Roofing questions,
answered plainly

It depends on the size and shape of the roof, how many stories, what is coming off, and what is going back on. Those four things move the number more than anything else, which is why nobody honest quotes a roof over the phone.

Send the estimate form or call, and we will come out, get on the roof and put a firm price in writing. That visit is free and there is nothing to sign.

Most houses are one to three days from the first shingle coming off to the last one going on, weather permitting. A cut-up roof with dormers and valleys takes longer than a plain gable of the same size. Apartment buildings and anything with structural repair run longer, and we will tell you the number of days before we start rather than after.

Architectural asphalt is generally rated for twenty-five to thirty years, and in the Berkshires you should expect the lower end of that. Freeze-thaw, ice at the eaves and snow load are harder on a roof than the rating assumes, and a roof under trees on a north slope will grow moss and go first.

What actually kills most roofs early is not the shingle. It is ventilation. A roof that cannot breathe cooks itself from underneath.

In most towns, yes, and we pull it as your agent rather than leaving it to you. That matters more than it sounds: in Massachusetts a homeowner who pulls their own permit is excluded from the state Guaranty Fund, which is the protection that exists if a contractor takes the money and does not finish. Us pulling it keeps that protection intact for you.

Sometimes it is allowed, and we would still rather not. There is a limit on how many layers of covering a roof may carry, so a third layer is out, and there are conditions where going over even one is not permitted. We will tell you which applies to yours.

But the real reason we tear off is that it is the only way to see the deck. Going over the top hides exactly the rot you are paying us to find, and it adds weight to a structure that may not want it.

We stop and tell you before we do anything about it. You get what we found, what it costs to put right, and what happens if it is left, in writing. Then you decide.

Nothing extra is ever charged that you have not agreed to in advance. That is our policy and it is also the law.

Yes, with judgment. Asphalt shingles rely on a heat-activated strip to seal down, and below roughly forty degrees that will not happen on its own, so winter roofs get hand-sealed. Some work genuinely should wait for spring, and we will say so rather than take your money in January.

Winter is also when the interior work and the renovations happen, which is how the crew stays busy year round.

Storm, wind and hail damage often yes. Age and ordinary wear, almost never — that is a maintenance question, not an insurance one, however it is phrased on the phone.

If you think you have storm damage, call before you call the insurer. We will get up there, photograph what we find, and meet the adjuster on site if it helps. An adjuster looking at a roof alone sees less than an adjuster looking at a roof with a roofer standing next to them.

Heat escaping from the house into the attic. It melts the snow on the warm part of the roof, the water runs down to the cold overhang, and it freezes there. The ridge of ice that builds up then backs water up under the shingles and into the ceiling below.

So it is a heat problem wearing a roofing costume. Cleaning the gutters does not fix it and neither, usually, does a new roof on its own. We look in the attic at the insulation and the ventilation, because that is where the cause is.

Yes. Massachusetts Home Improvement Contractor registration 174965 and Construction Supervisor License CS-106767U, both shown in the footer of every page here. Liability and workers’ compensation certificates are available on request and we are happy to have them sent directly from the insurer, which is the version worth having.

A deposit to start, then a schedule written into the contract in actual dollars, then the balance when the work is finished to your satisfaction.

On residential work in Massachusetts the deposit is capped by law at the greater of one third of the contract price or the actual cost of materials that have to be specially ordered. Anyone asking for more than that up front is outside the law, and that is worth knowing whoever you end up hiring.

Yes. Financing is available on qualifying projects through a third-party lender, so a roof that is failing now does not have to wait until the money is saved. Ask when we quote and we will walk you through it.

Approval and terms are set by the lender, not by us, and paying by check or card as the work goes is always fine too.

No. Roofing is what we are asked for most, but we are a general contractor: framing, additions and second stories, siding, windows and doors, decks, garages, new construction, and whole-building renovation of older apartment buildings. Thirty years of it, from Stephentown.

About fifty miles from Stephentown, New York, which covers Berkshire County and the Capital Region either side of the state line. If your town is inside that and not on our list, call anyway — we can almost certainly get there.