When deciding to replace a roof, the first question most ask is what's the cost? The second question is what's the value?

Homeowners understand that good roofing is the most excellent protection for a house. A roof keeps out wind, rain, snow, hail, and the sun's glow and warmth. However, knowing when to restore a roof and with what type of roofing material is often a complicated choice.

A new roof is a large asset and it's also one of the most significant things you can make for the shelter and overall worth of your home. To achieve this, a roof's exterior must be watertight and tough as well as supple enough to adapt to heat changes without cracking or otherwise losing its reliability.

Roofing shingles come in many styles and are made of many different materials. They vary in their layer materials and design, but the majority roofs consist of wood framing, flashing wood, roofing felt, and the surface roofing material.

Most homes nowadays have contemporary asphalt shingles that come in many varieties that give different looks in the shape of architectural shingles. There are also accessible from roofing suppliers different roofing systems such as steel roofing, copper roofing, slate roofing and composite roofing systems.

The ultimate question for roofing in Ohio is: "What is the best roof?" The accountants will tell you that the answer is simple: It is the roof that costs the least over its life. It really does not matter what material is used or how the roof is attached; the answer is the same. If the roof fails, then the cost of a new roof is added to the cost.

When most owners look at roofing, they look at the materials and the systems, and the only part of the cost they consider is the initial cost. But the cost to install a roof is only a portion of the total cost of owning a roof.

The practice of examining the cost of owning a roof over its entire life is called life-cycle cost analysis. This is the best way to truly compare the cost/value of roofing systems. Something that is crucial is: How long do you expect to own the building? If the answer is indefinitely, then the analysis should be run for at least 20 years. Some people will use 30 years. The standard depreciation for roofing is 39 years. There are very few systems that are functional at the end of this life expectancy.

In a basic life-cycle cost analysis, there are several factors that need to be considered. The study period has already been mentioned. The next consideration is the changing value of a dollar over time. One common method for relating future expenses to today's costs is to use the t-bill rate, minus the inflation rate. A time value of approximately 5 percent is a reasonable number for use in our analysis.

There are costs associated with other aspects of roofing, such as installation inspections, semi-annual inspections, the cost of leak-related repairs, costs associated with making the warrantor live up to the warranty, and so on. There are also routine maintenance expenses to consider, such as cleaning the drains, recaulking the flashings and performing general housekeeping.

With some systems, the costs of performing some of these items are covered by the warrantor as a part of a comprehensive service package. They can also be purchased from some contractors or roofing consultants for an annual service charge. All of these costs need to be known or estimated for the term of the study period.

The last item that needs to be known is the relative life expectancy of the roofs in question. There are sources for this information. The most conservative approach is to use the warranty life as the service life. This is generally shorter than the real life, except where there is no routine maintenance done. Then the life may well be shorter than the warranty.