FAQ

In Connecticut it is a permit line. The state's amended residential code excuses from a building permit only repairs limited to 25 percent of the roof covering within one calendar year. Under that line, on a one- or two-family house, a repair needs no permit; over it, the job is a replacement and is permitted through Waterbury's Department of Inspections. The 25 percent rule most websites describe is Florida's, which works differently. A three-family house sits outside the residential code, so check with the department before relying on the exemption there.

An asphalt roof replacement in Connecticut is estimated at $10,000 to $18,000 for most houses, with architectural shingle at about $4.50 to $8.00 per square foot installed. Slate is a different order of money, estimated at $15 to $30 or more per square foot. In Waterbury add the permit, roughly $380 on a $14,000 job, and allow for decking as a rate per sheet, because nobody knows how much is soft until the old roof is off.

As an estimate, roughly $10,000 to $18,000 in architectural asphalt, but the floor area is the wrong number to price from. A two-story house of 2,200 square feet has a much smaller roof than a single-story one of the same size, and pitch, valleys and the number of layers coming off move it further. A written quote should measure the roof itself and show the rate per square foot.

For an asphalt roof on an ordinary Waterbury house, yes: it is well above the estimated $10,000 to $18,000 most houses cost, and about a tenth of the city's typical home value. It is not unreasonable for slate work, a large Queen Anne on the Hillside with many valleys, or a big multi-family building. The figure alone does not settle it; the itemized roof area, tear-off, decking rate and permit do.

Not on age alone. Twenty years is when an asphalt roof deserves an inspection, not an automatic replacement. If the shingles are holding their granules, the flashings are sound and the attic shows no water tracks, it may have several winters left. Curling, bare patches, repeated leaks at the eaves or two layers already in place are the signs that it is time, and an honest inspection says which you have.

Waterbury charges $50 for the first $1,000 of estimated cost and $25 for each additional $1,000, plus a state fee of $0.26 per $1,000. On a $14,000 roof that is about $380; on a $20,000 roof about $530. Permits come from the Department of Inspections at 185 South Main Street, and the contractor normally pulls the permit as part of the job.

Start with the registration: Connecticut registers home improvement contractors, and the HIC number belongs on the advert, the van and the contract, checkable at elicense.ct.gov. Then read the contract for what the Home Improvement Act requires – start and completion dates, a notice of your three-day cancellation right – and for whether a permit is included on a full replacement. A quote that names the ice barrier, the deck-joint strip and the decking rate is one that can be checked.

One to three days on site for most asphalt roofs on a house that size, once the permit is issued and the weather allows. Steep pitches, a second layer to strip, a lot of rotten decking or a three-story building with staging push it longer. Plan around the snow: a roof booked for early fall is far easier to schedule than one needed in January.