Roof Repair and Replacement in Cambridge, MA

How does the Historical Commission treat roofs?

In a recent case, the commission approved architectural shingles for a historic house, with the decision resting on product quality. In another, it discussed restoring a slate roof using salvaged slate and replacement copper valleys and flashing. The two outcomes show that review here is about the particular house and the particular product, not a blanket rule for or against asphalt.

That means two things for a homeowner. First, check whether your property sits in a protected district, including a Neighborhood Conservation District, before you choose a material, because the choice can change the quote. Second, expect a good roofer to provide product details if the commission needs them.

We do not know which Cambridge properties are covered. The commission can tell you for your address.

If the commission has already reviewed a roof on your street, that is useful background but not a ruling on yours. Each application is looked at for its own house.

What is a Cambridge triple-decker roof like?

Much of Cambridge's housing stock is the triple-decker, and triple-deckers are the building type where flat and low-slope roofs are most common in Greater Boston. They were first built in Boston in the 1870s, and an estimated 15,000 went up in Boston and nearby cities between 1880 and 1930. Cambridge is one of the places they are common.

The roof issues are membrane seams, drains, flashing at parapets and the sharing of a roof among households. Guides on flat roofs on triple-deckers and the multi-family roofing page go into it.

If your triple-decker has a pitched roof instead, say so on the call. In Boston, South Boston's were mostly flat, Roxbury's pitched and Dorchester both, so do not assume.

Cambridge has five ZIP codes and a lot of buildings of this type, so a roofer who works here will have seen many of them. Ask whether they have worked on triple-deckers with your kind of roof.

What does snow mean for a Cambridge roof?

Massachusetts building code (780 CMR) lists design ground snow loads from 45 to 65 pounds per square foot by community, and Cambridge is listed at 45. That figure is a design number for new construction, not a measure of your roof's condition, so do not read it as a statement about whether your roof is safe.

Boston averages about 43.8 inches of snow a year, with 108.6 inches in the winter of 2014 to 2015. A roofer can tell you whether your roof shows signs of strain; the call line cannot.

Who can pull a roofing permit in Cambridge?

Massachusetts issues no roofing licence. Contractors doing work on homes register as Home Improvement Contractors with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, and the building permit for roof work is normally pulled by the holder of a Construction Supervisor Licence. Ask any roofer to show their registration. If your property is in a protected district, ask whether review has to come first.

How does crossing the Charles change a roofing job?

Cambridge sits across the Charles River from Newton, and that is more than geography. The two cities have different review bodies, different permit offices and different building stock. A roofer who knows Newton's older pre-1940 houses is not automatically the right person for a Cambridge triple-decker or a house in a Neighborhood Conservation District.

When you call, say you are in Cambridge and give the ZIP. That lets Newton Roofing connect you with an independent roofer who serves the city. Ask that roofer whether they have dealt with the Historical Commission before, if your property might be protected.

Whatever material you choose, get the scope, material and who files the permit written into the contract. The contract guide lists what a Massachusetts home improvement contract should cover, as reported by a third-party guide.