truth earlier than the ceiling does. Staining on the underside of the deck predates any stain you will see downstairs by a long way.
Sagging along a line
Straight lines going wavy means something underneath has softened. That is no longer a roofing question with a cheap answer.
Repeated repairs in different places
When the leaks stop clustering and start appearing anywhere, you are not fixing a fault any more. You are paying for a replacement in instalments, at a worse rate.
The age on the paperwork
Age alone is not a reason to replace. Age plus any one of the symptoms above usually is.
Shingles that curl, cup or go brittle
Look along the roof from the ground at a low angle rather than straight on. Edges that lift, corners that curl upward and a surface that no longer lies flat all mean the material has lost its flexibility. Brittle shingles crack when walked on, which is why contractors stop wanting to walk them.
In short
None of these on their own settles it. Two together usually do. An inspection costs little and removes the guesswork entirely.
Related questions
How quickly will someone call?
Usually within the hour during working hours. If you marked the job as an emergency it goes to the front of the queue and is normally picked up faster than that.
Can I just put a new roof over the old one?
Often you legally can, and it is usually a poor idea. Overlaying hides the condition of the decking, adds weight, shortens the life of the new shingles by trapping heat, and doubles the cost of the next tear-off.
How long should a roof last here?
An architectural asphalt roof is rated for twenty-five to thirty years and, in this climate, tends to land at the lower end of that. Tile and metal go much further, provided what is underneath them is maintained.
Find out what it costs
No cost. We email you once when a provider near you can take it on.