Roofing in San Antonio
Roof repair, roof replacement, and storm damage roofing for San Antonio homeowners. How we look at a roof, and how we decide what it actually needs.
We do three kinds of roofing work: repair when the problem is contained, replacement when the roof system has reached the end of its service life, and storm damage work after hail or high winds. Which one you need is decided by looking at the roof, not by its age.
Most people who call us about a roof already know something is wrong. There is a stain spreading across a bedroom ceiling, or shingles turned up in the yard after a storm, or a neighbour has just had their roof done and mentioned that yours looks rough. What they usually do not know is which of those means a repair and which means a replacement.
That is the question worth answering carefully, because it is the difference between a contained job and a large one.
What we look at
A roof leak shows up in the house at the lowest point water can reach. That is almost never directly under where the water got in. So the useful work happens on the roof and, where it can be reached safely, in the attic:
- The field of the roof. Missing, cracked, curled, or bruised shingles, and whether the damage sits in one area or is scattered across every slope.
- The flashing. Where the roof meets a wall, a chimney, a vent, or a valley. A large share of leaks are flashing problems rather than shingle problems.
- The penetrations. Vents, pipe boots, and anything else that puts a hole through the roof on purpose.
- The decking. Whether the wood under the covering is still sound, or whether water has been sitting in it long enough to soften it.
What comes out of that is a description of what is wrong and what caused it. You get it in writing, so you can read it, ask about it, or take it to someone else for a second opinion.
The three paths
Roof repair
The damage is in one place, the rest of the roof is sound, and fixing the cause solves the problem. This is the answer more often than a lot of homeowners are told.
Roof replacement
The problem is not one spot. The covering has reached the end of its service life, or the deck underneath is compromised, or repairs have stopped holding. At that point patching costs money without solving anything.
Storm damage roofing
Hail or high winds came through and you need to know what they did. This has its own timeline, its own documentation, and its own set of things to be careful about.
More about storm damage roofing
Permits
Re-roofing work in San Antonio can require a permit, and what is required varies with the scope of the job, the pitch, whether the material is changing, and any related trade work. The City of San Antonio Development Services Department publishes the current requirements on its residential permits pages. We will tell you whether a permit applies to your job before the work starts rather than after it. Confirm the current requirements with the City, since they can change.
What the re-roof permit process involves
Talk to us
If you are not sure which of the three you are dealing with, that is a normal place to start from. Call (210) 468-8279 or send a message describing what you have noticed.