Should I Hire a Roofer or a General Contractor?
The Short Answer
If the project is a roof, hire a roofer. If the roof is one piece of a larger addition or rebuild, the roof should still be installed by a company that installs roofs every day, not by whoever the general contractor has available that week.
That’s our opinion, and we know it sounds convenient coming from a roofing company. So here’s what it’s based on: roofs we’ve been called to replace on homes that were built or renovated only a few years earlier. These weren’t old roofs at the end of their life. They were new roofs that failed because of how they were installed.
What We See on New Builds and Additions
Many of the homes we work on are older homes being added on to or rebuilt. On a lot of those projects, the general contractor also sells the roof. In many cases, the person who ends up installing it isn’t a roofer. It’s a subcontractor the GC already uses for other trades, who can also put on a roof.
The results show up a few years later. In towns like Chatham, Summit and Short Hills, we’ve seen homes worth over a million dollars, newly built, with roofs failing within five years. Two examples from our files:
- Missed nails across the entire roof. The shingles weren’t fastened where they should have been. The homeowner had three leaks in five years before anyone found the cause.
- No underlayment at all. Shingles went directly onto the decking, with nothing underneath to stop water that gets past them.
Neither roof could be repaired. Both needed full replacement. The hardest part is explaining it to the homeowner, who paid for a new roof and reasonably can’t understand why it already needs to be replaced. By the time the problem shows, it’s usually too late for a repair.
Case Study: A 3-Year-Old Roof With No Way to Breathe
In Short Hills, a homeowner called us about a roof a general contractor had installed in 2021, as part of new additions to the house. We first inspected it in March 2024, three years after it went on.
What we found. The additions had been built with no soffit vents and no intake ventilation on the roof. An attic needs air coming in low, at the eaves, and leaving high, at the ridge. Without intake, warm, moist air from the house has nowhere to go. It condenses on the cold underside of the roof decking.
Inside the attic, the underside of the decking and the rafters were covered in white growth and dark staining, consistent with long-term moisture. Our humidity readings in the attic air were in the upper 60s percent, far too high for a healthy attic. This damage builds out of sight. Nothing on the outside of a 3-year-old roof warns you it’s happening.
Why it couldn’t be repaired. The problem wasn’t the shingles. It was how the roof system was designed. Fixing it meant tearing off the entire roof, removing the damaged decking, and rebuilding with ventilation designed in.
What we did. We replaced the full roof and decking, added intake ventilation, and installed baffles between the rafters to keep an open air channel from the eaves to the ridge.
The homeowner didn’t move quickly, and we understood why. He had already paid for a new roof once and been burned. We met with the family three times, in March, May and August, to walk through the findings, measure what ventilation the attic needed, and answer every question. The tear-off started November 4, 2024. That hesitation is the real cost of a bad first install. It isn’t only money. It’s trust in the next contractor.
What a Roofer Catches That a General Crew Often Misses
A roof is a system, not a layer of shingles. On roofs we’re called in to fix, these are the details we most often find skipped or done wrong:
- Ventilation. Intake at the eaves and exhaust at the ridge, balanced for the attic. It’s invisible from the street, so it’s the easiest thing to leave out.
- Underlayment and ice protection. The layers under the shingles that stop water the shingles don’t.
- Fastening. Nails in the right place, at the right depth, in the right number. Missed nails don’t leak on day one. They leak a few years later.
- Tie-ins on additions. Where a new roof meets an old one, or a new roof meets an existing wall. These intersections need flashing designed for them.
The architect problem. Architects design beautiful homes, but roof plans don’t always make sense once you’re on the roof. Some designs put extra strain on one section, create a valley that collects water, or leave no room for ventilation. A roofing company that has worked on thousands of homes since 1940 recognizes those problems before they’re built in, and can recommend changes while they’re still on paper.
The difference comes down to the goal. A general crew’s goal is often a roof that won’t leak in the first few years. A roofer’s goal is a roof that lasts as long as its materials are designed to.
The Warranty Question Nobody Asks
When homeowners compare quotes, they often hear about a 30-year, 50-year, or lifetime shingle warranty. That’s a materials warranty. It covers defects in the product.
In our experience, shingles rarely fail on their own. Installation fails: missed nails, missing underlayment, no ventilation. A materials warranty generally doesn’t cover installation mistakes. Poor installation can even put the materials warranty at risk.
So the question to ask isn’t “How long is the shingle warranty?” It’s:
- Who warranties the labor, and for how long?
- Is there a system warranty backed by the manufacturer that covers workmanship, and is the installer certified to offer it?
- Who is responsible if a problem shows up in year three?
On a general contractor’s project, the answer to that last question can get complicated, because the roof may have been installed by a subcontractor the GC no longer works with.
At Novalis: Every roof we install carries a 50-year labor warranty, matching the length of the materials warranty. If the manufacturer stands behind the shingles for 50 years, we stand behind the installation for 50 years. We’re an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor and a GAF Certified Plus Residential Roofing Contractor.
Already Working With a General Contractor?
You don’t have to choose between your GC and a good roof. There are two ways to protect yourself:
- Hire the roofer directly. Keep the roof in its own contract with a roofing company, and have your GC coordinate the schedule. You choose who installs it, and the warranty is between you and the roofer.
- Require a dedicated roofing company. If the roof stays in the GC’s contract, ask for the name of the roofing company before you sign. Make sure it’s a company that installs roofs every day, and check its reviews and manufacturer certifications yourself.
The exception is a general contractor who is also a roofer, with crews who install roofs every day. Ask, and verify.
Questions to Ask Whoever Installs Your Roof
Whether you hire a roofer or a general contractor, get clear answers to these before you sign:
- Who exactly will install the roof, and how often do they install roofs?
- How will the attic be ventilated? Where does air come in, and where does it leave?
- What underlayment and ice protection are included, and where?
- How will the new roof tie into the existing roof and walls?
- What happens if damaged decking is found after tear-off, and how is it priced?
- Who warranties the labor, for how long, and what does it cover?
- Will the manufacturer warranty be registered, and is the installer certified to offer an enhanced system warranty?
- Who manages the project day to day, and who do I call with a question?
A contractor who installs roofs every day can answer all eight without hesitating. If the answers are vague, that tells you something.
Get the Roof Right the First Time
The homeowners in these examples did nothing wrong. They trusted their contractor, and they had no way to see what was missing until it caused damage. The best protection is choosing a roofing company before the roof goes on.
Novalis Roofing & Siding has protected New Jersey homes since 1940, and we work in Chatham, Madison and Short Hills every day. Every project is managed by our in-house project managers, and we’ve earned a 4.9-star rating from more than 325 Google reviews.
Planning an addition, a rebuild, or a new roof? Call (973) 635-1165 or visit novalisroofingandsiding.com to schedule an assessment. If you’re already working with a general contractor, we’re glad to coordinate with them.
