Why Maplewood is differentWhy does a Maplewood re-roof depend on photos taken during the tear-off?
Because the City of Maplewood approves residential re-roofs partly from photos. After the $146 flat-fee permit is issued, the contractor uploads photos of the underlayment and flashing to the city's drop box, the city reviews them, and only then is the job added to the list for one in-person final inspection. The layers that end up hidden under the shingles are part of the permit record.
That matters in a city where most homes are now on their second or third roof. Maplewood's post-war housing boom started with developments around Wakefield Lake, and Census estimates put the median Maplewood home at around 1980, with roughly three in ten homes built between 1940 and 1969. On houses that age we expect patched decking, old layers and tired flashing, and we photograph the deck, ice-and-water barrier, underlayment, flashing and ridge venting as each goes down, not just the finished roof.
Winter adds a Maplewood-specific wrinkle: the city states that roof inspections cannot be done if the roof is snow covered. On our January 2024 tear-off off Crestview Drive (pictured), crews stripped and dried in the roof between snowfalls. On a job like that the upload photos are finished the day of the tear-off, while the in-person final may have to wait for clear weather.
Commercial roofs follow a different track. Maplewood sends commercial roofing and siding through plan review with a site overview map, materials list and product specs, and it requires a city license for all commercial work, so a strip-center or office roof needs more lead time than a house.
