Roofing

A roof is a system, not a layer

People talk about a roof as though it were the shingles. The shingles are the part you can see and the part that gets quoted, and they are not usually the part that fails first.

Underneath them is a deck, which is only as good as the framing it sits on and the ventilation that keeps it dry. Around every opening — chimneys, vents, skylights, the point where a lower roof runs into a wall — is flashing, and flashing is where most leaks actually start. At the eave there is an edge detail and, on new work here, an ice barrier. Above the insulation there has to be moving air.

When a roof is priced as shingles alone, the rest of that list is either included quietly or not included at all. Which of those it is becomes clear later, which is why it is worth asking earlier.

Most leaks start at a flashing, not in the middle of a field of shingles.

What a roof here has to survive

Freeze and thaw

Snow melts from underneath where a warm attic leaks heat, runs to the cold eave, and refreezes. Water then backs up the slope, which is not a direction roofing is built to handle.

Wind off open water

Exposed coastal sites carry higher design wind speeds than an inland street, and that changes fastening patterns and what an assembly has to be rated for.

Salt

Near the shore it never stops. It decides which metals last in fasteners, flashings and drip edge, and which ones stain a roof within a season.

Heat and movement

Everything on a roof expands and contracts every day of its life. Joints and laps are detailed to allow for that, or they open.

Whatever is underneath

A deck that has been wet for years does not hold a nail. That is found when the old roof comes off, not before, which is why how it gets handled belongs in the paperwork in advance.

Ventilation

Intake at the eave, exhaust at the ridge, and a clear path between them. Insulation stuffed into that path is one of the most common reasons a roof ages early.

How a roofing job runs

1. Look

   Someone gets up there, and into the attic. A roof diagnosed from the driveway is a guess, and the attic is where the evidence of a ventilation or heat problem actually is.

2. Scope and price in writing

   What is being removed, what is going back, which flashings are being replaced rather than reused, how rotten deck is handled, and what is not included. Agreed before anything starts.

3. Permit

   Roofing is permitted at the town, and what a given job needs depends on the town and the scope. That is confirmed before work rather than discovered during it.

4. Strip, and look again

   The deck is only visible once the old roof is off. Anything found gets shown to you, with what it changes in time and cost, before it is covered back up.

5. Dry in, then finish

   Underlayment, ice barrier at the eaves, flashings, then the roof itself. The order is not decoration; it is what makes the assembly shed water.

6. Walk it

   Grounds cleaned, magnet run, and a walk round with a written list of anything that is not right before the job is called done.

What to ask before you sign anything

These are the questions worth putting to every bidder, in the same words, and comparing the answers as carefully as you compare the numbers.

The registration number

Rhode Island requires contractors to be registered with the state board, and a town will not issue a permit without it. Ask for the number — here or anywhere — and look it up yourself before money moves.

The certificate of insurance

Ask for it to come from the agent directly, with your name on it as certificate holder, and check the dates. A photocopy handed over on site is not the same document.

Rotten deck

Ask how it is handled and how it is charged before it is found, not after. It is the single most common addition to a roofing job.

Which flashings are new

Reusing old step flashing at a wall or a chimney is cheaper and it is where the next leak comes from. Ask which are being replaced, by name.

Debris, and the yard

Disposal belongs in the written scope. If a bid never mentions it, ask where it went.

The two warranties

There are usually two and they are not the same thing: the manufacturer's on the material, and the contractor's own on the workmanship. Ask how long each runs and what voids it, and get both in writing before you sign.