New Roof Listings Across Metro Vancouver

New Roof on a Greater Vancouver listing should come with a date, an installer and a warranty, so ask for all three before you treat it as money you will not have to spend.

Verify the New Roof With a Permit and an Invoice

Ask the listing agent for the invoice, the installer's name and the manufacturer warranty, then check whether the warranty transfers to you and what registration it needs. Ask the municipality for the permit, since a full roof replacement generally requires one and its absence usually means the work was done informally. Then ask what was actually installed: an architectural asphalt shingle, a basic three-tab, a cedar replacement or metal roofing all carry different lifespans and very different costs when the next replacement comes due.

Watch for partial work described as new. A re-roof over the existing layer, a repair to one slope, or a new roof on the house but not the garage are all common and all get written up the same way. Ask the previous homeowner, through the agent, exactly which surfaces were covered.

Ask What Was Replaced Under the Shingles

The covering is the visible part of a much larger assembly. Ask whether the sheathing was replaced or reused, whether new underlayment, flashing, drip edge and valley metal went on, and whether the vents and the chimney flashing were redone at the same time. Flashing is where a roof in Vancouver leaks first, and reusing tired flashing under new shingles is a false economy you inherit.

Ask about ventilation and insulation too. A properly ventilated attic with adequate insulation is what makes the covering reach its expected life in this climate, and a re-roof is the natural moment to correct both. Have your inspector go into the attic to look for daylight, staining and compressed insulation rather than judging the work from the ground, and confirm the gutters and downspouts discharge away from the foundation.