The roof of your home is one of its most essential components. It is your roof that provides shelter and guards you against the elements. As your roof is so vital, it pays to ensure it is in the best possible condition to resolve any problems before they become more severe issues. Unfortunately, roofs do not last forever, so it is helpful to know the age of roof your home has so you can factor in when a replacement may be needed.
If you are wondering the age of your roof, these tips will help you determine:
Look Through Your Paperwork
When you bought your house, you likely received lots of documents relating to maintenance work and installations carried out when past owners were living at your home. It is worth looking through this paperwork to see if you can find any documentation, receipts, or guarantees for installing the roof. Finding this paperwork will help you find out lots of helpful information about your home and its maintenance over the years. Hopefully, you may discover paperwork which answers your question of how old is my roof. If you find the appropriate paperwork, it will enable you to know if your roof is under warranty and the exact dates the work was carried out.
Contact the Previous Owner
Contacting the person you bought your property from can be helpful if you are wondering how to find out the age of roof. The previous owner may have been the one to get the roof replaced, or they may have been informed by the owner before them of the age of the roof. Even if the owner cannot remember when the roof was replaced, they may remember the company’s name that carried out the replacement. You can then contact the roofing company to see if they have a record of the work carried out on your property.
Check for a Building Permit
Attempting to trace the building permit can be an effective way to establish when your roof was replaced. A building permit is required for extensive work carried out on a property in many areas, such as a roof replacement. Not every state requires a building permit for roof replacements, but if you live in an area where building permits are required, this could be helpful. While the permit would not have been issued at the exact time the work on the roof took place, it will give an indication of when the roof replacement happened.
Get Your Roof Inspected
Contacting a reputable local roofing company to inspect your roof is an excellent way to determine the age of your roof. Using their expert knowledge, the roofing company will identify when the roof was installed while also looking out for signs of damage that require repair. Getting a roof inspection serves a dual purpose and enables you to discover how old your roof is and gain an idea of its current condition.
If you’re in the Greater Northwest we’d love to serve you! Our roofing contractors and installation specialists in Portland, Vancouver, and Salem serve all of NW Oregon & SW Washington.
