“How do I know when my roof needs replacing?”
Summary:
Jeremiah identifies granule loss as the number one sign a roof needs replacing. He attributes this to the Pacific Northwest's highly variable weather, which causes materials to repeatedly expand and contract, driving granule loss from the moment the roof is installed. The second sign is missing shingles. He explains that shingles are held down by an adhesion strip, sometimes called a tar line, and that repeated expansion and contraction eventually fractures that strip, allowing wind to lift the shingle freely. Both of these signs can be spotted from the ground by a homeowner assessing how their roof is performing. His third indicator is algae and moss growth. Most shingles sold today include algae resistance, but that resistance diminishes as the shingle ages. If a homeowner cleans the roof and heavy algae and moss return within a year, that suggests the resistance has worn out and the roof is reaching the end of its lifespan.
Answer:
The number one sign that it is time to replace your roof is granule loss. So in the Pacific Northwest we have some of the most bipolar weather out there. It causes everything to expand and contract, expand and contract. With that, as it expands and contracts, granule loss happens from the moment the roof is installed. So obviously a big thing is the type of material you put on your roof. But if you purchase the house and you're curious, what is the number one sign that it's time to replace my roof? It's going to be granule loss. Another sign is going to be missing shingles. So as a shingle ages, what holds the shingle down is called a tar line, an adhesion strip. As it goes through that expansion and contraction enough times, that adhesion strip will start to fracture, causing the shingle to be able to blow freely in the wind. Wind comes through, knocks that shingle up. Those are signs that you can see from the ground and determine, hey, how's my roof performing? The last thing I'll add to that is overall algae or moss growth on the roof itself. Most shingles that you purchase today come with algae resistance. What you find as the shingle ages is that algae resistance starts to diminish over time. So say for example, if you clean your roof and a year later you're starting to notice a lot of that algae and moss return, that means that that algae resistance has diminished to a point where now you're having to be more manual with the roof and clean it off yourself. That typically is a sign that the roof is reaching the end of its lifespan.