FAQ

Usually labor on a complicated roof, and on these houses, what is under the top layer. Each old layer has to be stripped and hauled, and the original board decks here often have boards that have rotted through. That is why the layers are counted at an edge and the deck is priced per board in the quote, before the roof is open, rather than discovered on the day.

It depends heavily on the region and the house. Published Philadelphia estimates run about $6,468 to $17,640, with an average around $10,584, and $9,000 to $16,500 for architectural shingle. One Philadelphia roofer's table puts a Roxborough or Manayunk twin or single at $7,000 to $11,000. Your own figure follows the roof shape, the layer count and the deck, so it is a written quote once the roof has been seen.

In Philadelphia, yes. A re-roof needs a permit from the Department of Licenses and Inspections, and replacing the roof covering is an EZ permit, with no plans, when the job follows the city's EZ standard. A building on the city's historic register goes to the Historical Commission first. The contractor doing the work normally pulls the permit, and it should be named in the quote.

For a Roxborough twin or single in asphalt shingle, it is well above the estimated $7,000 to $11,000, and above the citywide $9,000 to $16,500 for architectural shingle, so ask what is driving it. Several layers to strip, a large share of the deck replaced, or a big Wissahickon Victorian with many valleys can all push a number up. The itemized layer count, deck rate and permit settle it, not the total.

Most roof repairs are estimated at $300 to $3,000 and up, with an average around $900; another published range puts the average repair at $395 to $1,967. A few lifted shingles or a split pipe boot sits at the low end. Flashing rebuilt at a stone wall or a chimney sits higher. Every repair here that opens the roof is closed the same visit.

Pennsylvania registers home improvement contractors through the Attorney General, and in Philadelphia a registered contractor also needs a Commercial Activity License to work on a one- or two-family home. Ask for both numbers on the quote. Then ask how many layers they found, how the deck is priced, how much comes off each day, and whether you will see the bare deck before it is covered.

Leaks in more than one place at once; shingles curling, cupping or bare of granules across whole slopes; a sag you can see, which usually means soft decking; daylight through the deck in the attic; and a new repair every season. Asphalt shingles are generally rated at 15 to 30 years, so age is a prompt to have the roof looked at, not a verdict on its own.

Replacing a 1,000-square-foot flat roof in Philadelphia is estimated at $3,000 to $12,000, with materials at about $4 to $12 a square foot. Most back roofs on row homes and twins are smaller than that. What moves the price most is how many old layers are on it, because every one has to come off and leave the site before the new roof goes down.