Warehouse metal roof life expectancy, repair/replacement costs?
Under contract on a roughly 23,500 sq ft metal warehouse that's seen better days. Built in 1989. It was used for light manufacturing and is disgusting inside and out, which we expected to have to clean, fix, and remodel but in doing our due diligence I've found quite a few roof leaks as well.

I've found about 8-10 places that are leaking, only a handful are bigger puddles, and one commercial/industrial roofing company I spoke with said that we're getting pretty close to the end of life and it will need to be replaced or will start costing more and more to keep patching leaks. (seller's agent says that it's probably just gutters need to be cleaned and nothing major)

Some websites I've come across say that commercial metal roofs can last "30-45" years, "with proper maintenance" and some say they can last indefinitely with occasional repairs and maintenance.

I'm trying to get a second opinion from another roofing contractor but thought I would post here as well. We are financing the building and IF it really needs a new roof in the next 5 years, I would want to go ahead and do it now while we can finance it in the same loan for purchase and remodel. But if metal roofs can really last 45 years or more, then it's possible we can get another 15 years out of it before replacing, then that's a completely different story.

We've been leasing for years and there's not much inventory in this size that comes available in our area, so this is really an opportunity for us to own our own building and have room for future growth, but I don't want to get in this building and find out in 3-4 years we have to spend $140k to replace the roof either... that would hurt.

How long can you expect a warehouse metal roof to last assuming very little maintenance has been done on it at least in the past 15 years?

Any advice would be appreciated!

