Summit Home Group Roof decision helper

Resources: the roof decision helper

Four plain questions, the path they point to, and the reasoning and limits printed beside it.

A woman standing on a front porch with new siding behind her
An AI-generated illustration, not a customer or a real project.

Decide a roof on the evidence, not its look

A roof that looks fine from the street can still need a repair, a replacement or a line in the disclosure. A sale is safer when that call rests on a written inspection of the roof itself, not on its appearance. We built the helper below from the sources cited on this page, and it turns a few answers you already have into a path. It says what it cannot know, because it cannot see the roof, the deck or the attic. The path is a guide to what to do next, not a verdict on any particular house.

Judge the roof on what an inspector writes down, not on how it looks from the pavement.

Four questions, one path

Answer each question from what you already know. The path appears with its reasoning beside it, and nothing you enter leaves this page.

  1. Which side of the sale are you on?
  2. How old is the roof, as far as you know?

    An estimate is enough. The answer changes the path at about 20 years.

  3. What can you see from the ground or the attic?

    Pick the strongest sign you can see.

  4. Has a written roof inspection been done?

Every path in full

Get a written roof inspection first

Nobody can say whether this roof needs a repair, a replacement or only a disclosure without one. Ask for an inspection that names what it found, before the price or the offer is settled.

Repair the specific fault

One visible fault on a roof under about 20 years old, with one layer and no sagging, points to a repair. Ask for it as a written scope that names the fault and the materials, and ask who will pull any permit before the work starts.

Plan a replacement and ask for a tear-off quote

Two layers, sagging along a ridge, or a fault on a roof at or past about 20 years all point the same way. Most codes allow no more than two roof coverings, so ask each contractor whether a tear-off is right for this roof, and why, in writing.

Disclose the roof and price it into the sale

Nothing visible is not the same as nothing wrong, so the roof's condition belongs in the disclosure. The price should reflect what an inspection finds, not what the roof looks like from the street.

The path assumes your answers are accurate and that nothing you have not named has been checked. It cannot see the deck, the flashing, the attic insulation or the rules in your town. It is not a bid and gives no price, because a price depends on the roof's size, pitch and material. Dracut and Lowell publish different permit pages, so check the one for your town with its building department.

The rules behind these paths come from two sources. The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association says most codes allow no more than two roof coverings, and that tear-off is the safer route with two layers, sagging across ridge or truss lines, or rotted or warped deck. The Fine Homebuilding article says three-tab asphalt shingles need replacing about every 20 years, and treats the 40 to 50 years quoted for premium shingles as an expected life, not a measured result.

Hands fitting a cut vinyl siding panel into a corner trim channel
Siding is a separate scope from the roof, so ask for it as its own line in a written quote.

Put the answer to work, in order

Use the answer in this order, because each step depends on the one before it. Keep the record in one place, with the inspection report beside it, and refer back to it when each quote arrives. A scope that matches the record is easy to compare, and one that does not match is worth asking about.

  1. Gather the roof's record: its age, any past repairs, and how many layers of shingle are on it.
  2. Get a written inspection that names what it found, before any price is agreed.
  3. Ask each contractor for the same written scope, with the layers counted and the permits stated.
  4. Check that the quote is in writing and names the registration numbers and who pulls each permit.
  5. Keep the inspection and the chosen scope with the sale papers, so the disclosure matches what was found.

Facts to come back to before you sign

A Massachusetts home improvement contract for more than $1,000 must be in writing, and a verbal quote does not meet the statute (M.G.L. c. 142A, section 2). The same section requires the contract to say which permits are needed and that the contractor must obtain them. It also requires the contract to set out the owner's three-day cancellation rights. The statute caps the deposit a contractor may require at the greater of one-third of the total price or a second measure, so one-third is the figure to check on a quote. A homeowner who pulls their own permit is excluded from the state guaranty fund.

Lowell requires a building permit for roofing and siding under the state building code, according to its building permit page. Dracut requires a permit to repair or alter a building, and its permit paperwork lists the contractor's registration and insurance certificate, although its page does not name roofing. For that reason a reader should confirm the Dracut rule with the Building Department before work begins. For a house built before 1978, anyone paid to disturb paint must be lead-safe certified, as the US EPA's renovation rules for contractors set out. As little as 1 or 2 inches of snow can start an ice dam on a pitched roof over heated space, as UMass Amherst explains.

Two checklists to read before you sign