Is it cheaper to repair or replace my roof?

Gordon Head is where this question comes up most. The 1960s and 70s ranchers and split-levels there are on their second or third asphalt roof, and many have a low-slope section re-covered in torch-on at a different time from the main roof. A repair quote on the shingle side can look cheap while the torch-on side is quietly at end of life, so ask whichever roofer you call to price both sections and to tell you the age of each.

On the West Shore the maths usually runs the other way. Langford and Westhills roofs are mostly under 25 years old, so a wind-lifted ridge cap or a cracked pipe boot is a genuine repair, not the first sign of a failing roof. A repair that costs $400 on a twelve-year-old Langford roof buys another decade; the same repair on a 24-year-old Fernwood roof under a Garry oak may buy one winter.

Ask the question over one year and repair wins every time: nothing a roofer can do to one slope costs as much as tearing off the whole roof. Ask it over ten years and the picture changes. A roof at 20 years on a 25-year material will need replacing inside that window regardless, so every dollar spent on repairs in the meantime is a dollar you do not get back, plus the leak damage that each failed patch lets through.

The repair-or-replace tool on this site shows the 1, 5 and 10-year totals side by side for your own roof size, material and age. The break-even point moves with age far more than with the price of any single repair.

Roofers use a few rough tests before recommending a repair, and you can apply them yourself from a written quote.

• Age: the roof is past about three-quarters of its typical lifespan (roughly 15+ years for local asphalt, 20+ for cedar, 30+ for metal)
• History: two or more paid repairs in the last two years, or the same spot leaking again
• Cost share: the repair quote is more than about 35% of a replacement quote for the same roof
• Spread: the problem (curling, granule loss, moss damage) appears on several slopes, not one spot
• Decking: the roofer suspects soft or rotten sheathing, which a surface repair cannot fix

A repair is the right call when the roof is young, the damage has a single cause and the rest of the surface is sound. Storm-lifted shingles on one slope, a failed pipe boot, a chimney flashing that has pulled away, or a skylight that needs re-flashing are all normal repairs on roofs that have years of life left. Matching shingles is the main practical limit: after ten years the original colour has weathered and the patch will show, which matters if you plan to sell soon.

A repair also wins when you are selling within a year or two. A documented repair with a receipt is usually enough for a buyer's inspector; a BC realtor guide estimates a new roof recoups only about 60–70% of its cost at sale.

Get the repair quote and a replacement quote from the same visit, in writing, with the roof area in squares on each. Ask the repair quote to state what it does not cover (the rest of the slope, the decking underneath) and how long the roofer expects it to hold. Then use the calculator here to sanity-check the replacement figure against our model before you compare the two numbers.