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Repair or replace your roof: a decision tool

Whether to repair or replace a roof is a judgement call made from a handful of facts. This tool asks for those facts in plain language, then shows you the direction they point and exactly which of your answers pushed it there. No email, no signup, and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

It will never tell you that you must replace your roof. Nothing can diagnose a roof without being on it, and the honest output of a questionnaire is a direction plus its reasoning.

1. Roughly how old is the roof covering?

The current covering, not the house.

2. What is the roof made of?
3. Where is the problem showing up?
4. How many roof repairs in the last five years?
5. Has there been a known storm, hail or impact event?
6. Visible missing, curling, cracked or granule-bare material?
7. Any soft, spongy or sagging areas, or structural concern?
8. Is water coming into the house right now?
9. Can the existing material still be matched?
10. How long do you expect to stay in the home?
11. Has an independent inspection been done?

How to use the result

Whatever direction the summary points, the next move is to get real numbers rather than to act on a questionnaire. If repair is worth pricing, read what drives repair cost first so the quote you receive is scoped rather than vague. If replacement deserves comparison, build your own baseline in the roof cost calculator, then test any bid you receive with the quote checker and line up multiple bids in the quote comparison tool.

If the summary says to get an inspection, that is usually the cheapest missing input in the whole decision — see what a roof inspection costs and why an independent report differs from a contractor's assessment. The longer background reading is the repair vs. replacement guide, and find a local pro searches nearby companies without a lead form.

Safety

If you have an active interior leak, a bulging ceiling, or any soft or sagging area on the roof, treat it as urgent and get a qualified roofer or inspector on site. Do not go up to look. Roof work is a fall-risk activity, and wet, steep or storm-damaged decking can give way where it looks intact from above.

Privacy

Every answer stays in your browser for as long as the page is open. Nothing is transmitted, stored or associated with you, and no account is required.

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