Roof replacement
A roof replacement is mostly the parts you will never see
The shingle is the part you choose and the part you look at. It is not the part that decides whether the roof leaks in year seven.
What actually gets installed
A replacement is an assembly, and it is built from the deck up. The roof anatomy drawing shows the whole stack in section, but the short version is six layers that each do one job.
- Decking
- Inspected once the old roof is off. Anything soft, delaminated or rotten is replaced by the sheet, because a nail in soft OSB is not holding anything.
- Self-adhered underlayment
- Rubberized membrane bonded to the deck at the eaves, in the valleys and around every penetration, sealing around the nails driven through it. On this coast it is there for wind-driven rain and for the water that gets past a lifted shingle in a tropical squall. Why it belongs in a Gulf Coast scope.
- Synthetic underlayment
- Across the rest of the deck. It is the secondary barrier for the day a shingle goes missing, and it does not wrinkle when it gets wet the way felt does.
- Drip edge and starter
- Metal at the eaves and rakes, and a purpose-made starter course with the adhesive strip in the right place. This is the edge detail that decides how a roof behaves when the wind gets under it.
- Field shingles
- Nailed in the manufacturer-specified pattern, in the nail line, at the specified count per shingle. Six nails where six are specified, which in a wind market is not a detail.
- Ventilation
- Ridge exhaust matched to soffit intake. In this climate the attic is hot and humid for most of the year, and a deck that bakes ages the shingles above it from underneath. How attic ventilation works.
What happens on the day
Protection first
Landscaping, air conditioning units, windows and driveways covered before anything comes off. Tear-off is a messy process and the mess is predictable.
Tear off to the deck
Every layer removed. If there are two or three old layers up there, that is found now rather than guessed at earlier.
Inspect and repair the deck
Walked, sounded and looked at from the attic side where access allows. Bad sheets come out. You get told about it while it is still visible, not afterwards.
Dry it in
Self-adhered membrane at the eaves, valleys and penetrations, underlayment over the rest. At this point the house is weather-tight even if a storm arrives that afternoon, which between May and October is a real consideration rather than a theoretical one.
Edge metal, then shingles
Drip edge, starter, then field courses running up to the ridge. Flashings at every wall, chimney and penetration — new metal, not the old metal reused.
Ventilation and clean-up
Ridge vent cut and installed, magnetic sweep over the whole property, and a walk-round with you before anyone leaves.
The decisions that actually matter
| Decision | What it changes | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Tear-off or overlay | An overlay hides the deck and traps heat against the new shingles, which in this climate is the worst thing you can do to them. It also makes the next replacement harder. | Ask what the current layer count is, and whether the deck has ever been seen. |
| Self-adhered coverage | How the roof behaves when rain is being driven uphill under the courses, and whether a lifted shingle becomes a wet ceiling. | Ask how far up from the eave it runs, and whether valleys and penetrations get it too. |
| Flashing: new or reused | Reused step flashing is the most common hidden shortcut on a replacement. | Ask directly whether the chimney and wall flashings are being replaced. |
| Ventilation | Whether the new roof runs at attic temperature or bakes from underneath for nine months a year. | Ask what the intake is, not just what the exhaust is. |
| Nailing | Uplift resistance at the edges, which is where wind damage starts and where a tropical system does its work. | Ask for the nail count per shingle and whether it is hand-nailed or gun-nailed to a set depth. |
| Windstorm certification | On designated coastal territory, whether the wind cover attaches to the new roof at all. | On the coast, ask how the inspection and certificate are being handled — what that means. |
A written scope that names the underlayment, the self-adhered coverage, the flashing plan and the nail count is a scope you can compare. A scope that says "install new roof" is not.
How long it takes
Most single-family replacements in this market are a one-day or two-day job once the crew is on site, weather permitting. Steep roofs, cut-up roofs with a lot of valleys and dormers, and any roof where the deck turns out to be in poor condition take longer. Summer afternoons add their own constraint: work starts early, and an open roof is dried in before the daily storms build.
Want the deck condition and layer count established before you make a decision?
Request a free inspectionDo I need to be home?
Not for the whole job, but it helps to be there at the start and at the walk-round at the end. If the deck needs repair you will get a call and photographs while the deck is still open.
What happens to my gutters?
Gutters usually stay. Where drip edge has to go in behind the back of the gutter, the gutter is loosened and reset rather than replaced. If a gutter is already pulling away from a rotten fascia, that is a carpentry repair and it gets called out separately.
Can you replace just one slope?
Sometimes, on a roof with genuinely independent planes and a clear reason. It is worth knowing that a partial replacement will not match the weathered shingles next to it, and that the older section still ages on its own schedule.
Is a second layer ever acceptable?
It is legal in many jurisdictions within limits, and on this coast it is almost never the better decision. It hides the deck, it holds heat against the new shingles in a climate that already bakes them, and it doubles the tear-off on the next roof.
When is the best time of year to do it?
Any month works here, and the practical answer is whichever one is not the one after a named storm, when every roofing crew in the region is committed. Getting an aging roof replaced in the winter or early spring is a straightforward transaction; getting it replaced in the fortnight after a hurricane is not.
All work is performed by insured local roofing professionals. Texas does not license roofing contractors at state level, so insurance, references and a written scope are what there is to check.