EDIT: Just to clarify it's a pitched exposed fastener metal roof
[{"id": "g7bimiz", "text": "It depends dramatically on the location and quality of the roof. 31 years and leaking seems highly likely that its nearing the end of its useful life. Given the condition of the building I'd expect the rest of the building to be nearing the end of its useful life as well. Just to be a thorn in your brokers side have you looked into what it costs to build new? Some cities have incentives to move into their industrial parks for effectively free land and even more.", "replies": [{"id": "g7boxnv", "text": "I've got some feelers out... have looked into building before but really just didn't want the headache. But there's not much inventory in our area for 12-20k sq ft buildings so the ones that usually come up for sale are OLD, and require a ton of work too. If we're going to put in the money and time to renovate/repair then we might as well look into building exactly what we want/need. Thanks", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "g7c0n5b", "text": "Not to be a dick but if hes worried about the possibility of having to front a new roof in 4-5 years, I highly doubt he has the amount of liquitidy required to build a new 25,000 SF industrial in this current construction environment. \n\nOP - What material is the current roof and where are you located? Could you do a second gen TPO in your climant? Is your business going to lease back the space from you? Meaning could you theoretically pass the cost of the roof onto your company and not directly out of your pocket if you do not remove the origina roof-- why is why I need to know material type? How are you going to set this transaction up?", "replies": [{"id": "g7cb1bz", "text": "Current roof is pitched exposed fastener metal roof, located in the Southeast (nowhere near the coast). Don't know whether we could do a TPO or not. \n\nPassing the cost onto my business doesn't really change the fact that I'm going to be paying it since I own the business. If the roof needs to be replaced now, I'm not sure the price is as good as it looked when I thought I could get another 10-15 years out of the roof. \n\nIf we replace the roof now, we will try to include it in the other improvements on the same loan we have already applied for, but adding another $150k to the over $100k improvements we already had planned significantly increases the cost of the building.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g7bivbs", "text": "Is it a pitched standing-seam metal roof or a flat roof? A standing seam should last at least 30-45 years but should not have already had multiple leaks like that, so it might not have been installed correctly. I know of one on a barn that only finally went after 90 years.", "replies": [{"id": "g7bkp3j", "text": "Pitched metal roof. Pretty sure with exposed screws.", "replies": [{"id": "g7bn162", "text": "Yeah, that will likely need replacing in 5-10 years, less if it wasn\u2019t done properly. It\u2019s called an exposed fastener metal roof.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "g7bnncv", "text": "This is the cheap commercial metal roof option.  Typically 26 gauge with exposed fasteners.  Being a large building with long panels, as the roof expands and contracts with daily temps, it enlarges the screw holes and eventually leaks.  Also, the rubber gaskets on the fasteners harden and stop sealing well.\n\n&amp;#x200B;\n\nOption 1: complete re-roof  $$$$\n\nOption 2: if the panels are in good shape without rust or damage, replace the roof fasteners with one size larger $\n\nOption 3: have an elastomeric product applied to the roof.  This makes it harder to re-roof later as all of the fasterners will have the coating as well.  I did this to my building with great results. $", "replies": [{"id": "g7bp4av", "text": "Thanks for the info, appreciate it!", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g7bmykb", "text": "Echoing u/n609mike, it depends a bit on location. If it is near the coast, expect shorter useful life from the saltwater mist/rain. If in an area of high winds, tornados, hurricanes or brutal winters, same thing.\n\nHave you approached the Seller (Seller's broker) about having the Seller either repair it or reduce the sale price slightly to offset some of the replacement costs? \n\nHere in Texas, I've had clients replace metal roofs \"on a budget\" and they get what they pay for. If you plan on being in the building long-term, I'd recommend trying to get a high quality roof on there, if at all possible. It may cost more upfront, but it will save you a fortune later on.", "replies": [{"id": "g7bom5f", "text": "Southeast - not near the coast. Have mentioned it to the owner, but have not made any requests/demands yet. Trying to get some info on the real useful life of a metal roof because I'm hearing conflicting things... two roofers I spoke to said essentially that it needs to just be replaced, without even looking at it. They said if it's 31 years old, it will need to be replaced now or really soon, one way or another. So if that's really the case, and metal roofs don't really last to the tail end of \"30-45\" years, then we may try to get a large price reduction or concession, or just back out totally. We already have a ton of repairs and remodel costs and it's all adding up to be a very expensive project...", "replies": [{"id": "g7bsy1z", "text": "I reread your initial post after your comment. Two things popped into mind:\n\n1. The key thing is the phrase on the sites you referenced: \"with proper maintenance.\" If minimal maintenance has been done over the last 15 years, I'd wager that it needs to be replaced. \n2. If the Seller and their agent think it is \"probably just gutters need to be cleaned and nothing major,\" ask that the Seller cleans the gutters prior to closing. If they balk at that, I'd question if they know anything else that they haven't disclosed, aka \"failure to disclose.\" \n\nThe few times my clients have come up against something similar, we've asked for the building maintenance records for the past 2-5 years. If you see perpetual invoices for leak repairs, they probably know the roof is bad and are hoping to get it gone before they have to deal with it. \n\nYou said it is in rough shape, so if you are getting a fair price and you can live with it, maybe the best idea is to disregard everything I've said and see if you can roll the roof replacement costs into your financing as it is a capital expense caused by deferred maintenance.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "g7crce1", "text": "Don't go to a roofer, find a roof consultant that will inspect for a fee. The roofers are obviously going to sell you on a brand new roof", "replies": [{"id": "g7crexb", "text": "Where would one find a \u201croof consultant?\u201d", "replies": [{"id": "g7emym9", "text": "Google it. Another word might be roof inspector. I'm in Canada they are called roof inspectors here", "replies": [], "depth": 5}, {"id": "g7en7lz", "text": "Google it. I'm in Canada they are called roof consultants here, but might be roof inspectors in the US.\n\nYou can get them to sign off on newly built roofs, ie third party verification that it was done right", "replies": [{"id": "g7enoee", "text": "I think I may have found one in the next metro area, most of the results on Google for \"commercial roofing inspector\" or \"commercial roofing consultant\" are actually contractors that *also* offer inspections.", "replies": [{"id": "g7eojx9", "text": "Yeah, if you take an independent specialist's findings into your negotiation  I think you will have more leverage.