Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, fully insured across the whole service area, and we carry it on every job. We also pull the permits each job needs, in all three states. Ask us for the certificate before you sign anything, with us or with any contractor. Hesitation on that question tells you what you need to know.

Our own crew does the roofing, carpentry and remodeling work. The person who looks at your job and writes the estimate is on site when the work happens. We are not a sales operation that passes the lead to whoever is free that week.

Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We are closed Saturday and Sunday. If you leave a message outside those hours we will pick it up the next working morning.

No. We come out, look at the actual condition of the roof or the space, and give you a written estimate at no cost and with no obligation. If we think the job does not need doing yet, we will tell you that instead of finding something to quote.

Because a number given without seeing the job is a guess, and guesses get revised upward once work starts. Square footage alone does not price a roof. Pitch, valleys, dormers, chimneys, the condition of the deck and access all move the number substantially.

Scope, materials named specifically rather than generically, what is included and what is not, and any repair work we already expect from the inspection. On a roof that means panel profile, gauge, coating, fastener type, underlayment and flashing detail.

You hear about it the same day, with photographs and a price, before we carry on. Opening a roof deck or a wall in a hundred year old building finds things. It should never appear as a line item on a final invoice without a conversation first.

Ask us when we quote. Payment arrangements depend on the size and shape of the job, and we would rather have that conversation directly than publish terms that may not apply to your project.

Age and how widely the problem is spread. A localised failure on a roof with life left in it is a repair. Granule loss across every slope, curling shingles, daylight through the deck, or a third or more of the roof affected all point to replacement. We give the honest answer including when it is the cheaper one.

Water rarely enters directly above where it shows. It runs along the underside of the decking or down a rafter until something stops it and it drips, often several feet from the entry point. That is why we go into the attic where there is access; wet framing traces the path back to the source.

Metal costs two to three times more up front and lasts fifty years or more, sheds snow, and has no exposed fasteners in a standing seam system. Asphalt costs less and gives you fifteen to twenty years here. If you intend to keep the house, metal usually wins on cost across the life of the building.

Heat escaping into the attic melts snow on the upper roof, that water runs to the cold overhang and refreezes, and the resulting ridge of ice holds standing water against a surface built to shed it. The permanent fix is usually attic insulation and ventilation rather than roofing, which is why we look at both.

For most single-room projects yes. For a kitchen you will need a plan for cooking, because you will be without one for weeks rather than days. For a whole-home renovation it is usually better not to. We will tell you plainly which category yours falls into rather than letting you find out.

In writing, priced and agreed before the work happens. That applies both to things you decide you want and to things we find behind a wall. Verbal changes are how projects end in arguments.

Constantly. Most of the housing stock across our area predates 1960 and a good deal of it predates 1920. Plaster, knob and tube wiring, balloon framing and floors that are not level anywhere are normal conditions here rather than surprises.

Yes, and we book the inspections. It matters more here than most places because we work under three different state codes. Massachusetts runs its own stretch code, Vermont enforces a stricter energy standard than New York, and several towns add historic district review on top of all that.

It varies with the season, and roofing is busiest from late spring through autumn. We will give you a realistic start date rather than an optimistic one designed to hold the job. If we cannot get to you when you need it, we would rather say so.

We do not open up a roof we cannot make watertight before the next front arrives, and we do not apply exterior coatings ahead of a cold night or rain. Weather delays are real and we would rather lose a day than deliver work that fails early.

Across Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties in New York, Bennington County in Vermont, and Berkshire County in Massachusetts. That runs from the Mohawk Valley up through Saratoga, east over the Hudson into the Rensselaer hill towns, across the state line into southern Vermont, and south through the Berkshires.

Estimates are free everywhere we work, Vermont and Massachusetts included. On smaller jobs at the very edge of our range we will be straight with you about whether it makes sense for us to take it on, rather than quoting a number padded to cover the drive.