Major Roof Repair – Average Cost & Common Problems.

The customer. The one who has the need. The one who looks to professionals for help, hoping for good service, and great solutions to their related problem(s). Unfortunately, customers in the DFW roofing industry, are not always the top priority in the minds of many roofing contractors.

The Common Problem.

It is sad but true, that similarly to car dealerships, profit is king, customers are put under the pressure of sales, and their actual needs are not at the top of the list of priorities for the service provider.

This directly correlates to today’s blog, “Major Roof Repair – Average Cost & Common Problems“.

How Does This Pertain To The Average Cost of Major Roof Repair?

As a roofing contractor, if commission is at the forefront of priorities, and full roof replacements are the biggest commission earner, one can connect the dots fairly easily.

Many roofing contractors view a major roof repair situation as a ramp into a full roof replacement, often refusing to do repairs in general, or handing the homeowner off to a different contractor who will do the repair. This negates the homeowner’s choice of contractor, and sort of leaves them taking what they can get.

The price is affected by all of this because the priority wasn’t the homeowner’s need in the first place.

The Solution To This Problem.

It seems like eliminating the problem is the solution, however, since nothing illegal is being done, usually, it can’t be eliminated very simply. So what is the solution?

For the homeowner, the solution is understanding how to properly vet your roofing contractor/company. The best way to do this is by finding a roofing contractor who is vocal about being repair focused.

If a contractor is repair focused, this means that they are not solely focused on full roof replacements. You can find this out by the verbiage used on their website, marketing platforms, and most importantly, out of their own mouths.

Do they claim to be repair focused, only recommending replacements when necessary? Or do they talk a lot about how they work with all different insurance companies, what brands they use, and how they are “fair priced” a lot? Leaving any mention of repairs out of their verbiage altogether? This will tell you all you need to know.

So What Does A Major Roof Repair Consist Of?

If you have a contractor who truly puts the customer first, and their actual needs, then we can narrow down the cost of major roof repair with more ease.

Basic roof repair caps out at around $1500 roughly. This leaves major roof repair covering everything above this, but ending before full replacement is needed. This is a wide margin, we know. So we will break it down to the most common categories of major roof repair.

Valley Repairs.

Valleys, as shown above, are two separate roof sections coming together. When repairing a valley, you have to open up both of those roof sections as much as needed to expose the damaged area.

For shingle roofs, this is no small job, but imagine the same repair on a metal roof (like the one in the photo above). The repairman would have to remove each section of metal all the way across until the whole damaged area of the valley was exposed. In either case, simply opening up the work area is a challenge.

Then, in order to repair the problem (PROPERLY), the repairman would…

• Remove the old flashing and ice & water shield
• Repair any of the wooden decking that was damaged beneath
• Add new flashing and ice & water shield
• Then piece it all back together

This would most likely require at least some new roofing material (especially for shingle roofs). Keep in mind, there can sometimes be further issues to deal with as well.

Hip & Ridge Repairs.

Similarly to valley repairs, there is much work involved in exposing the damaged area of the Hip or Ridge of a section of roof. With many of the same steps as a valley repair, plus the ridge cap needing to be reinstalled or replaced with new ridge cap.

These can be much larger repairs however (than valley repairs), as they are the highest part of a section of roof. When the highest part of a roof is where water is entering, gravity will normally trickle the water down to lower parts of the roof. Obviously, these parts of the roof will most likely take damage, and need repaired as well at this point.

Decking Repairs (or, Sub-Surface Repairs).

Now, one small piece of decking (usually 4 feet by 4 feet) can fit within the scope of a basic repair if it is not located on a valley, hip, or ridge. If there is extensive damage to a wide spread area of decking (usually from prolonged water leaking), then decking repair quickly falls in the scope of a major roof repair.

As one always has to remove the roofing material to access the decking, replace the damaged decking, then apply felt paper or ice & water shield, before replacing the roofing material. Again, depending on the roofing material, it may need replaced with new material if damaged.

So How Then Does One Figure Out What The “Average” Cost of Major Roof Repair Is?

By now, we are guessing you are starting to understand why finding an average cost of major roof repair is difficult. Seeing how many problems fall into this category is eye opening. Then, factoring in how extensive the damage is, all depending on what type of roof you have (asphalt shingle, metal, concrete tile, steel tile, etc.), not to mention the slope and/or height of the roof, before coming to a conclusion about what “average” is.

The honest truth, is that there is no real average… but for argument’s sake, let’s say that your roof only has ONE affected or damaged area that falls in the category of major repairs. Then let’s say your roof is an asphalt shingle roof, the most common style of roof. We can say that for ONE affected area on an asphalt shingle roof, a major repair can range from $1500 up to $7,500. This would make your average fall somewhere in the middle.

So your average major roof repair could be around $4,500. As we have clearly outlined, it could also be much more, or less.

In Closing.

All things considered, we hope that now you have a greater understanding of what all is entailed in the major roof repair, and that it will make more sense to you when given a quote for a major repair.

As we often mention, this blog’s purpose is to educate the homeowners of DFW in the finer workings of the local roofing industry. We do own and operate a roofing company, Craven Roofing & Construction, Inc., and would be happy to assist you in any needed repairs your roof may require. Please, feel free to contact us, here.

Also, if you enjoyed our blog/found it helpful and educational, please subscribe to our newsletter for notifications on our new posts when they arrive.

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