\n\nHow much is the property worth 'roughly'", "replies": [{"id": "g7ep44t", "text": "Property was listed at $645k, under contract at $565k because of condition and (before roof) we were already planning to spend about $100-125k on cleaning, office remodel, slab repairs, landscaping, etc. And that's not all the updates we want to do, just the minimal amount to be able to get in the building and actually run our business from it. Roof will probably add $125-150k to that if it really needs complete replacement. That includes new gutters, insulation, etc. That's a huge expense given the value of the property IMO, and why it's causing us to reconsider. We still have a little less than two weeks in due diligence.", "replies": [{"id": "g7esref", "text": "It's a huge portion, of the property value. But of the sale price,  What portion of that is attributed to land though, and what portion is improvements. The building itself isn't likely worth that much after 30 years. A brand new roof is going to significantly improve the lifespan of the building.\n\nThink about it this way. If the land is worth $400K (bare land), and the building is worth $165K, that is a pretty cheap building. If you are facing a $125K repair bill on the roof, is the building going to be worth $270 or more? Maybe. Conversely if the seller believes the building is worth $165K as per the above, and you determine the roof needs to be replaced now, you aren't going to ask for the price to be dropped $125K because that means the structure is only worth $40K, and the seller is going to balk at that.\n\nWhat I would do is consider how many years did you initislly think was left on the roof? Let's assume 10 years. A steel roof you say will last 30 years. A roof costs $125K, so based on the new information, 10yrs/30yrs x $125K = $40K in value  that you are maybe contemplating in your negotiation. You might find that isn't enough of a difference to risk blowing the deal up and missing the opportunity, or you might think it's a huge deal, but it's maybe 10% of the whole property value that you are contesting. (I've totally made all those numbers up, I don't know what bare land costs are in your market and I don't know what your building is worth.\n\nRemember that all roofs need to be replaced eventually. Usually every 15 to 20 years, you can plainly see it is an old roof and old building probably half way through it's useful life. The seller may have already accounted for that", "replies": [{"id": "g7etkqk", "text": "According to the appraisal, land is worth $75,000 \"as if vacant.\" This is just outside city limits, and while it is in close proximity to highly developed area it's unlikely to be annexed in so no city sewer. This is a small relatively rural area about an hour from metro. \n\nWhen we originally looked at the building, I looked it up on our county zoning software and saw it was 31 years old. I looked up commercial metal roof life spans on Google and the range was \"30-45 years\" and some even said longer if it was well maintained. I was hoping we would be able to get another 5-10 years out of it before needing serious work, but also thought we would probably be able to fix it not just replace it. Apparently metal roofs are not all equal and this one is the cheaper kind with exposed screws that cause more and more leaks as the roof ages. \n\nOther comps in the area some have gone for more and some have gone for less. Given the current condition of the building (and roof now that we know) I think the price may be high for the condition. Definitely considering renegotiating just not sure how much to ask for. \n\nThanks for the feedback, it definitely gives me something to think about.", "replies": [], "depth": 10}], "depth": 9}], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g7bnj6x", "text": "I usually time flat roof in my analysis as 15 years.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g7bsnus", "text": "Depends what kind of business you have as well. If you don\u2019t mind chasing leaks with patches, you can push it a few years. If you need your space absolutely dry, you should get it replaced now", "replies": [{"id": "g7bst29", "text": "Can\u2019t have any leaks where we have offices or products, which would be 75% of the building.", "replies": [{"id": "g7btvqn", "text": "Yeah I\u2019d take care of it now", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g7bz0n3", "text": "Cheap install &amp; zero maintenance could do that. 30 years seems a bit short, but also depends on weather, location, etc.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g7cqd62", "text": "My guess is $100k to $200k, but I really don't know, we are just guessing.\n\nFor pricing call a few roofers in your area for a quote on the roof.\n\nGet a roof consultant up there if you can now for a real opinion if when this work needs to be done, or if repairs are in order, and get a full inspection of the building to look for other defects.", "replies": [{"id": "g7cqysx", "text": "Have spoken to two roofers, both looked at property on Google Earth and looked at all the information and said it would probably be better to replace than try to fix leaks. We don't seem to have any commercial roofers in our immediate area so these guys are from at least an hour away, so they don't want to send guys down here to inspect/quote a job when we haven't even closed on the building. I don't blame them. I may try to get one of them to come down for a small fee to look at the roof in person to give me a more informed recommendation. \n\nWe have already had several other inspections done including HVAC, GC, slab/foundation, etc. Having soil study done now as well.", "replies": [{"id": "g7enigm", "text": "Is the soil study for environmental contamination or load bearing capacity?", "replies": [{"id": "g7enkty", "text": "Environmental, required by lender because previous tenant had a paint booth on the property.", "replies": [{"id": "g7ep47z", "text": "That makes sense", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "g7eczkl", "text": "I recommend you get an SBA 504 loan and build in ALL your repairs into your initial loan amount. (HVAC, roof, plumbing, office, etc). You can end up borrowing even 95% of your purchase price including the repairs.", "replies": [{"id": "g7eo0bi", "text": "We are doing a 504, and currently the max is 90% with 10% down. 50% bank financed, 40% SBA on a second, 10% equity. The SBA rates are excellent, 2.x% right now, the bank's rate is slightly higher but still really good. \n\nWe can change our loan up but it will require changing the original appraisal and we'd have to start the process over again, which would push out closing another month at least and require us to back out of the current contract anyway, and I'm not sure whether the property is worth the sale price if the roof needs to be replaced imminently.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gais0hs", "text": "Depending on where you're located you may qualify for state-policy enabled Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing to raise non-recourse low-fixed rate capital to replace and/or fix the roof. DM me and I can point you in the right direction on it if you think this is something you're interested in!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]