How a Bloomfield job runs, step by step: free quote, written scope, written quote, sign-off - and the cheaper option named when there is one.
Free inspection, the solar array counted and priced as its own line, then a written quote.
Tell us the address and whether there are panels on the roof, and roughly how many. That one answer moves the price of the job by thousands and decides how long the array will be down for, so it is worth establishing before anything else.
Both together, with the array counted and the covering under it assessed for remaining life. On older housing the roof space also settles whether the deck is board sheathing or plywood, which changes what can go on top of it.
The roof and the array priced as separate lines rather than one figure. Where the sequence matters -- panels going on soon, or a roof with years left -- both orders are costed so the cheaper one is obvious rather than argued.
The array off and stored, the roof done, the array back and reconnected by a qualified electrician, and a before-and-after set that is yours whatever you decide to do next.
Essex County ranges. Your own written quote comes after we have seen it.
$12,000-18,000 on a 2,000 sq ft house.
$4,500-9,500 for a normal system.
Three-tab to architectural, installed.
Epdm $5-9, tpo $6-12, installed.
Plus detail work, itemized separately.
A typical detached garage.
If there is an array on the roof -- or about to be -- the sequence is worth roughly five thousand dollars, and nobody selling solar has a reason to mention it.
Removal and reinstallation is $250 to $350 per panel in New Jersey. That is $4,500 to $9,500 on a normal system -- a five-figure line on a five-figure job. A roofing quote that does not mention the array has not priced the work you actually need.
A covering with ten years left under panels about to be fitted should be replaced now, while the removal cost is zero. Do it in the other order and you pay a second set of trades to undo work finished the year before. This is the single most valuable sentence on this site.
Because the decision is no longer free, it is a schedule. Knowing the covering has three years rather than ten lets you plan the removal around it -- and lets you do any other roof work on the property in the same window.
On the roof itself the usual test applies: if the covering away from a leak still lies flat, holds its granules and is not brittle, the repair is the right job at $350 to $1,800 rather than a replacement at $9,500 and up.
Worth knowing before you start ringing round, particularly if there are panels involved.
Northern roofs fail at the edges in the freeze. Water backs up under the courses at the eaves, freezes, lifts them, and the ceiling below stains during the first thaw -- so the calls arrive in a cluster, in the same two weeks, and the roof that could have been done comfortably in September becomes an emergency in February.
A solar array adds four to seven days to that on top: a day to take it down, two to five days of roofing, a day to reinstall and reconnect. It also adds a second trade to coordinate, because the electrical disconnect and reconnection are not roofing work. On a panelled roof the useful thing is to start the conversation a season earlier than you otherwise would.
A free written quote, no obligation.