Roof Repairs Dublin: What to Do With an Old Roof in Your Home
Let’s say you’re in the market for a new roof or a roof repair with an extended guarantee, and you’ve been researching and visiting roofing company websites to shorten your choices of roofing contractors or roof repair specialists. Like millions of other prospective homeowners, you might discover something unexpected in the roof of your home or one (or more) properties you may have: an old roof, fallen into disrepair or an old roof that can still be repaired to a good standard without leaking into your home, especially in the winter months.
If you’re facing this sort of situation, you’re not alone. It’s not uncommon for existing homes to come with old, damaged roofs needing complete replacement or roof repairs. -- We at D.Hennessy Roofing carry out over 500 roof repairs annually across the whole county of north and south Dublin.
What can you do if you’ve bought a home with an old roof? The answer depends on several factors, most of which are beyond your control until you own your new home.
In many cases, it is possible to renovate an old roof to transform it into a beautifully modern new roof installation. Should you do it yourself? Is it better to leave this job to the pros? When does it make more sense to start over by removing your old roof and installing a completely new one?
Let’s look at your options as the new owner of an old roof…
What condition is your old roof in?
Perhaps the most significant factor in your roof repair or new roof installation decision will be the initial condition of the roof you’ve “inherited, or you own.
Let’s say you’ve looked at your roof, and there’s no need to get a complete roof replacement, but a good roof repair will be good enough. It’s just a few little roof slates broken, or there is a crack in the lead of the roof valley, or some cement is breaking away at the roof ridge tiles.
Is the roof interior roof membrane felt in good condition? Does it have rips in the roof felt, and are there signs of water ingress? Is the chimney lead flashing and other surrounding areas still in good condition and leak free?
If everything is still in good condition, you might get away with a good roof repair with another few years’ guarantee -- perhaps using a company like us at D.Hennessy Roofing can restore your roof to its former glory.
In many cases, recovering a roof that needs minor repairs is pretty straightforward. You may want to hire a reputable roof repair company to ensure all the roofing, roof felt membrane, lead, and other components are maintained correctly (and safely).
Is your roof installed with clay or concrete tiles? You may need to repair some cracked or broken roof tiles on your roof -- a task best left to roof pros like us at D.Hennessy Roofing.
If your roof is in decent condition, but some areas need attention……
It’s common for old roofs, such as tiled or slate roofs, flat roofs, lead roofs, or fibreglass roofs, to leak over time.
All roofs that leak water ingress inside your home can always be repaired unless you have completely neglected your roof, and now the timbers underneath your roof tiles or roof slates have gone rotten from water ingress. Then, this might require a complete roof replacement.
Freezing temperatures can wreak havoc on anything with water ponding on it, and you may find yourself needing to replace large parts of your flat roof, or maybe you need a completely flat roof replacement, including its timber joists and timber deck, if things haven’t been well-maintained.
If the roof exterior looks salvageable, but you’re uncertain whether or not all of your roof area is leak-free, we highly recommend consulting a reputable roof repair company. They should be able to inspect your roof, find any leaks or wear and tear in your roof, and recommend the most reasonably cost-effective solutions.
However, it probably won’t be cheap. Most neglected roofs can cost several thousand euros to install a new roof, and if there are signs of water ingress to your roof, you may need to decide if it’s better to renovate your roof or replace it entirely. At this point, you may want to contact a reputable roofing company like ourselves at D.Hennessy Roofing. We'd love to be able to help you with any roofing repair you may need or maybe to help you with a new complete roof replacement.
What will it cost to resurface an old flat roof?
We have worked with flat roofs over the last 40 years -- you may never need to replace a flat roof timber structure surface if it’s reasonably well-maintained.
However, the same can’t be said if your flat roof was neglected and water has penetrated through to the roof deck and caused a lot of timber rot, meaning you need a complete flat roof replacement.
Both timber roof deck and roofing felt will need to be replaced, regardless of how well you thought your roof had been maintained.
