Solar is a smart move in sunny Los Angeles, and plenty of homeowners are adding panels. But there is a costly mistake that is easy to make: putting a twenty-five-year solar system onto a roof that has only a few years of life left. If the roof fails under the panels, they have to come off and go back on to fix or replace it, which adds a significant, avoidable cost. Before you go solar, check the roof underneath. Here is what to look at.
Solar panels typically last twenty-five years or more, so the roof beneath them should have at least that much life ahead, ideally. If your roof is well into its life, the smart order is to replace the roof first, then mount the panels on a fresh surface that will outlast them. Our page on how long a roof lasts helps you place your roof on that timeline.
This is the LA-specific trap. A tile roof can look great while the underlayment beneath it is due for replacement, and once panels are mounted, getting to that underlayment means removing them, covered on our page on roof underlayment. So on a tile roof, the age of the underlayment matters more than the look of the tile before you add solar.
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Roof age vs panel life | Roof should outlast the panels |
| Underlayment age (tile) | Hard to reach once panels are on |
| Existing leaks or wear | Fix before mounting anything |
| Flashing at penetrations | Mounts add new penetrations |
Mounting panels means drilling attachment points into the roof, and every penetration is a potential leak point that has to be flashed and sealed properly. A quality solar installer handles this well, but it is one more reason the roof should be sound first, since you do not want new penetrations added to a roof that is already worn, covered on our page on flashing failures.
If the roof has any existing leaks or worn spots, those should be handled before the panels go on, since chasing a leak under a solar array is far harder and more expensive than fixing it on an open roof. A roof repair or, where the roof is near its end, a replacement before solar is money well spent.
The simplest way to avoid the whole problem is a roof inspection before you sign a solar contract. It tells you the roof's real condition and whether to reroof first, so your panels sit on a surface that will carry them for their full life. Coordinating the roof and the solar in the right order is the difference between a smooth install and an expensive redo down the line.
Avoid an expensive redo later. Call (310) 806-5959 or request an inspection below.
Tell us about your roof and solar plans and we will inspect it and tell you the right order, with a written price and no obligation.