A new roof for a Baldwinsville, NY house: what the tear-off may find under it

Baldwinsville does not have one house age. About a fifth of the housing predates 1940, another slice went up by 1949, and the rest came in over the following decades, so the median sits near 1975.

Housing from the older end may have plank decking and several past roofs. Housing from the later end may be on its first or second roof. This is a proxy for the village, not a finding about your roof.

So the first useful fact is which part of the village your house is in, and how old it is. Say that when you book. A roofer who knows a house is prewar will price a tear-off differently from one who knows it is a 1980s colonial, and both should say so on the estimate.

If the house has had an addition, tell the roofer. The addition may have a roof of its own, laid at a different time, with a different layer count. A single price for the whole house can hide that, so ask the roofer to price the main house and the addition as separate lines.

Look for the layer count where you can. A rake edge on the garage or a porch sometimes shows the stack in section. If the sale paperwork mentions a reroof, note the year.

Be ready for the deck to change the price. Boards that sat under a leak for years can be dark and soft, and nobody sees them from the ground. Ask each roofer how soft boards are priced, by the sheet or by the board, and compare that line before you compare totals.

Baldwinsville asks for a permit whenever work must meet code, and it names roofs as one example of structural renovation. Ask the office to confirm your job before you sign.

The office answers the phone from 8 a.m. to noon on weekdays. Have your address ready and say whether the lot is in Lysander or Van Buren. Then write the answer into the contract: the applicant's name, the fee and any follow-up visit by the village.

New York also expects a written contract signed before work starts, with a three business day right to cancel, and it expects the contractor to say how your deposit is held. If the contract does not, ask.

Two estimates that look alike can leave out different things. Put them side by side and tick each line for each roofer.

• Tear-off to the deck, in those words.
• A price for replacing soft deck boards.
• An ice barrier at the eave, with the distance it runs up the slope.
• A new drip edge.
• The permit, and the name of whoever applies.

If a line is absent, phone that roofer and ask what the number assumes. How they answer tells you as much as the total. Check the roofer's workers' compensation coverage in the state's public search before you sign.

Ask, too, who will be on your roof and who you call if something looks wrong on day two. Put that name in your notes next to the estimate, then send the form with any line that differs.