Renovation guides

Roof repair or replacement: what a pro does and what you can do

Licensed roofer. Permit. Your job here is to document the problem, hire well, and inspect the work — not to get on the roof.

Difficulty 5 of 5 · licensed pro

Photo of your room, the look you pick, then this guide with the materials counted for your room.

Step by step

1. Step 1 of 12

   Accept that this one is not yours to do

   Roofing combines a fall hazard, licensed work, a permit, and a repair that has to last twenty years. Your role is documenting the problem, hiring a licensed roofer well, and checking the result from the ground and the attic. Read the stop-gate and confirm you understand it before you spend a day getting bids.

   Before you go further

   • You will not go on the roof at any point in this task
   • You understand roofing requires a licensed contractor and a permit
   • No interior finish work starts until the roof is done and proven dry
   • You have a place to keep bids, the permit, and photos together

2. Step 2 of 12

   Photograph the problem from the ground and from inside

   Use binoculars and the phone to capture each roof plane, then go to the attic hatch with a flashlight and photograph every stain, wet spot, and daylight hole from there. Write the date on each photo and note where it rained last. This set of photos is what turns three bids into three comparable bids.

3. Step 3 of 12

   Stop the damage inside while you wait

   Move furniture and boxes out from under an active drip, put buckets down, and lay plastic over anything you cannot move. If a ceiling is bulging with trapped water, poke a small hole at the low point with a screwdriver and let it drain into a bucket rather than letting the whole sheet fall. Tarping the roof itself is a roofer's job — call for an emergency tarp instead of climbing.

4. Step 4 of 12

   Check the license, the insurance, and the record

   Look up each contractor's license number on the California licensing board website and confirm it is active, in the roofing classification, and in the name of the business bidding your job. Ask for a certificate of workers' compensation insurance and general liability, sent by the insurer, not a photocopy. Ask for two addresses of roofs they did in your area last year and go look at them from the street.

5. Step 5 of 12

   Get three written bids on the same scope

   Send all three the same photos and the same question list so the bids are comparable. Specify tear-off to the deck rather than an overlay, and ask each of them how many layers they expect to find. A bid that is far below the others is usually leaving something out — find out what before you decide anything on price.

6. Step 6 of 12

   Make the bid name every part of the job

   The written scope should name the roofing material and its warranty, the underlayment, the drip edge, new flashing at every wall, valley, chimney, skylight, and vent, the ventilation being installed, and a per-sheet price for replacing bad sheathing. It should also say who pulls the permit, who supplies the dumpster, and that cleanup includes a magnet sweep of the yard and driveway. Anything not written down is not included.

7. Step 7 of 12

   Confirm the permit and the energy rules

   A reroof needs a permit from your city building department, and in Los Angeles that is LADBS. California's Title 24 energy rules can require a cool-roof-rated product or added insulation on many reroofs, so ask the contractor in writing which product they are installing and how it meets the requirement for your house. The contractor should pull the permit in their own name.

8. Step 8 of 12

   Sign a contract with a sane payment schedule

   The contract should carry the license number, the full scope, the start and finish dates, the total price, and the payment schedule. Keep the down payment within the legal limit and tie the remaining payments to progress, with the last payment held until the city signs off the final inspection. Pay by check or card so there is a record.

9. Step 9 of 12

   Prepare the house for a tear-off

   Empty the attic or cover everything in it with plastic, take pictures down off the walls of the top floor, and move cars, grills, and potted plants well away from the drip line. Photograph the driveway, walkways, stucco, and landscaping before the crew arrives so any damage is obvious afterward. Tell the neighbors the date and keep pets inside for the duration.

10. Step 10 of 12

    Ask for photographs of the bare deck

    Once the old roofing is off, the sheathing is visible for a few hours and never again. Ask the foreman for photographs of every plane of the bare deck, plus a close photo of each sheet they intend to replace, before underlayment goes down. This is the moment where a rotted deck either gets fixed or gets covered up.

11. Step 11 of 12

    Walk the perimeter at the end of each day

    From the ground, check that the roof is dried in before the crew leaves, that debris is off the walkways, and that the dumpster is not sitting on your driveway slab without protection. Look up at the edges: drip edge straight, gutters not crushed, no bent fascia. Photograph the day's progress and keep the set together.

12. Step 12 of 12

    Close the job: inspection, water test, paperwork

    Get the city inspection signed off before the final payment, then have the roofer hose-test the valleys and the penetrations, or wait for the first real rain, while you watch the attic with a flashlight. Collect the final invoice, the permit sign-off, the manufacturer warranty registration, and the workmanship warranty in writing. Only then does interior finish work start.

    Before interior work begins

    • Contractor's license and workers' compensation verified before signing
    • Permit pulled by the contractor and final inspection signed off
    • Photos exist of the bare deck and of every sheet that was replaced
    • All flashing at walls, valleys, chimneys, skylights, and vents is new
    • Magnet sweep done; no nails left in the yard or the driveway
    • Roof tested by hose or by rain, and the attic checked dry afterward
    • Manufacturer warranty registered and workmanship warranty in writing
    • Final payment released only after the inspection sign-off

Draft guide written from standard practice, not yet reviewed by a licensed pro. Follow product labels where they differ.

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