Deciding between repair and replacement
The first thing we look at on any older roof is whether the shingles are still flexible. If they lift without cracking and the granule coverage is mostly intact, a repair can genuinely extend the roof's life. If a shingle cracks the moment we lift it, or the roof is showing leaks in more than one unrelated spot, that is telling us the material itself is done, not just the one section we came to look at.
We put both options in front of you when both genuinely exist, with what each one covers and roughly how long we would expect it to hold. You choose with the facts in front of you rather than a single number and a guess.
Tear off and what we find underneath
We strip every replacement to the deck rather than laying new shingles over an old layer. Roofing over an existing layer traps moisture that has already worked its way in, and on North Shore homes that moisture is usually there, given how much rain the roof has absorbed over the years. Once the deck is exposed we walk it, replace any plywood or board sheathing that has gone soft, and photograph what we found before the underlayment goes back on.
On the older homes around Lower Lonsdale and the lower slopes near Edgemont, we regularly find board sheathing with gaps too wide for modern shingles to fasten into properly, and we add plywood over it rather than fastening directly into a century old deck.
Building for the rain, not just the code minimum
The North Shore sees more rain, more often, than almost anywhere else in the region, and the roof assembly has to be built for that rather than for a drier climate's code minimum. That means underlayment that runs further up valleys and eaves than the bare requirement, metal drip edge bent to fit the actual roofline rather than a stock profile, and ventilation that lets the deck dry out between storms instead of staying damp for weeks at a time.
On steeply pitched roofs common in Lynn Valley and the mountain facing lots, we also pay close attention to how water sheds off a steep slope at speed, since fastener placement and shingle exposure both need to account for wind driven rain moving faster down a steep pitch than a shallow one.
Working around a steep or treed lot
A lot of North Shore properties do not have flat, open access to the roof, and staging a full tear off around a steep driveway or a lot dense with cedar and fir takes more planning than a straightforward suburban reroof. We walk the site before scheduling material delivery, figure out where a dumpster or debris chute can actually sit, and protect the landscaping that a lot of these older properties have invested decades into.
Once the material is on site, the sequence is the same regardless of the lot: tear off, deck inspection and repair, underlayment, flashing, shingles, and a full cleanup that includes a magnet sweep for stray nails across the yard and driveway.