Restoration-first commercial roofing across Western Pennsylvania · Call 814-720-1081
Restoration-first commercial roofing across Western Pennsylvania · Call 814-720-1081
Home / Restoration vs Replacement
Restoration costs roughly half of replacement and takes days rather than weeks. Is roof restoration worth it for every building? No. It is the wrong answer for some roofs, and this page is about how to tell which one you have.
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It gets patched, it holds through one dry spell, and it is back the next time the wind drives rain the wrong way.
We find where the water actually gets in before anyone quotes you a system.
A full tear-off was quoted on a roof that may not need one, and nobody showed you the condition of the deck.
We say so when a roof does not need replacing, even though replacing it pays us more.
Mil thickness, ponding ratios, a system name you were told to trust. You are responsible for the building and cannot check a word of it.
Nothing happens on your roof without you knowing first. That is the rule here, not a slogan.
That is the one that costs the most and it is the reason this company exists. The contractor who came in sixty thousand dollars cheaper than us on a roof nearby is no longer trading. We are the ones installing the replacement.
Ask us who services your roof in year three. It is the only question on this page we can answer with a name.
A replacement pays for tear-off, disposal, new insulation, new membrane and the labor to fit all of it, plus whatever the deck turns out to need once it is exposed.
A restoration pays for cleaning, reinforcement and a coating system. The existing roof becomes the substrate rather than the waste, which removes the two most expensive lines from the estimate.
Wet insulation, a deteriorated deck, or a membrane that has failed rather than weathered. In those cases a coating is a cosmetic layer over a problem that carries on underneath it.
We will say so, in writing, with the scan and the photographs that show why. A contractor who recommends restoration on every roof is not assessing roofs.
If the deck is solid, the insulation is dry and the membrane is weathered rather than failed, a restoration puts a new warrantied surface on it at a fraction of the cost, without a tear-off.
Wet insulation cannot be coated over. It will not dry, it keeps degrading the deck underneath and it destroys the R value you are paying to heat through. Coating a wet roof seals the problem in.
Age tells you very little. We have restored twenty five year old roofs and recommended replacement on twelve year old ones. The scan and the core samples decide it.
Seams, flashings, penetrations, drainage and the general state of the field, documented rather than described.
Infrared or capacitance scanning across the field to find where water is sitting inside the assembly.
A physical core through a suspect area confirms what the scan suggests and shows exactly what the roof is built from.
Restoration and replacement, priced, with the reason one is recommended. If it is replacement, you get told that even though the other number is smaller.
Straight answers on cost, timeline, and what a restoration actually involves. No jargon, no sales pressure.
A free, photo-documented assessment and honest numbers on restore versus replace.
Typically fifty to seventy percent of a full replacement on a roof that qualifies, which is usually the answer to whether roof restoration is worth it on a given building. The spread widens as the roof gets bigger, because tear-off, disposal and deck work scale with area while a coating system scales more gently.
Ask for the moisture scan and ask for both prices in writing. Anyone recommending a coating without having scanned the roof is guessing, and a coating over wet insulation fails inside a few years.
Not necessarily. Age is a poor predictor. What matters is whether water has got into the assembly. Some twenty year old roofs are bone dry and restore beautifully. Some ten year old ones are soaked.
Yes, and on larger buildings that is often the right answer. Roofs are rarely in one condition throughout, and treating the whole area as a single number is how owners get quoted a full replacement they did not need.
A registered manufacturer warranty on a restored roof is a genuine warranty, honored the full term. Tell your insurer what was done and give them the documentation, which you will have because it comes with the job.
Request your free, photo-documented roof assessment. Honest options, firm numbers, and a roofer who will still be here next year.
Free assessment · Photo-documented · No obligation, no pressure
