Roofing in Spring Garden

Look at the paperwork rather than the pitch. In New Jersey a home improvement contract over $500 must be in writing and signed, must carry the contractor's legal name and business address, and must give you three business days to cancel -- so a price described as good only for today is not something the law holds you to. Add two practical tests: a deposit that is a large share of the total before any material arrives, and a quote that names no specific materials. A scope that says only 'strip and re-roof' cannot be held to anything.

An architectural asphalt roof runs $9,500 to $26,000 in New Jersey, and most 2,000 square foot houses land at $12,000 to $18,000 installed. Per square foot that is $5.50 to $8.00 for architectural against $4.50 to $6.50 for three-tab. If a quote is well under those figures, the question is not whether it is a bargain -- it is which of the tear-off, the ice barrier, the starter course, the drip edge or the decking allowance is missing from it.

Labor, usually -- typically more than half the total, and the share rises with pitch and complexity because steep, broken-up roofs take far longer per square foot. But the item that most often moves a final bill away from the quoted figure is different: replacement decking, which nobody can measure until the old covering is off. That is why it belongs in the scope as a rate per sheet rather than a lump sum, and why a quote without one will probably change.

Usually not, on a house. Replacing the roof COVERING on a detached one- or two-family dwelling is ordinary maintenance under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7 -- no permit, no notice, no inspection. Nutley has a good deal of two-family housing, so that covers most of the township. Three or more units, an attached building, or anything structural under the covering is a different answer. Unlike most of this county there is one construction office for the whole of Nutley, so there is only one place to ask.