How the business runs

A roofing business that hands you the snag list

This is a roofing business working Nutley: replacement, repair, flat roofing, chimney flashings and gutters on the inter-war and early post-war housing this township is mostly built from. One township, one construction office, and a service area you can drive across in ten minutes.

It is organized around what this market is visibly worried about, which is being sold a bad job. Rather than answer that with another page about how trustworthy we are, this site sets out the eight things that give a bad roof away -- courses, face nailing, starter course, ridge cap, valleys, flashing, drip edge and how the site was left -- and says plainly that the time to check them is before the final payment. That is a standard we are inviting you to hold us to.

Roofing only -- no siding, windows or general contracting
No storm-damage paperwork of any kind
Nutley only; the neighboring townships are somebody else's patch
No price without walking the roof and the roof space

A long timber-framed attic with exposed rafters and a plank floor — **During the job**Survey before any price is given

How it runs

Four steps, no surprises

Free inspection, a written scope, and a walkaround before the final payment.

Call or message

Tell us the address and what prompted the call. If this is about work somebody else has just finished, say so -- that is a different visit with a different output, and it is one worth booking before you settle the invoice.

Survey, roof and roof space

Both together. Outside: the slope and the details that actually fail. Inside: the layer count, the deck type, old water tracks and daylight. On Nutley's older stock the roof space usually settles whether the deck is board sheathing or plywood.

Written scope, then the price

The work described in plain language, decking as a rate per sheet, and the details named rather than implied -- starter course, ridge cap, valley metal, drip edge. If they are written down, they are checkable afterwards.

The work, then the walkaround

We go round the outside with you against that same list before the balance is mentioned. Anything on it that is not right gets put right first. You keep the photographs whatever you decide to do next.

Before you choose

Five things worth asking of every quote, including this one

The last one is the only one on this list that costs the contractor anything to agree to.

Does the scope name the details

Starter course, ridge cap, valley metal, drip edge, ice barrier. If they are written down they are checkable afterwards; if the quote says only 'strip and re-roof', there is nothing to hold it to.

Is the decking priced per sheet

Nobody knows how much deck has softened until the covering is off. A rate per sheet is honest; a lump sum is a guess that gets revisited upwards once the roof is open.

Is there a registration number on the document

New Jersey registers home improvement contractors and the number belongs on the paperwork, not just a website footer. Its absence tells you something before you have read a price.

What happens to the old covering

Tear-off and disposal is a real cost and a real nuisance. A quote that does not mention it either has not included it or intends to overlay, and overlaying is a decision you should be making rather than discovering.

Will you walk it with me before the final payment

This is the one that separates people. The work is finished, the balance is not paid, and somebody goes round the outside with you against a list. A contractor who is happy to do that is telling you what they expect you to find.

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