Ontario, CA
Replacing a roof in Ontario: what it takes
Replacing a roof is four days of noise and one decision that lasts thirty years. It is worth an afternoon of comparing.
Describe the replacement job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Ontario contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Ontario is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a replacement job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- Tear-off or overlay, and what the local code allows
- Which underlayment, and whether ice-and-water goes on the eaves and valleys
- Who pulls the permit, and what the inspection schedule looks like
- How the site is protected, and who cleans up the nails
- Ventilation: what is there now, what it should be
Insist on knowing what happens to decking that turns out to be rotten. The good answer is a per-sheet price agreed in writing before the job starts.
Warranties come in two halves that get deliberately confused. The manufacturer covers the material, and only if it was installed to specification. The contractor covers the workmanship, and only for as long as they stay in business.
Two quotes at the same price can be very different roofs. Compare the layers, not the brand name on the shingle.
Locally
Close behind that: ember intrusion through vents and open eaves. Most houses lost to wildfire are lost to embers arriving ahead of the fire, not to the fire itself.
About replacement here
I rent. Can I use this?
Only the owner can approve roofing work. If you are renting, the fastest route is to send this to your landlord or property manager rather than gathering quotes nobody can act on.
How long does a re-roof take?
A straightforward asphalt roof on an average house is one to three days. Tile, slate and complex rooflines take longer, and weather stops work more often than anything else.
Are the contractors licensed and insured?
We require a licence number and current insurance from every contractor in the network. Verify it yourself anyway. Your state licensing board has a free lookup, and it takes two minutes.
It is leaking right now. What do I do?
Move what you can out of the way, put a bucket under it, and if there is a bulge in the ceiling put a small hole at its lowest point to let the water out in one place rather than bringing the whole panel down. Then mark your request as an emergency — those go out first.
What is it going to cost?
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.