Roofing in Kaser, NY

Asphalt shingles, up front: about $1 to $4 a square foot nationally against $4 to $30 for metal. Metal is generally rated at 40 to 70 years against 15 to 30 for asphalt, so over a long ownership the gap narrows. Whether it closes depends on how long you will own the house, which is why both are priced on the same roof.

For Monsey, a published estimate puts roofing at about $350 to $700 per square, which multiplies out to roughly $7,000 to $14,000 for a 20-square roof and $10,500 to $21,000 for 30 squares. National guides put the average replacement anywhere from about $9,500 to $17,631, within a range from $5,800 to over $47,000. Your roof's own figure is a written quote once it has been measured.

Shingles curling, buckling or missing across whole slopes; granules collecting in the gutters; a sag you can see from the street; daylight through the deck in the attic; and damaged flashing that keeps leaking after repair. Age is a prompt rather than a verdict: asphalt is generally rated at 15 to 30 years. One sign alone is usually a repair.

A small, steady drip in one spot, caught in a bucket, can usually wait a few days for a proper repair. Water near a light fixture, a ceiling that bulges, or a leak that grows with every rain cannot wait at all. The longer any leak runs, the more sheathing, insulation and ceiling it takes with it, which is how a small repair becomes a large one.