Do you practice the old adage,..."If it ain't broke,..don't fix it" ?

This is in regards to old worn out shingle roofs on houses. Everyone who has seen my rental house roof says the same thing,..."that roof looks awful. It has been patched with different color shingles. It is an eyesore,..blah, blah, blah".

My stock answer is: "Yes, the roof has some age on it, however, the roof does not leak and my tenant of 6 years is not complaining about the cosmetic appearance of the roof.

I don't fix it if it ain't broke. However if the roof is getting toward the end of its life and shingles are curling with no grit on them, I do think about replacing them in an off season good price time. I don't worry about the colors not matching most of the time. In fact I have some roofs that one section is a dark color and one a light color because I think light color roofs are better for energy savings and long life and only roofed the area that was bad. Or metal roof on a section because that needed it.

LindaJ,

Roy, who is saying that the roof is an eyesore: potential renters, or your family/friends? I care about what my customers think. The rest, not so much.

Sid,

My insurance company does surprise visits and lets me know (with photos) that some of my roofs are not up to their standards. At one house, the insurance company dropped my coverage for 'wind related roof damage' due ONLY to the cosmetic look of the roof. And the roof here did not look all that bad either!

At another house, my handyman who patches roofs for me told me this roof was worn-out and may last another year at best. I heard that same comment from another handyman I hired 10 years ago when I first bought the house!

Before anyone here tells me to buy a new roof,...keep in mind that I have 7 houses that could qualify for new roofs.

Homer,

Roy, buddy, I always enjoy your "surprise reveal" style of posting.

The question changes from one of cosmetic appearances to having insurance. So there really isn't a question any more about "if it aint broke." The question should be, "Do I want insurance-yes or no?"

If it were one part of the house, like say the front porch roof, I'm okay with just roofing that one area. I'm OK with doing something temporary, like for 3 months or so.

If your tenant hasn't said anything about it and doesn't seem to mind then more power to you.

But I personally don't care to just patch up the roof and leave it all crazy colored especially if the whole roof is bad. If I were a prospective tenant that cared and saw a rainbow roof, it would scream to me roof has had issues, will probably still have issues, landlord just does what they can to " get by".

If it's a small areA to fix, I would try my best to find shingles that semi match what I've got on it.

I forgot that you can paint a roof, too until Steve mentioned it.

Don't get me wrong, we hate the expense of roofing, cleanup, etc, it's no fun. But in the meanwhile would do our best to cover up so as to not draw attention to a roof that has had past issues.

Sid,

Mickie (OH)

Been there also. I got cancelled on one house due to wind blowing off 3 shingles. They did not even give me a chance to fix it, just sent a 30 day cancellation notice. Insurance companies that cover rental properties are ruthless.

Jeffrey,

Since I started in this business (2006), I have had a total of 6 insurance companies! Most of your big name insurance companies that love insuring Homeowners, tend to have a 4 house limit on rental properties. And when those 4 rental houses are not located in all white neighborhoods, those insurance companies encourage you to look for another insurance carrier for just your rental properties.

In 2010, I switched my Homeowners insurance and Auto Insurance to an AL based insurance company (name withheld) that did not have a 4 house limit. For the next 3 years, everything was great because I had a great insurance company for both my Homewowners and my rental properties also. Then one day, this new insurance company dumped all of their landlord policies but kept the Homeowners polices since they are supposedly lower risk.

What I have now is a Commercial Insurance policy which covers all 14 properties but is complicated. My liability is covered by one insurance company and my property damage policy is covered by another insurance company. Both insurance companies are ones you have never heard of and the agent who handles my Homewowners policy is also acting as an "independent agent" for these two other insurance companies. It is mind boggling.

Whenever I shop for new insurance, I always run into the same road block over and over again,..."yes, we want to insure your primary residence and autos,...but your rental properties are high risk and you need to find someone else to insure those.

Jeffrey,

At the 2015 convention, I did have a nice and pleasant conversation with them. They even e-mailed me a quote after I had returned home. However, I need to plead the 5th amendment regarding further details here.

If you want to call me, I will give you the details of why I chose not to pursue them anymore. It is more of a personal reason than anything else.

I did on our rental. But then I am all about curb

appeal and my brother knows not to fight me on it as I

will just win in the end.

I probably would not if it were just a little rental

somewhere and not my family home. However, at the

first chance I got in the future I would probably be looking at redoing it if it looks as bad as people are

Busy (WI)

In the last 5 years, I have bought a total 6 new roofs,...four were metal and 2 were shingled. It may take another 5-10 years before I can give a 'long term' opinion on which type last longer or has fewer maintenance issues.

If looks or curb appeal is important, then without question, the 30 year Architectural (Dimensional) shingle type is the one to choose. I chose metal for some of my houses where curb appeal was less an issue and also because other nearby houses had metal roofs.

My insurance company sent out someone for my annual drive by inspection. The inspector wrote up a report that my roof shingles were on their last leg and needed immediate replacement. If I did fix my roof within 30 days, my policy would be cancelled.

Thanks For the inro Roy. There aren't many metal roofs in my area, but houses aren't really well kept either. The slick factor gives me pause, I don't like heights anyway.

I would, roofs are cheap and cause a lot of issues.

several issues here.

cosmetics? if you're good with a cobby roof, let is be. cosmetics are not an element of water tightness

excluding water? have it inspected by a ROOFER. i've done over 300 roofs as a contractor and seen many dozens of roofs that were leaking but had not revealed those leaks. most roofs are poorly maintained, if at all. a roofer will be more able to report on the material and it's expected remaining life. at the very least you should have someone give it a look every two years to assure the flashing's are sealed, valleys clear, trees off it, etc.

a stitch in time...

i've issued many dozens of roof certs for lenders and at least a dozen opinion letters for owners who'd been told to replace. in ALL cases the insurers "inspector" had not been up for a proper inspection. about 80% of the roofs i got that call to look at were fine. my field notes following an inspection and common maintenance put that silliness to bed. the other 20 needed to be replaced.

as far as metal or composition...metal is a FAR longer lived roof but FEW roofers, myself included, install them. if your budget permits, metal is superior.

in august i helped a friend in hawaii roll out a Gaco silicone film over a similar rolled on product. it's like thick paint. pure white and very reflective. the stuff is incredible and goes on FAST. it's used primarily for low slope applications but i'm told it can used over composition shingles. i will be learning more about this.