Urgency triage
Active water entry, electrical risk, sagging, storm openings, and when to call a qualified professional immediately.
Not published yet
Repair or replace
Treat the cause, not just the ceiling stain.
A visible symptom can begin at flashing, drainage, condensation, penetrations, wind damage, or the field of the roof. Diagnosis comes before price.
30-second answer
Should I repair or replace my roof?
A localized, repairable failure on an otherwise serviceable roof may justify repair. Repeated failures, widespread deterioration, poor underlying design, or end-of-life materials may make replacement the lower-risk plan.
The decision
Three questions that decide it.
Age is the question everyone asks first and the one that settles least. These three do more work, and you can answer all three before anyone quotes anything.
Is the failure in one place, or does it keep coming back?
Leans repairA single flashing, penetration, valley, or storm-opened area on a roof that has not failed anywhere else.
Leans replacementThe same problem reappearing in new locations, or a run of repairs in a short span that never held.
Is what sits under the covering still sound?
Leans repairA firm deck, dry insulation, and no history of trapped moisture where the work would happen.
Leans replacementSoft or delaminated decking, saturated insulation, or damage that only becomes visible once a section is opened.
How long will you own the building?
Leans repairA short horizon, where a documented and warrantied repair carries the roof to the sale and is disclosed as what it is.
Leans replacementA long horizon, where paying twice for access, tear-off, and mobilization costs more than doing the work once.
None of this replaces an inspection on the roof. This site cannot see your deck—and neither can anyone working from a photograph.
Use it now
You can bound the worst case today.
The diagnosis guides below are unwritten. Two published pages still narrow the question before you speak to anyone with a ladder.
Estimate what a full replacement would cost
If replacement is genuinely on the table, a transparent planning range changes how you read a repair quote.
Read what this site cannot determine
A blunt list of the judgments that need someone on the roof rather than a page on the internet.
Diagnosis roadmap
From symptom, to cause, to decision.
None of these guides is published yet. The order matters more than the timing: urgency first, cause second, evidence third, and only then a repair-or-replace call.
Failure patterns
Flashing, penetrations, valleys, edges, drainage, condensation, wind, hail, algae, and material aging.
Not published yet
Condition evidence
Interior clues, roof-plane inspection, moisture findings, deck condition, repair history, and documentation.
Not published yet
Decision matrix
Extent, recurrence, remaining service life, compatible materials, ownership plans, and risk tolerance.
Not published yet
Repair scope
What a complete repair proposal should say about cause, materials, integration, warranty, and cleanup.
Not published yet
Replacement trigger
How to recognize when repeated repairs are preserving a weak system rather than solving it.
Not published yet
Walk in prepared
Walk into the inspection with better questions.
The published quote checklist makes a repair or replacement proposal state cause, scope, materials, integration, and warranty—the parts a single total hides.
See the quote checklist