What a replacement includes that a repair cannot
Roughly two thirds of what keeps water out of a house sits underneath the shingles. The self-adhering ice barrier along the eave, the underlayment across the field, the metal at every wall, chimney and valley, and the air path from soffit to ridge are all part of the assembly, and none of them can be renewed without taking the covering off. A repair replaces shingles. A replacement replaces the system those shingles belong to.
That distinction is why so much of the housing in this region reaches a point where patching stops being reasonable. A covering installed in the late nineties over a deck that was already old sits on an underlayment that has spent a quarter of a century in the freeze-and-thaw cycle, and on flashing that was frequently reused from the job before. The shingles are the youngest part of the assembly and they are still the only part anyone can see.
Why a recover is usually not on the table
Laying new material straight over the old covering is cheaper on the day and it is what a good deal of the housing stock here has already had done to it once. The residential code Connecticut works from sets out where that is no longer permitted, and the list catches most older roofs in this region: where two or more applications of any covering are already in place, where the existing material is water-soaked or has deteriorated too far to serve as a base for anything new, and where the existing covering is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile.
There is a practical argument alongside the legal one. A recover conceals the deck at the moment when it is most worth inspecting, adds weight to framing that may already be carrying two layers through a New England winter, and leaves the eave without the ice barrier that the code requires on a replacement. It buys years rather than decades, and it forfeits the one opportunity to see the sheathing.
The sequence on site
Most of a replacement is not shingle work. Protecting the ground and the plantings, staging the dumpster where it will not crack the driveway, getting the old covering down without putting it through a window, cutting out soft sheathing, and setting the flashing at every junction take up more of the schedule than the courses do. On a house with dormers, several valleys or a masonry chimney, the metal work is where the quality of the job is actually decided.
What moves the price
- Roof area and pitch, which set both material and how the crew has to work
- How many existing layers come off, and what disposal they generate
- Sheathing condition, which is not fully known until the tear-off
- The count of valleys, dormers, chimneys and wall junctions needing flashing
- Access and staging, which matter more on a narrow city lot than on an acre
- Whether ventilation is being corrected as part of the work
Roofing labour in this market sits appreciably above the national median, which is a large part of why figures quoted for other parts of the country do not travel here. Ask for the scope in writing with the deck-repair rate stated in advance, so that the one genuinely unpredictable item moves in a way you can check rather than arriving as a surprise on the invoice.
Roof replacement by town
- HartfordZIP 06103, 06105, 06106, 06112, 06114, 06120
- West HartfordZIP 06107, 06110, 06117, 06119
- New BritainZIP 06051, 06052, 06053
- East HartfordZIP 06108, 06118
- ManchesterZIP 06040, 06042
- BristolZIP 06010
- GlastonburyZIP 06033, 06073
- NewingtonZIP 06111
- WethersfieldZIP 06109
- WindsorZIP 06095, 06006
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long does an asphalt roof last in this climate?
- Less than the number printed on the wrapper, and how much less depends on ventilation more than on the product. A covering over a well-vented attic on a slope that dries in the morning behaves close to expectation. The same covering over a sealed attic, or on a north slope under trees, gives up years. Manufacturers rate materials under laboratory conditions; a Connecticut winter is not one.
- Three-tab or architectural shingles?
- Architectural shingles carry a thicker mat and a heavier laminate, hold their wind rating better at the edges, and are what most of this market now installs. Three-tab is lighter and thinner and shows its age through cracking across the tabs rather than curling. Whichever goes on, what matters as much is the fastening pattern and the starter course, because that is what a nor'easter tests.
- What is the difference between a repair, a recover and a replacement?
- A repair addresses one failure and leaves the rest of the covering in place. A recover lays new material over the existing covering without removing it, which the code restricts sharply. A replacement takes everything off down to the sheathing, allows the deck to be inspected and repaired, and puts a complete new assembly back including the ice barrier and the flashing. Only the last of those renews the whole system.
- Will the gutters have to come off?
- Not usually as a whole, though the drip edge along the eave is part of the roof and is normally renewed with it. Gutters do take a beating during tear-off, and any that are already loose or rotted at the fascia are worth dealing with while the crew and the staging are there rather than as a separate visit later.
- What should be left behind at the end?
- A cleared site, and that is not a small point. Tear-off scatters nails across the ground around the whole perimeter, and a magnet sweep of the lawn, beds and driveway belongs in the scope rather than being treated as a courtesy. You should also be given the permit record, the manufacturer's paperwork for the material installed, and the invoice showing what was actually done.