FAQ

Right away if the water is near a light fixture, the ceiling bulges, or the leak grows with each rain. Those cannot wait. A dry, old stain that has not grown is worth tracing but is not an emergency. On a split-level, also worry about a stain on a lower-level ceiling under a wall of the level above: water running inside that wall is wetting framing you cannot see, even if the drip looks small.

On a Livingston split-level or bi-level it is usually the level changes: every wall line between levels means lifting siding, renewing step flashing piece by piece and resetting the siding, and a low section over an addition is a second roofing system. After that comes decking nobody could see until the old roof was off. A good quote prices both as their own lines.

For a Livingston home, published local estimates run about $12,000 to $28,000 in architectural shingle for a typical roof of 2,000 to 3,500 square feet, about $15,000 to $25,000 for a larger colonial with a complex roofline, and about $13,000 to $22,000 for a bi-level or split-level. Your own figure follows the levels, the layers coming off and the deck underneath, so it is a written quote once the roof has been seen.

The average New Jersey roof repair is reported at about $1,067, with most homeowners spending roughly $379 to $1,755. In Livingston, minor work such as a few shingles or a pipe boot is published at an estimated $300 to $600, and a valley, a chimney, a skylight or a wall flashing at about $800 to $2,500.

For architectural shingle on a typical Livingston home it is above the estimated $12,000 to $28,000 range, so ask what is driving it. It is inside the estimated $20,000 to $40,000 reported for metal on a larger home, and it can be reasonable for a big house with many levels, skylights and a low section. The total alone does not settle it; the line items do.

For a Livingston house it is well above the published estimates: about $12,000 to $28,000 for architectural shingle on a typical roof and about $20,000 to $40,000 for metal on a larger home. A figure like that needs a reason you can see on paper, such as an unusually large or complex roof, a premium material, or a lot of rotten deck. Ask for the roof area, the levels and the decking rate, line by line.

Someone who looks before quoting and reads every level of the roof, names the materials in writing, puts the New Jersey home improvement contractor registration number on the quote, answers the permit question, and tells you what the workmanship guarantee is. On a house built in levels, also look for the wall lines between levels on the quote; if they are missing, ask.

Leaks at more than one level at once; shingles curling, cupping or bare of granules across whole slopes; a sag you can see from the yard; daylight through the deck in an attic space; and a new repair needed every season. Many Livingston houses are on a second roof put on in the 1990s or early 2000s, so age is a prompt to have it read, not a verdict on its own.