(214) 807-0414Request an assessmentTear-off day
Everything written about a roof replacement is about the roof. The part owners are least prepared for happens at ground level, in one loud day, and most of the complaints that follow a replacement come from decisions nobody discussed beforehand. This is the version of the day that gets discussed beforehand.
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What this covers
Old covering, underlayment and fasteners come down into a dump trailer, a truck, or onto ground protection. Where that container sits, what is under it and what it will do to a driveway is decided before it arrives rather than while it is reversing. On a small lot or a shared drive it can be the constraint that shapes the whole day.
Tear-off and nailing transmit through the frame. Pictures, mirrors and anything on a shelf come down first. Loose storage in the attic gets covered, because dust and debris fall through the gaps between deck panels for the whole of the tear-off.
Most garages have an open ceiling, which means the underside of the roof deck is the ceiling. Anything stored there — including a vehicle — is either moved or covered. This is the single most common thing forgotten on the morning.
What to know
Irrigation heads along the drip line, the AC condenser, a pool or spa, landscape lighting, and the gutters, which either come off or are protected. Satellite dishes and any roof-mounted equipment need an owner: who removes it, who reinstalls it, and whether anybody is aligning it afterwards. Solar changes the sequence entirely and involves a separate contractor.
A replacement produces a very large number of fasteners and they travel further than people expect. Magnet sweeps of the drive, lawn and beds reduce them substantially. They do not eliminate them, and a contractor who says otherwise is overselling a magnet. Expect to find some after the first mow, and say so if you do.
Driveway, walks, fence line, beds, gutters, and the condition of anything the work will be near. It takes a few minutes on the morning and it is the only thing that settles a question about damage afterwards. We take that set; there is nothing stopping an owner taking their own.
Choose a starting point
A short, non-diagnostic guide for working out what kind of assessment conversation to prepare for.
Decision support
Four situations, and the sensible next move for each. It does not diagnose a roof, decide insurance coverage, or stand in for somebody looking at the property.
Questions
Not usually, and it is worth being reachable. Concealed conditions turn up during tear-off — decking, a rotted rafter tail, a detail nobody could see — and those are decisions that need an answer while the roof is open rather than a note left on the door.
It comes off to re-roof underneath it. Reinstalling it is straightforward; re-aiming it is a different service, and a dish put back in the same bracket is not guaranteed to be pointing where it was. Agree who is doing what before the day, and expect to call the provider if the alignment matters to you.
Yes, and it is better raised early. Access decides where debris is collected, where material is loaded and how far everything is carried, and all three affect the labor in the scope. It is a normal constraint, not a problem — it is just one that should be priced with everyone's eyes open.
The roof gets dried in rather than left open. Work stops at a point where the exposed area can be covered — underlayment down over what has been stripped, or temporary cover where it cannot be — and the rest waits. A crew that tears off more than it can close before weather arrives has made a scheduling decision at your expense. Ask how much of the roof is opened at a time, and what the plan is if the forecast turns.
Assessment request
Short, routing-only questions. Nothing here asks you to diagnose the roof yourself.