Missing or lifted shingles on a Baldwinsville, NY roof: repair a section or replace

A repair is the right answer when the damage sits in one place and the deck under it is sound. The deciding facts are the pattern of damage and what is under it. One lifted row after a gust is a repair. Cracked tabs across a whole slope are a conversation about the slope.

Ask the roofer three things. Is the deck under the damaged shingles sound? Will the shingles around the repair hold a new section beside them? Is there a second layer under here? The answers shape what the patch can do for you, and a roofer who checks each one is looking at the roof, not at a price list.

In the older part of Baldwinsville, where houses date to before 1950, a repair may land on a deck that has had several coverings, which houses of that age commonly have had. The shingles are the visible part. The planks under them may have gaps and old nail holes, and a patch is only as good as what it is fastened to.

On the later streets, houses may be on their first or second roof. A house of the 1970s or 80s may be reaching the age where its first roof is tired. Ask your roofer to look at more than the damaged spot and to say what the whole slope seems to have left.

Either way, ask for the repair and the replacement price on one sheet. If the numbers are close, the answer may be to replace. If the repair is a small part of the full job, a repair is a clear choice.

Ask too whether the roofer will check the lowest rows at the eave while they are there. It costs little to look, and it shows whether the next problem will be at the edge.

If the house has an addition, say which roof the damage sits on. An addition's roof may have been laid years after the main house, and its shingles may be in a different state from the rest.

Ask for an estimate that names the slope, describes the work and carries a line for what happens if the deck needs boards. A repair estimate is short, and short documents make gaps easy to see. Ask for a written contract even on a small job, since New York expects one for home improvement work.

Ask the roofer whether the repair needs a village permit. The village names roofs as an example of structural work that must meet code, so do not assume a patch is exempt. The code enforcement office takes calls in the morning, and one call settles the question before work starts.

Keep the paper next to your photographs. If anything goes wrong later, the dated record of what you saw and what the roofer found is the part that helps. Send the form with your photographs and ask for the repair and replacement prices together.

Renting? Send the landlord your photographs and the dates, and ask for the repair in writing. The owner signs the contract, so the roofer's estimate has to reach them, not you.