Guides
Before you book roofing work
Most of the money wasted in this trade goes on the wrong scope. A full replacement where a forty-dollar stack boot would have done it. Or a fourth repair on a roof with three leaks and two years left. These are written so you can work out which one you are looking at before anybody quotes you.
- Roof replacement cost Measured 2026 Ontario pricing, why the same house needs a different roof in Stratford than in Chatham, and the five things that actually move the number. What it costs Updated Aug 2026
- Storm damage claims Photograph it, then tarp it, then claim, in that order. What an adjuster is looking for after a storm, and why a tarp before photographs costs you the claim. Something is wrong Updated Aug 2026
- Why ice dams form Snow melts on the warm part of the roof and refreezes at the cold overhang. Find where the heat is getting in, or you are buying one thaw at a time. Something is wrong Updated Aug 2026
- How long a roof lasts A warranty term is not a service life. What actually ends an asphalt roof, and why the same shingle lasts differently at the two ends of this corridor. Deciding Updated Aug 2026
- Roof permits Like for like shingles are usually exempt. Touching the deck, the structure or the material is usually not. Twelve municipalities, twelve answers. Something is wrong Updated Aug 2026
- Roofing over old shingles An overlay is legal on one flat layer over a sound deck, and it hides the one thing worth seeing. What the manufacturer requires, and what it costs you. Deciding Updated Aug 2026
- Spotting a roof leak Check the attic in the rain, read the timing, and look at the roof from the ground. How to tell a real roof leak from attic condensation. Something is wrong Updated Sep 2026
- Roof replacement in Goderich A Goderich roof has to be specified for lake-effect snow and for Lake Huron wind at once, and inside the three heritage districts the Town has a say too. Deciding Updated Sep 2026
- Roof inspection cost Free, flat-fee or inside a home inspection. What each kind of Ontario roof inspection costs, what it leaves out, and which one an insurer or buyer needs. What it costs Updated Sep 2026
- Emergency tarp cost Published Ontario prices for an emergency roof tarp, why the bill follows the area covered, not the hole, and how a home policy pays it back. What it costs Updated Oct 2026
- Repair or replace Repair or replace is decided by the cause, the deck and how many unrelated failures the roof has, not by its age. How to make the call in this corridor. Deciding Updated Oct 2026
Talk to a Woodstock roofing contractor
Three things get us most of the way there: which town you are in, roughly when the roof was last done, and what you are actually seeing — a stain on a ceiling, granules in the eavestrough, shingles on the lawn on Sunday morning. That is usually enough to tell you whether this is a repair, a claim, or a roof that has quietly reached the end, without anybody driving anywhere.