Read the answer before you sign anything

If you hold an estimate already

Start with the guide on checking a contractor, then the one on repair or replace. Together they tell you what to verify about the name on the paper and what the paper should say about the roof.

If you are still looking for the cause

The guide on why roofs fail at the eaves explains what happens at the overhang in a thaw. It helps you describe the problem to a roofer in words they can act on.

If a storm or a permit is the question

The insurance guide sets out how a policy treats a roof, and the town-by-town permit page names the office to ask in each of our fourteen places. Neither tells you what to claim, and neither replaces a call to your insurer or your local office.

How to use these guides with an estimate in hand

Take the guide that fits your question and a highlighter. Mark each line your estimate already covers, circle each one it leaves out, then call the roofer and ask about the circled lines in order. If you have no estimate yet, read the repair-or-replace guide first, so the first estimate you get is already the right shape.

None of these guides replaces your insurer, your local office or the roofer you hire. Each gives you the questions to ask them. When you finish one, write down the first question and who you will ask, then make the call.