Taylor HoltEvery year about this time, homeowners across the northern suburbs start asking the same question. The roof made it through another storm season, but is it actually fine, or is it just not leaking yet? Annoyingly, the honest answer is that it depends. The good news is there’s a way to work through it without panicking or pretending nothing happened.
Start With the Age of the Roof
Age first. Around here, asphalt shingle roofs generally last fifteen to twenty-five years depending on the shingle grade, the attic ventilation, and how much sun beats on the slopes. If yours is inside that window and it’s ridden out a couple of major wind events, it deserves a close look even with no drips to show for it. Shingles that have shed their granules, curled at the edges, or cracked along the tabs are done, no matter how the roof photographs from the driveway.
Look for the Quieter Clues
Then hunt for the quieter clues. Granules collecting in the gutters or at the mouths of downspouts. Daylight showing through the attic. Popped nail heads pushing up the shingle above them. Sag between rafters. A musty attic smell after rain. Any one of these on its own proves nothing much. Two or three together usually settle the question.
Repair or Replace?
Repair or replace is the next fork. Under ten years old with damage in one spot? Repair, almost every time. Past twenty with damage scattered across several slopes? Replace, because patching means hunting for discontinued shingles to match and leaving the rest of a tired roof in place around the patch. The genuinely hard calls live in between, and that’s where a careful inspection with good photos earns its keep.
Be Careful on the Insurance Side
On the insurance side, watch who you trust. If a covered storm damaged your roof, the policy may fund some or all of the replacement, but the process has rules and clocks running. Get a contractor’s inspection and written findings before filing so you know exactly what you’re claiming. Roofers who came up on the insurance side can be worth their weight here, since they know what adjusters look for and how to document it. One local example is the veteran-owned outfit at stxroofing.com, whose owner worked in insurance before roofing and writes about the replacement process from that vantage point. Whoever you hire, they should never ask you to sign over your claim, and they should never promise anything about your policy they can’t personally deliver.
What Your Roof Actually Went Through
It helps to know what your roof has actually been through, too. The May 2024 derecho and Hurricane Beryl arrived barely two months apart, and both were serious for this part of the state. The National Weather Service’s Houston office logged gusts over 80 mph at Houston Intercontinental during Beryl, which sits right in the middle of the northern suburbs, along with tree and roof damage across the region. Their post-storm summary has the measured wind data for your area if you’d rather work from numbers than guesses. Here’s the thing about wind at that level: it doesn’t always tear shingles off. More often it just breaks the seal strip holding each shingle down, so the roof looks whole but has lost its grip for the next storm.
Do Not Wait for Next Season
Last thought. Don’t wait for another season to force the decision. The best time to replace a roof is a calm month, when crews have openings, materials are on the shelf, and you’re not fighting every neighbor on the block for a slot. A roof that barely survived one storm season is a bad bet against the next one.