Call Ken Rimel Roofing, he will tell you if it needs to be replaced now or later. He told me we had about 2-3 years. I waited and replaced it in 2-3 years.

When it rains outside, does it also get wet inside?

Ask your friends for reputable roofers -- they will give you their honest opinion about how many years are left on the roof. I had Kellyco in Rockville look at my roof a couple of times and found him very honest.

Our prior house had an asphalt roof that the inspector estimated was close to 10 years old. We lived there over ten years and fully expected to have to replace it, but when we sold it it was still in decent shape.

Don't mess with it until its a problem or about to become one, and then get multiple opinions and quotes.

you could look in your attic and see if there are any water stains. This is usually an indication that the roof is failing. Obviously, a roofing company is looking for work, but you could ask a good company for an honest assessment of the roof.

The life expectancy of a roof varies widely depending on the roofing material (asphalt shingles have one of the shorter lifespans).

our slate roof was patched over the years, but we ultimately replaced it when we got estimates from slate roofing companies that 60 percent needed replacement immediately(20k) and the other 40 percent had approximately 5 years of life left (it was, after all, a 98 year old roof).

Anonymous wrote:i thought roofs last 30 years

That really depends on the type of roof. If you are in a row house with a flat (read: bitumen rubber) roof then I would say 15 tops (if you're REALLY lucky). All that being said, you basically need to have your savings in place "just in place" but if you don't have any reason to suspect issues calling in a roofer will probably lead to exactly what you fear. Now you could just get a home inspector to come out if you're really that concerned - they have no reason to give you false information, it's not like they gain from you getting a new roof.

Ain't broke, don't fix it.

When we bought our house, the sellers said they had never replaced the roof. And they had lived here 25 years. We lived here 8 years before it finally started to leak. And then we replaced it. Just make sure your house-emergency savings fund is in place, and then don't give it another thought.

i thought roofs last 30 years

When water comes in the house.

Ten years is a young roof, assuming decent workmanship in its installation.

When we bought the house 6 yrs back, the home inspector said the roof was about 4-5 years old and in very good condition. Didn't occur to us to double check with the sellers for the exact year. That said, it is about 10 yrs old now.

My thought is that if we ask for opinions/quotes from different contractors, won't they all say it needs to be replaced in couple of years for their own gain rather than giving us the actual life left in the roof? How do we know when to replace the roof?

TIA.