FAQ

An architectural asphalt roof in New Jersey runs $9,500 to $26,000, and on a typical 2,000 square foot house most people pay $12,000 to $18,000 installed. Per square foot that is $5.50 to $8.00 for architectural and $4.50 to $6.50 for three-tab. Slate is a different market entirely: $20 to $35 per square foot to replace an existing one.

Yes. The ordinary-maintenance exemption in N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7 reaches one- and two-family dwellings, so at three units a covering replacement becomes permitted construction work with an inspection at the end. There is a second consequence as well: at three units the building is a multiple dwelling under N.J.S.A. 55:13A-1 et seq.

A building with three or more dwelling units is a multiple dwelling under the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law. It is registered with the DCA Bureau of Housing Inspection and inspected on a five-year cyclical basis, with a certificate of inspection filed afterwards. It is an ongoing maintenance regime rather than a one-off approval, and it applies whether or not anybody is doing work.

Usually not. Slate outlives almost everything fixed to it, and slipped slates on a pre-war roof normally mean the nails have corroded rather than that the slate has failed. Leaks at a valley usually mean a rusted lining. Both are repairs, and replacing an existing slate roof at $20 to $35 per square foot is a very expensive way to fix a nail problem.

Because most online figures are national and this is not a national market. New Jersey pricing is $9,500 to $26,000 for an architectural asphalt roof, and a good part of the difference is detailing a warm climate does not need: ice barrier at the eaves, drip edge, and the nailing to survive a February gust.

Two to four days on site for a house, three to five for a three-family building, and one to three weeks for slate -- slate cannot be rushed without breaking material. Weather moves all of them and we will not dry-in a roof we cannot finish. Where a permit applies, the filing and closing inspection are days on top.

Across separate structures, yes, and it is often the right answer -- a garage, a rear addition and the house are three roofs of three different ages. Across one roof, usually not: mobilization and waste cost much the same twice as once, you get a visible line where new meets weathered, and the half left behind ages through another winter.

No. The inspection is free, the written quote is free, and neither carries an obligation. The survey also answers the unit-count and permit question in writing, which is worth having even if you use somebody else. What we will not do is give you a number at the curb without going up.