Slate Roof Replacement Presidential Estates, NJ

Presidential Estates

Slate Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates: what actually fails

This is where slate most often survives in the city, and where the expensive mistake gets made most. Stripping a repairable slate roof to asphalt is usually advised by somebody who does not work slate, and on these houses it also takes something off the building that cannot be put back.

Replacing an existing slate roof runs $20 to $35 per square foot -- $40,000 to $70,000 on an average house -- because the old slate has to come off and be disposed of before the new roof starts. A new slate roof is $15 to $30 per square foot. Those numbers are why this page leads with an argument rather than a sales pitch.

Whether the covering is slate, and whether it is actually finished
Nails and valley linings assessed separately from the slate
Salvage and re-hang priced against replacement, side by side
Whether the roof was framed for slate rather than asphalt

Call (973) 275-8475

Slate Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates — a two-story house frame with its roof covered and scaffolding in place — **Slate**A job of this kind

Slate Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates — new timber roof framing and ceiling joists inside an attic — **What actually lets go**Where the money goes

Slate Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates — a roofing crew silhouetted on a roof at dusk — **Before we price it**Up top and underneath, then the price

What it costs

Slate roof replacement cost in Presidential Estates

Replacing an existing slate roof runs $20 to $35 per square foot -- $40,000 to $70,000 on an average house -- because the old slate has to come off and be disposed of first. A new slate roof is $15 to $30. Those numbers are exactly why this page argues against the job before it prices it. Expect the widest spread on this site here, because the covering might be slate. An asphalt roof on one of these houses sits in the normal range; a slate roof does not, and the difference between repairing one and replacing it is tens of thousands of dollars.

Typical$20 - $35 per square foot

From$15

Pricedreplacing existing; new slate $15-30

Time on site1 - 3 weeks on site

The slate is rarely what failed

Slate outlives almost everything fixed to it. On a pre-war roof the usual failures are corroded nails, which let slates slip, and rusted valley linings and flashings. All three are repairs, at a small fraction of a replacement.

What makes it cost more

A steep or cut-up roof, scaffold over occupied units, a slate size or color no longer quarried, and a deck that has to be renewed underneath. Slate work also cannot be rushed without breaking material, so the honest schedule is weeks.

When replacement genuinely is the answer

Widespread delamination, slate soft enough to break in the hand, or a deck that has gone. We will say when that is what we found and show you the elevation it is true of, rather than asserting it.

Buildings in Presidential Estates

Roofs in Presidential Estates, and what that means for slate roof replacement

This is where slate is most likely to still be on the roof, and where the expensive mistake gets made. On these houses the slate is frequently sound while the nails and valley linings have gone -- a repair, not a replacement, and the difference runs to tens of thousands of dollars.

Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates

Before you replace

Two questions that change the answer more than the roof does

One is about your building and one is about your covering, and most quotes in this city establish neither.

How many dwelling units are in the building

At one or two and detached, replacing a covering is ordinary maintenance under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7: no permit, no inspection. At three it is permitted construction work, and the building is also a registered multiple dwelling under N.J.S.A. 55:13A-1 et seq. on a five-year inspection cycle. Nothing about the roof explains that.

Then look at the field, not the failure

On asphalt, if the covering away from the leak still lies flat, holds its granules and is not brittle, the roof has life in it and a repair is the right job. A failed flashing or a split upstand is hundreds of dollars and is routinely produced as proof that the whole roof is finished.

And count the layers

Two coverings is the practical ceiling. A roof already at two is a tear-off whatever anybody quotes, and it takes two minutes to check at the rake edge. It is the fastest way to tell whether the quotes in front of you describe the same job.

Other roof replacement work in Presidential Estates

All services

Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates

Bigger houses, bigger roofs, and a real chance the covering is slate rather than asphalt.

Three Family Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates

A large pre-war house divided into three is the awkward case here, because the roof is substantial and possibly slate while the regulatory position is the multi-family one.

Flat Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates

Flat roofs here are usually over a rear extension or a porch on an otherwise pitched house, which raises a useful distinction: re-covering the flat section may be ordinary maintenance, while rebuilding its fall is structural and is not.

Shingle Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates

Asphalt on these houses is usually a replacement for something else, and the something else was often slate.

Partial Roof Replacement in Presidential Estates

Larger houses here have natural divisions -- a main roof, a wing, a porch, a garage -- and that makes partial work honest rather than a compromise.

Nearby

Slate Roof Replacement in neighboring cities

All areas

Slate Roof Replacement in East Orange

The three-unit line runs right through this city.

Slate Roof Replacement in Doddtown

Genuinely mixed eras. A neighbor proves nothing.

Slate Roof Replacement in Ampere

Duplexes divided into three, and the traces that leaves.

Slate Roof Replacement in Elmwood

Tight frontages, tenants, and nowhere to park a dumpster.

Slate Roof Replacement in Brick Church

Flat roofs behind parapets. Access comes first.

Slate Roof Replacement in Orange

Same buildings, a different construction office.

Slate Roof Replacement in Irvington

Three-plus units is the default, not the exception.

Questions

Before you book slate roof replacement

The questions that come up, before you have to ask.

Questions

What homeowners here ask

Is it cheaper to put asphalt on instead of slate?

Much cheaper up front -- $4.50 to $8.00 a square foot against $20 to $35 to replace slate -- and frequently the wrong decision, because a repairable slate roof has decades left. It is also irreversible on a period house. We will price both honestly and say which we would do.

Can broken slates be matched?

Often, where the size and color are still quarried. Where they are not, the best match available is sound slate salvaged from a low-visibility elevation of your own roof -- which is why slate coming off is stacked carefully rather than treated as waste.

Do I need a permit to replace a roof on a three-family house?

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.

What does it mean that my building is a multiple dwelling?

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.

Why is my quote so much higher than the figure I found online?

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.