When patching stops being worth it

Sagging along a line

Straight lines going wavy means something underneath has softened. That is no longer a roofing question with a cheap answer.

The age on the paperwork

If the roof is over twenty years old and made of asphalt, an inspection is worth doing whether or not it is leaking. The failure modes above are much cheaper to catch before the water arrives than after.

Shingles that curl, cup or go brittle

A roof near the end goes hard. Shingles that were pliable enough to seal down in the sun no longer bond, and the first serious wind takes them.

Daylight or damp in the attic

Go up on a bright day with the lights off. Pinpoints of daylight through the deck, dark staining on the sheathing, damp insulation or rust running down a nail shank all say water is getting in and has been for a while.

Granules in the gutter

Asphalt shingles are protected by a granular surface. When that surface starts washing off in quantity, the mat underneath is exposed to ultraviolet and the clock speeds up sharply. A handful of granules after a new roof is normal shedding. Cupfuls, years later, is not.

Repeated repairs in different places

One leak is an event. Three leaks in three different areas inside two years is a pattern, and the pattern means the covering has reached the end of its service life rather than suffered a specific failure.

In short

If two or more of these apply, get somebody to look at it and give you a remaining-life number in years. That single number turns the decision from a worry into arithmetic.