Patching Your Roof Vs. Replacing It: Pros and Cons of Each

Is it better to patch your roof or simply replace it altogether? That depends. How much damage does your roof have? Where’s the damage located, and how old is the roof? How much will the job cost? These are just some of the questions you want to consider before deciding on the best roofing option for your damaged roof.

When Is It Best to Patch a Roof?

Patching a roof involves replacing torn or damaged shingles or otherwise fixing a small part of your roof. Besides shingles, our expert roof repair also includes fixing metal, tile, and low-slope (commercial) roofs.

You can have the roof patched if it’s relatively new and the damage is minimal. Replacing shingles due to wind damage or a fallen tree limb is usually easy and inexpensive.

A roof with loose tiles is vulnerable to more extensive damage in an area like Colorado Springs that’s susceptible to severe thunderstorms, strong winds, and major snowstorms. So, you’ll want to replace missing shingles or patch holes as soon as possible.

When only a small portion of the roof needs repair, a simple patch job should suffice. However, trying to match the repaired area of the roof with the remaining roof may be difficult. Unless you have some spare shingles from the original roof installation lying around, your patch job may not match the existing roof.

 

When Is It Best to Replace a Roof?

If the amount of damage is considerable and it will cost too much to patch it, then a roof replacement is the better option. When your roof has external or structural damage caused by storms and leaks or shows severe aging, a new roof installation provides increased safety. Repairing may save a little money now, but you could be risking a greater expense down the road. It may be best to spend more now to do the job right and minimize future costs.

A roof that’s close to its expected life span may look old and worn-down. Your roof may have algae, dark streaks, and moss accumulation on and in between the roof materials, affecting how it looks. A new roof will allow you to choose more recent designs and colors to change the roof’s overall aesthetics, increasing your home’s curb appeal.

The disadvantage of replacing a roof is the expense. However, replacing an old roof with a new one should add another 15–30 years of life and include warranty options. A new roof will also be more energy efficient.

When you have damage to your roof, that’s something that you need to address sooner rather than later. Regardless of how much damage you have, the problem will only get bigger if you put it off until later. In Colorado Springs, contact Petrali Roofing to help you decide whether it’s best to patch or replace your roof.

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