Congratulations, you’ve made the well-educated choice to add solar to your home. The next decision is equally important; do I need a new roof? If you choose another installer, this may not even come up in the conversation as they want to get solar on your roof as fast as possible, knowing they may not be in business long enough to deal with a roof leak down the road.
However, the truth is that you may absolutely need a new roof.
If your home is older than 20 years, you likely have the original paper under your tiles that is nearly at its estimated lifespan. Over time, the tar paper naturally becomes brittle and more susceptible to allow water to penetrate your roof.
Now consider that a crew will be walking around the roof as part of a standard solar installation. Your chances for a leak are drastically increased.
“I’ll do it later”
We hear this a lot and it’s understandable. Homeowners do their solar installation research, but hardly consider the additional investment of replacing their roof. The quick reaction is to move forward with solar, but holdoff on the roof.
For the reasons noted above, this is a huge risk that could be more costly in the long run. Let’s assume you’ve chosen to bypass the roof improvements and successfully installed solar on your roof. In two years, a few small leaks develop that begin to spread to an area under your solar panels. Now, you’re not only forced to finally replace your roof, but you’ll also need to call us back to uninstall your solar system and reinstall it once the roof has been repaired.
For this reason, we strongly recommend addressing your roof before solar is installed.
Why Choose Palomar?
Historically, homeowners would have to call a roofing contractor for quotes and then spend more time calling a separate solar company. This creates double the work for the homeowner and often the roofer would void their warranties after the solar was installed. We want to prevent future finger pointing between roofing contractors and reduce frustration for homeowners. Our goal is to give you peace of mind that if something happens in the future you only make one phone call. Additionally, being able to do the roofing in house also allows us to control the scheduling of jobs, ensuring a better overall installation experience.
While we don’t require homeowners to use Palomar for their roofing needs before solar is installed, there are some compelling reasons to do so.
- 40 combined experience providing services in Southern California
- We carry the appropriate insurance. Because other solar installers use subcontractors, they have the minimal amount of insurance and likely omit works compensation. If you chose a roofer without the proper insurance, any accident that occurs on the job becomes the liability of the homeowner, you.
- Our crews show up in professional trucks, with the appropriate equipment.
- You want an established company that will be around to honor the warranty of the products being installed.
- Reputable work simply costs more. The investment of a roof on your home is not where you want to cut corners and go cheap.
While other local solar company offer roofing services, Palomar has dedicated in-house crews and never use subcontractors. Homeowners receive the peace-of-mind knowing one company is responsible for everything on your roof. This removes the “blame game” if an issue should arise.