If your roof just has one or two damaged shingles, by all means, have those shingles replaced and leave the rest of the roof alone. But if your roof needs more extensive repairs — such as if you have multiple damaged shingles on both sides — you may want to think twice before scheduling repairs. In many cases, when extensive repairs are needed, you may be better off just having the whole roof replaced. Here's why this approach is typically better.
There may be even more damage you don't know about
You might think your roof might need 10 shingles replaced, but if there's this much damage you know about, there is probably more damage you don't know about. Once your roofer is up there looking around, they may find more damage that needs to be fixed. Then, fixing everything takes even more time and money than you had planned. Simply replacing the roof will make sure all damage you know about, and also all the damage you don't know about, gets fixed properly.
The rest of the roof may need to be replaced in a few years, anyways
Homeowners often start to recognize that a roof is deteriorating a year or two into that deterioration process. You can make repairs, but the rest of the roof will keep deteriorating, and in a few years, the rest of the roof will need to be replaced, too. You can pay for repairs now and a roof replacement in a few years, or you can just pay for the roof replacement now. The latter is a more affordable approach in the long run.
New roofs usually come with a warranty
Roofs are systems. The shingles around a particular shingle affect how that particular shingle performs. As such, most roofers will not give a warranty on any repairs they make. There's just no way for them to ensure the rest of the roof doesn't affect the repairs. There will, however, generally be a warranty on a new roof. So, if you replace your roof, you won't have to pay for any repairs it needs in the next 5 to 10 years. This can give you a lot of peace of mind.
Having extensive repairs done on a roof is not usually a great idea. Usually, by the time a roof needs this much work, you are best off tearing it off and starting over with a new one.
Reach out to a local roofer to learn more about roofing replacements.
