Who actually owns the roof
In most places the first roofing question is what it will cost. In this county the first question is whether it is yours to replace at all, because for a great many homes here the answer is no.
- 1 The ridge. The highest, hottest course, and where a shared roof usually begins and ends.
- 2 The field. Tile or shingle above, and the underlayment that actually keeps water out below.
- 3 The valley. One channel carrying what two slopes shed, and where debris settles between rains.
- 4 Wall flashing. Where an addition or an enclosure meets the house, and where neither trade owns the seam.
- 5 Penetrations. Collars, curbs and skylights: holes cut on purpose, then sealed. They open first.
- 6 Eaves and metal. Drip edge and fasteners. Near the water they end the roof; twelve miles west they do not.
Two kinds of home, one kind of roof problem
Much of the housing built west of the interstate from the seventies onward was organised as villa, townhouse or condominium communities. In most of those, the roof is common property: the association owns it, contracts it, inspects it and pays for it from reserves. The person living underneath has an interest in it and a vote, but not a signature.
Single-family housing outside those communities works the ordinary way, and the two sit side by side on the same road. Two neighbours can face the same worn covering and have entirely different problems: one needs three quotes, the other needs a board meeting.
How to find out which you are
The declaration is the document that settles it. It defines what is common property and what is a limited common element, and roofs appear explicitly in almost every one. If you cannot lay hands on it, the management company can, and a one-line answer from them saves a week.
A second, faster signal: if you pay a monthly fee that funds reserves, some part of that reserve is almost certainly earmarked for roofing. Money set aside for a roof is money set aside by whoever owns it.
Why it matters before you ask for a price
Because a contractor cannot act on a request from someone who has no authority to accept it, and because the scope is different. Association work is priced across a whole building or phase, scheduled against reserve funding, and specified once for many units. An individual quote for one unit inside that system is meaningless.
If it turns out the roof is yours, everything on this site applies directly. If it is not, the useful next step is the board and the reserve study, and you have saved yourself the afternoons.