We have been doing roof replacement out of Garfield for 25+ years. Mahwah is 14 miles due north of the shop, in Bergen County — well inside the area we work in regularly rather than the edge of it. Either way we still answer when you call about the job two winters later, which is the part that actually depends on being local.
A replacement is a full tear-off to the bare deck, an inspection of the plywood underneath, then rebuilding the whole assembly — underlayment, ice and water membrane, new flashing, corrected ventilation and the new roof on top.
Bergen has some of the oldest continuously occupied housing stock in the state. The southern half is dense with 1920s to 1950s colonials, capes and two-families on narrow lots; the north opens into larger split-levels and ranches from the 1950s through the 1970s. Older houses frequently carry two layers already, which doubles the tear-off and the disposal weight, and means nobody has seen that deck in decades. What is under there is the one thing no contractor can price accurately before the roof comes off.
Deck repair is quoted at an agreed rate per sheet before work starts, so it is an approved item rather than a surprise. Flashing is replaced rather than reused, which is why a new roof leaks at the chimney two winters later. Nothing is left open overnight.
