When Repair Won't Cut It,
We Replace It Right

Roof replacement means removing your existing roofing system and installing a completely new one. There are two approaches: a full tear-off (stripping to the deck, inspecting structure, and building new from bottom up) and an overlay (installing new material directly over existing). Full tear-off is the gold standard and what we recommend in the vast majority of cases.

A full tear-off prices off square footage, pitch, how many layers are coming off, and how cut-up the roofline is — every valley, hip, dormer, chimney, and pipe penetration is hand work that area alone doesn't capture. An overlay comes in meaningfully lower because there's no tear-off labor and no dumpster. It also lasts roughly half as long: new shingles conform to the old surface's imperfections, and the heat trapped between the two layers cooks the new one from below. More importantly, an overlay means nobody ever looks at your decking — you're roofing over an unknown. Code in all three states we work in caps you at two layers, so an overlay also spends the one shot you get; the next roof is a full tear-off regardless, and it'll be a tear-off of two layers instead of one.

Clear indicators it's time: the roof is within 5 years of expected lifespan end, leaks in multiple unrelated locations, repair costs exceed 30% of replacement cost, widespread granule loss (30%+ of surface), extensive curling or cracking, compromised decking, or you're selling and the roof hurts the price. If your roof is mid-life and damage is localized, repair is usually the right call.

Ask a roofer to price a replacement sight-unseen and you'll get a guess. Here's what actually decides it: total square footage and pitch, since a steep roof needs staging and slows every stage; the number of layers coming off; roof complexity; access and staging — whether a dump trailer can sit under the eave or every bundle gets carried; the material tier you choose; and decking condition once we're down to bare deck. We carry a stated sheet allowance in every estimate and bill only the sheets we actually swap, so rotten sheathing is a known variable instead of a surprise. On timing, a standard tear-off and replace is a 1–3 day job, 3–5 for larger or complex roofs. We stage it so the deck is never open overnight and we don't strip a slope we can't dry in the same day. Summer heat is the real scheduling constraint here — asphalt softens and scuffs underfoot on a 95-degree afternoon, so we start at first light and shut down the hot side of the roof early. Below roughly 40 degrees the self-sealing strips won't bond on their own and every tab has to be hand-sealed, which is why winter work gets planned around a warm stretch, and why a job up in the mountain counties can need a different week than the same job in Anderson. Permitting is the other thing that moves with the address: we hold licenses in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, and every county and municipality runs its own permit and inspection process, so we tell you up front which one applies to your house and whether it adds a day. Insurance jobs run on the carrier's clock, not ours: adjuster visit, then an approved scope, then a supplement if what we uncover on the deck exceeds it — build that into your expectations. A new roof is consistently ranked among the highest-return home improvements and removes the number one objection buyers raise.