Roofs. They are the foundation of your home and you have to make sure it continues to be reliable for you.
However, depending on how long ago your home was built, there may come a time that you need to replace your roof.
The average home roof is designed to last around 30 years. If you just bought your home recently, you may have no idea how close you may be to having to replace your roof.
You may ask yourself, "How old is my roof?"
How do you figure this out? Are there any obvious signs to show roof age?
This is your roofing guide.
Look up Home History
The first thing you should do is look up your home's history. Luckily, in these modern times, this is not too difficult to do.
For the most part, all you need to know is your home address. That should give you information on when the home was built and who the previous owners were.
While this will not specifically tell you how old your roof is, it is a good start. It can give you a good idea of the timeline that your home has been through.
What this can also do is eliminate concerns if you find out that your home was built more recently than you may have expected. So, look this up just to get an idea of how old your overall home is.
Look up Building Permits
The next thing you should do is try to look up building permits. You need one to install a new roof, so you should be able to find this through public records.
Building permits can give you an idea of when your roof was built or the last time it had major work done to it.
Let's use Michigan as an example. Here, all you have to do is contact the Permits Division and you should be able to have your questions about your home's past permits answered.
Then, you should have a good idea of your home's history. If there is no permit history and your home reaches the age criteria, then this is something you should keep in the back of your mind.
This information can help determine if you need to take immediate action when it comes to roof installation.
Get Contact Information
Once you do find out about the home history and any past building permits on your home, you may be able to seek out some contact information. There are two areas where this can help you.
The first area is if you see any previous homeowners listed in your home history. With this information, you can try to get in touch with them directly and ask them questions about your roof. If you do get in contact with them, they can tell you when they had a new roof installed or any ongoing issues they had with the roof before they sold the home.
Another area this can help you is if you find any past roof installers. These installers would be found on any building permits that your home had.
Just assume that the roofing company had to put their business name on the permit before getting started. If you find this information, you can contact the roofing company and ask them a couple of questions. You can find out when they installed the roof and if they had any problems doing so.
Look for Signs of Aging
If all else fails, then you need to start looking for signs of your roof aging yourself. There are a few obvious signs that you can point to if you find these on your roof.
The first is if you have any moss on your roof. This means that your roof is losing its ability to resist moisture. That could be a problem that only gets worse if it is not taken care of right away.
Another way you can tell that a roof is aging is if it has several missing shingles. Let's face it, roofs were not made to last forever. Eventually, shingles that were installed on a roof are going to wear out.
If enough shingles are missing, that can be a big sign it is time to get some work on your roof done.
Call a Roofing Company
You looked for signs of aging and you may have found something on your roof that concerns you. If this is the case, then you should call a roofing company and have them come take a look at your roof.
With this option, you can get a professional roof inspection and they can tell you what kind of damage your roof has. On top of this, they can suggest a course of action for you. Once they go that route, you can get an idea of how bad of a shape your roof is in and what it will cost to fix it.
How Old Is My Roof?
You could look up at your roof and ask yourself, "How old is my roof?" Hopefully, this guide gave you some good ideas on how to find out.
Try to find access to public records such as your home history or any building permits that go along with that. If you have luck here, then contact past homeowners or roofing companies that had permits with your home.
Assuming that fails, you can look for signs of aging yourself and if it looks bad, call a roofing company.
Are you in that boat? Get a free roofing quote here.
