HomeRoofing in NYC – From the Contractor That Also Does Your Solar
Most solar companies are not roofers, and most roofers do not install solar. That gap is where homeowners lose money. A solar company that cannot assess a roof will happily mount a twenty-five year array on a membrane with six years left in it. A roofer with no solar experience will quote you a tear-off without mentioning that the panels have to come off and go back on, and that someone has to be liable for the electrical work. We take on both under one contract – the roofing carried out by the roofing company we work with, the solar and electrical by our own team – which means one schedule and one company answerable to you if it leaks.
Get a Free Roofing Estimate – (718) 962-7699
The order matters more than anything else
This is the single most valuable thing on this page, and we give the same answer even when it costs us the solar job this month.
If your roof has under roughly ten years of life left, replace it before the solar goes on. A modern array is a twenty-five year asset. Putting one on a roof that fails in year six means paying to remove the system, redo the roof, and reinstall – a cost that comfortably exceeds what the roof would have cost you in the first place, and one you will be paying in the middle of a leak.
The awkward part is that a solar company with no roofing arm has every incentive not to raise this. They cannot do the roof, so mentioning it only delays their sale. We would rather do your roof this year and your solar next year than do both badly at once.
How the work is structured
Worth being straightforward about, because it is not how every contractor is set up. You contract with Solar Pro for the whole project. The solar design, the electrical work, the permits and the Landmarks filings are done by our own team. The roofing itself is carried out by the roofing company we work with, under our contract and our management. One agreement, one schedule, and one company answerable to you for the result – including if there is ever a leak.
What we actually do
- Full roof replacement – flat, low-slope and pitched
- Flat and low-slope membrane work – the standard on brownstones, row houses and most attached NYC housing, including work at parapets and around bulkheads, skylights and rear extensions
- Pitched and shingle roofs – the detached and semi-detached housing across Staten Island, the Bronx and eastern Queens
- Roof repair and leak diagnosis, including on roofs where someone else’s solar array is already installed
- Detach and reset – removing and reinstalling an existing solar system so the roof underneath can be replaced properly
- Roof work coordinated with a new solar installation, sequenced so nothing is done twice
If you already have solar and the roof needs work
This is a common and genuinely awkward situation, particularly if the company that installed your system is no longer trading. A roofer who has not worked around solar will often decline the job or subcontract the panel removal to someone with no responsibility for the finished roof.
We manage the whole thing: panels off, roof replaced, panels back on, system recommissioned and confirmed producing. It does not matter who installed the array originally. See panel removal and reinstallation and what detach and reset costs in New York for how that work is priced and sequenced. If your original installer has closed, we also take on orphaned systems.
NYC roofs are not generic
What your roof needs depends heavily on what kind of building you own, and the city contains several very different ones:
- Brownstone and row-house flat roofs – a membrane behind a front parapet, usually resurfaced several times over a century. Parapet and coping detailing is where these fail, more often than the field of the roof.
- Attached brick with shared parapets – common across Canarsie, Ridgewood and much of Queens. Your roof meets your neighbour’s, so drainage and flashing at the boundary matter and the work has to respect both properties.
- Pitched asphalt shingle – detached and semi-detached housing. Straightforward, but flashing at valleys, chimneys and dormers is what separates a roof that lasts from one that does not.
- Slate and historic roofs – the Victorians in Fiske Terrace, Ditmas Park and parts of Staten Island. Slate is brittle, hard to match, and unforgiving of anyone who has not handled it before.
Landmarked buildings: roofing needs approval too
Worth knowing before you plan the work. If your building is in a historic district, roof work can require Landmarks Preservation Commission approval in its own right – not just the solar. Anything visible from the street, and anything affecting a cornice, slate, or original roof material, is within the Commission’s scope.
We file Landmarks applications in-house for both the roofing and the solar, which is a practical advantage over running two contractors through two separate approvals. If you are in Park Slope, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Ridgewood, Midwood or any other designated district, tell us your address and we will confirm what applies before work is scheduled.
Licensed for the work
Roofing in New York City is licensed work, and you should check anyone you hire. Our credentials are public record:
- NYC DCWP Home Improvement Contractor licence #2112475-DCA
- NYC Department of Buildings General Contractor #625000
- Licensed and insured, NABCEP-certified on the solar side, BBB A+ accredited
- 5.0-star rated with 95 verified Google reviews
You can verify a Home Improvement Contractor licence yourself through NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Anyone doing residential roofing in the city without one is a problem waiting to happen – for your insurance as much as your roof.
Why one contractor for both
- Nobody to blame. When a roofer and a solar company both worked on a roof that now leaks, the homeowner is the one holding the dispute. One contractor removes that entirely.
- Correct sequencing. Roof first, array second, or detach and reset in one coordinated visit rather than two mobilisations weeks apart.
- Honest advice about timing. We will tell you if the roof can wait, and we will tell you if it cannot.
- The array comes off and goes back on by the people who understand it – including the electrical recommissioning.
Book a Free Roof Assessment – (718) 962-7699
Roofing questions
Do I need a new roof before solar?
If it has under about ten years left, yes. We will assess it and tell you honestly – including when the answer is that your roof is fine and you should just do the solar.
Can you replace a roof that already has solar on it?
Yes, including systems we did not install. We remove the array, replace the roof, reinstall and recommission.
Do you do roofing without solar?
Yes. You are not obliged to buy a solar system to have us do your roof.
My building is landmarked. Does that affect roof work?
It can. Roof work on a designated building may need Landmarks approval independently of any solar. We handle that filing.
How much does a roof cost?
It depends on size, roof type, access, and what is found once the old surface comes off – so we will not put a number on a web page. We will give you a firm written figure after seeing the roof.
Get a free roof assessment
We will look at the roof, tell you honestly how much life it has left, and give you a written figure. If you are also considering solar we will tell you which order to do the work in – and if the answer is that your roof is fine and you should go straight to panels, that is what we will say.
Request a free roof assessment – or call (718) 962-7699.
Planning solar as well? See whether a prepaid lease or buying outright works out better, and the areas we cover.