Replacing a Roof With Solar On It

The arithmetic nobody did at the time

A 2015 installation over a 2005 roof puts a 25-year asset on a covering with perhaps ten years left. That bill arrives now, and it arrives with an R&R attached.

It is not a disaster — it is a planned expense. What makes it expensive is discovering it when the roof is already leaking, because then the sequencing is reactive and winter is usually involved.

Do it once, properly

• Full tear-off while the array is off, so the whole deck is inspected rather than the parts you can see
• Rotted sheathing under the array addressed — panels shade the roof and slow drying, so this is a common location
• Every old mount penetration closed as part of the new roof
• Attic ventilation assessed, since a shaded, under-ventilated roof is why many arrays sit on cooked shingles
• New mounts and new flashings on reinstall

Consider the roof's next 25 years

If you are putting an array back on for another two decades, this is the moment to think about what is underneath it. A longer-life covering under the array costs more now and avoids doing this again in fifteen years with a second R&R.

We will price both so the comparison is visible rather than assumed.

One contract

Roofing and R&R under a single contract removes the sequencing risk and the question of who is responsible if the roof leaks at a mount. Cutting Edge General Contracting holds the contract, CSLB #1007180; roofing is installed by a licensed C-39 contractor and the electrical work is performed by appropriately licensed solar or electrical personnel, both under subcontract, as Business and Professions Code §7057(b) provides.

Common questions