How Long Should a Roof Last?

That depends on which type of product you have on
your roof and how well it was installed. Also, roofing materials age at
different rates depending on which part of the country you live in. Here in the
Northwest, with the sun only making an occasional appearance and the winters generally
being fairly mild, a roof has a tendency to last fairly well compared to other
more extreme sections of the United
States.
That depends on which type of product you have on
your roof and how well it was installed. Also, roofing materials age at
different rates depending on which part of the country you live in. Here in the
Northwest, with the sun only making an occasional appearance and the winters generally
being fairly mild, a roof has a tendency to last fairly well compared to other
more extreme sections of the United
States.
Most roofing professionals would rate wood roofs
(shake or cedar shingles) at about 15-25 years of useful life. If they are pretreated
with a preservative before being installed, you may get an additional 10 years.
Composition roofing comes in many grades with the lowest quality coming in
around 15 years as compared to the best quality coming in around 35 years.
Don’t forget about tile and metal, they usually have the longest life span of
30 to 50 years.
When shopping for a roof, keep in mind that the
manufacture’s warranties generally do not reflect the actual life expectancy of
the material. Almost all roofing products now come with Lifetime Warranties: that should be a warning signal to you that a more realistic useful life for the roofing
product needs to be determined.