Flat roofs should be maintained every three to five years. This can cost €500 euros or more, depending on the size and complexity of your roof area. These days, there are different types of flat roofs, such as torch on membrane, fibreglass roofs, EPDM flat roofs and liquid polyurethane flat roofs. If a flat roof is maintained, you could get twenty to thirty years from your flat roof leak-free.
Slate or tile roofs can last up to fifty to one hundred years once installed by a master craftsman like our company, D.Henessy Roofing. A lack of care and maintenance will cause the need
for replacement, which typically costs at least €10,000 depending on roof area size.
You could try to replace a roof yourself, but we do not recommend it. If you make one mistake, you might have a useless, leaky roof you’ll have to replace again immediately.
Flat roofs shouldn’t need resurfacing, but a neglected flat roof may still have an unsightly finish you’ll want to refresh. However, it’s costly to resurface a worn, flat roof if you have neglected it for years. -- https://www.dhennessyroofing.ie/flat-roof-installations-repairs
Is it better to renovate an old roof or replace it?
Unfortunately, some old roofs will be too far gone to be effectively restored to their original roof shape. This becomes truer the longer your old roof has been mismanaged and unmaintained. If your home includes an old roof you can’t justify paying thousands of euros to restore, you’ll be faced with two serious choices:
If you never planned to install a new roof in a recently purchased or existing home, it’s not an easy choice and will probably come down to your available funds. However, many homeowners don’t want to abandon the dream of a completely new roof installation -- they can’t justify renovating an old, leaking, damp roof when it simply doesn’t suit their needs.
If your old roof leaks or includes too many (or too few) costly repairs, replacing the whole thing may make more sense.
The best way to determine whether you’re better off renovating or replacing your old roof is to answer a few simple questions:
Would the current roof be leak-free once it’s renovated?
Would it cost significantly less to repair your roof than to replace it?
How important is the “perfect roof” to your dreams of homeownership?
Many new homeowners with old roofs don’t like their existing roof enough to justify keeping it, regardless of the cost savings renovation might offer over replacement. Maybe the roof is old and damp, the tiles or roof slates aren’t appealing, or the overall roof design looks dated for the 2020s. If so, you may want to start planning a new roof project. You can get free estimates in a snap for any of our complete roof replacements you wish by contacting us at www.dhennessyroofing.ie. Our Design team will be pleased to help you. Just click the button below to give it a try:
How much does it cost to replace an old roof?
Replacing an old roof can cost nearly as much as installing a new one, which is what you’ll be doing if you decide to rip the old one off and start from scratch.
The nice thing about replacing an old roof is that its costs give you a much better outcome with a more extended guarantee than just repairing your old roof.
Your roof pros will need to rip off the old roof and get rid of it into a skip, but there also would’ve been much rubble involved with a big roof repair project. This cost can vary, as can the cost of any roofing project, based on the size of the roof, the complexity of the project, and any add-ons you may want to be installed with your new roof installation, such as new Velux skylight installations.
In both cases, this is either in line with or slightly more expensive than simply installing a new roof in an unmodified yard.
However, anyone who’s spent any time in construction can tell you that renovating a disused property roof can often cost more than it might cost to build a new one from the house wall plate up. The same is true for new roof installations.
If you’ve got an old roof in your home and are unsure what your best course of action might be, don’t hesitate to contact us at D.Hennessy Roofing. Our network of new roof installations and roof repairs operates across the whole county of Dublin, and we’d be happy to help you; please get in touch with one of our local representatives so you can figure out what to do with that old roof.
Whether renovating or replacing, it’s highly recommended that you consult a professional. Too many factors are in play for us to ever recommend someone without extensive roof-building experience attempt to renovate or replace your roofs.
Do you have any questions about roof renovations that haven’t been answered here? Please ask us in the comments. We’re happy to help homeowners make the most of their roofing decisions, no matter what condition they might be in!
At D.Hennessy Roofing, we manufacture world-class new roof installations for customers across Dublin.
Thank You, Darren Hennessy. COPY WRITE December 2024
Commentaires