FAQ

Repair it if the roof under the repair is sound, and replace it if it is not. The way to know is a core: a small cut that shows how many roofs are stacked on the deck and whether the insulation between them is wet. One dry layer with a failed seam or parapet is a repair. Several layers, wet insulation or soft boards mean a patch has nothing to hold on to, and replacement is the cheaper answer over a few years. On a Bayonne row home that decision is about the flat rear only; the pitched front is judged on its own.

For a Bayonne two-family row home, published estimates put the pitched front alone at about $8,000 to $13,000 and the front with the flat rear at $12,000 to $20,000. A three-family or larger building is estimated at $16,000 to $28,000, and another local page puts house roof installation at $5,000 to $20,000. Your figure depends on which roofs are being done, how many layers come off and the deck under them, so it is a written quote once the roof has been seen.

In New Jersey, roofers use it to mean that once repairs over a 12-month period add up to more than a quarter of the roof area, the work is treated as a replacement, and the whole roof has to meet current code. It matters most on flat roofs that get patched again and again. Before relying on it, ask the Construction Code Office at 630 Avenue C how it applies to your building; the written quote says where your job sits.

For a Bayonne row home it is above the published estimates: about $12,000 to $20,000 for the front and flat rear of a two-family, and $16,000 to $28,000 for a three-family or larger building. Ask what is driving it. Several layers to strip, a lot of soft decking or a metal roof, estimated at $18,000 to $32,000 locally, can explain it; the total alone does not. The itemized lines do.

Most asphalt shingle repairs in Bayonne are estimated at $500 to $2,000, and a small leak repair at about $350 to $800. National figures put most repairs between $300 and $3,000, with the average around $900. On a flat roof, the core decides whether a repair is money well spent before any of it is.

A roofer who looks before quoting, and on a flat roof cores it rather than guessing at what is underneath. Look for the New Jersey HIC registration number on the quote, which you can look up with the Division of Consumer Affairs; the materials named in writing; the front and rear priced separately; the permit question answered; and a workmanship guarantee stated in writing. And a roofer who will tell you when nothing needs doing yet.

Leaks in more than one place at once; a flat roof that feels soft underfoot; shingles curling or bare of granules across whole slopes; daylight through the boards in the attic; and repairs needed every season. Asphalt shingles commonly give 15 to 20 years and torch-down flat roofs are reported at 15 to 25, so age is a prompt to have the roof looked at, not a verdict. One sign alone is usually a repair.

Yes, most of the time, if the roof under the repair is sound. A failed seam, a parapet flashing that has let go or a drain that ponds can all be repaired in the same membrane system. Where a core shows several layers with wet insulation or rotten boards beneath them, a repair will not hold for long, and you should be told that before you pay for one.