Roof Replacement and Repair in Natick, MA

How many roofs can a 1950s Natick house have worn out?

A house from the early postwar years may have had its original roof replaced once or twice by now. Published guides give asphalt shingles a life of roughly 20 to 30 years, with cheaper three-tab shingles at 15 to 20 and architectural shingles at 25 to 30. A 1950s house has had time to use up at least two of those.

That arithmetic is why the first question to a roofer is how many layers are on the roof today. Published summaries say Massachusetts allows no more than two layers of asphalt shingles and that a third needs a full tear-off. A roofer who counts the layers before quoting is giving you information you will need to compare bids. See roof replacement for how a tear-off proceeds.

What does a tear-off reveal on a tract house?

The deck. Once the old shingles come off, the plywood or boards beneath are open to inspection, and a roofer can see staining, soft spots or fastener problems that were invisible before. A tract house that has taken water for years at one valley may need a few sheets of decking replaced, and that is the sort of item a good quote names as an allowance or a unit price.

Ventilation is the other subject that comes up. Heat that builds in a poorly vented attic ages shingles from below, and heat that escapes from the rooms into the attic melts snow on the roof. Attic ventilation and insulation explains how those two problems connect, and why fixing one without the other can leave the roof working against itself.

Are Wethersfield, Lokerville and Robinhood Road roofs all alike?

Not quite. Those 1950s developments were built on slightly larger parcels than the first tract blocks in East, North and West Natick, so lot size and tree cover differ from street to street. Houses with more trees near the roof will see more leaf litter in gutters and more fallen limbs.

No source here counts which houses have been re-roofed, so a street-level assumption is a poor guide. What a roofer can do is read the house in front of them: the shingle condition, the number of layers, the state of the flashing at chimneys and vents. Ask for that in writing before you decide.

It also pays to ask about the edges of the roof. On a tract house, drip edge, eave underlayment and the first course of shingles are the parts that take the most abuse from meltwater, and they are cheap to get right during a tear-off and expensive to revisit afterwards.

Who handles the permit, and what should the contract say?

The Natick building department issues roof permits. In Massachusetts the permit for roof work is normally pulled by a Construction Supervisor Licence holder, so ask your roofer who that will be and how the permit is being handled. Do not take it on faith; ask to see it.

For home improvement contracts above the state threshold, a published guide says a written contract is required, with the contractor's registration number on it, a deposit of no more than one third and a three-day right to cancel. Check the rule on the state's own site before you sign. Call (833) 751-2102 and the call line will connect you with a roofer for Natick.