Home/Roof Replacement
FULL TEAR OFF REPLACEMENTRoof Replacement in Martinsburg, WV
Every layer comes off, the deck gets inspected in front of you, and the per sheet rate for bad wood is written on your estimate before anybody climbs a ladder. Our office is at 1886 Winchester Ave, Martinsburg, WV 25405, family owned since 2016, licensed in West Virginia and four other states. Berkeley County roofs are our home market, not a route we drive.
Leaking right now
Emergency response
We answer 24 hours. Tarped and stabilized before more gets inside.
Planning ahead
Free inspection
Written scope and photos so you know what the roof actually needs.
Request your free estimate
What is actually happening up there
Two very different roofs come off in Berkeley County, and pricing them the same way is how homeowners here get burned. Roughly three in ten homes inside Martinsburg city limits went up before 1939, sitting on board decking with gaps in it. Out in the county the typical house dates to the late 1990s or the 2000s building wave, which puts it at fifteen to twenty five years old right now. Here is what each one shows you first.
Granules piling up at the downspout
Those granules are the shingle’s sunscreen. Once the mat underneath is exposed it bakes, gets brittle, and stops sealing. Bald patches in the open field of a slope are an age signal, not a leak signal, and the roof will usually give you a season or two of warning before it starts letting water in. That warning is the cheapest time to plan.
Shingles curling, cupping, or lifting in rows
When tabs stop laying flat, the sealant strip has released and every one of those shingles is now a sail. One good Panhandle wind event peels a section off, and the repair bill is a fraction of what the interior damage costs once the deck is open to rain.
A single stain on a single ceiling
If the roof is under about ten years old, this is almost never the field. It is a cracked pipe boot collar, a step flashing, or a missing kickout. That is a repair, and we will tell you so on the phone rather than driving out to sell you something bigger. Start on the roof repair page before you read the rest of this one.
Water showing up at the eave every February
January here runs lows in the twenties against highs in the low forties, so your roof crosses the freezing line most days all winter. That is the ice dam engine. If the ice barrier at the eave was run short or skipped, melt refreezes at the overhang and backs water up under the shingles into the wall line.
Nail heads backing out and a ridge that waves
Fasteners working loose and a ridge line that reads uneven from the street both point at the deck rather than the covering. Nothing you lay on top fixes a deck that will not hold a nail, which is why we grade the sheathing in front of you instead of quoting around it.
Your whole street getting new roofs at once
Spring Mills, Falling Waters, Inwood, and Bunker Hill went up in the same few years with the same builder grade shingles, so they fail house after house on the same block. If three neighbors just replaced, you are not behind, you are on schedule. For how the rest of the house ties in, see the residential roofing overview.
What the job actually looks like, hour by hour
The permit, filed under our license
Berkeley County and the City of Martinsburg are separate authorities with separate portals. County work goes through Berkeley County Building Permits and Inspections at onestop.berkeleywv.org. Inside city limits it goes through Martinsburg Planning, Zoning and Building at mygovernmentonline.org. We pull whichever one your address needs and it files under our license, not yours. The county application has a dedicated Roofing row asking for the contractor’s license number, which is the county telling you in writing that it expects a licensed roofer on file.
The day before, we settle the ground
Dumpster placement gets decided in advance, not by whoever shows up first. Tell us where you park, whether you have a septic field or an irrigation line, and how much you care about the driveway. We can crib the dumpster on plywood or work out of a trailer if the drive will not take the weight.
Day one at 7 a.m., protection then tear off
Ground tarps go down over beds, shrubs, and the AC condenser before a single shingle moves. Then tear off, all layers, down to bare wood. We do not roof over an existing shingle roof. Two layers is the code ceiling anyway, and going over the top hides every single thing we are about to look at.
Mid morning, the deck gets graded in front of you
This is the one part of the day with a real unknown in it. Nobody quoting your roof can see under your shingles, including us, so the per sheet replacement rate is printed on your written estimate before work starts. Not quoted verbally on day one with your roof open and your leverage gone. If we pull three sheets you pay for three sheets at the number you already agreed to, and every sheet gets photographed with a tape measure in the shot.
Dry in, before the crew comes off the roof
Ice barrier, underlayment, drip edge, starter. Nothing sits open overnight, ever. If a cell builds over North Mountain in the afternoon, the roof gets dried in before anybody climbs down.
Final walk and the magnet, twice
We walk you around the house from the ground, show you photos of everything you could not see from there, and run a magnet over the driveway, the walks, the beds, and the grass line. Then we run it again before we pull off the property. Nails in tires is the most common complaint in this trade and it is completely preventable.
Every layer that goes back on, and why
The wood everything else depends on
What we grade against: 7/16 OSB or 15/32 CDX is the modern minimum, the deck should read under 19 percent moisture, and fasteners have to penetrate at least three quarters of an inch, which on 7/16 means you can see the points from the attic. On the older Martinsburg city stock we regularly find 1×6 or 1×8 plank, and a gap wider than half an inch will not hold a nail no matter what shingle goes over it. Skip sheathing under old shake gets new sheathing across the whole plane. There is no version of that job where we work around it.
Renailing the sheathing while it is open
Sheathing on a lot of 1990s and 2000s houses was fastened to whatever the standard was that year. Tear off is the only moment renailing the deck is cheap, and if the work is tied to a claim it is a legitimate ordinance and law line item on your roof insurance claim.
Self adhering membrane at the eave and everywhere else water stalls
IRC R905.1.2 runs it from the lowest roof edge to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line, measured horizontally, not 24 inches up the slope. On a shallow pitch with a deep overhang that is two or three courses of 36 inch membrane, not one. Ours also goes in valleys, at roof to wall, behind chimneys, and at every low slope tie in.
Metal at the eave and rake, in the right sequence
IRC R905.2.8.5, 2 inch flange, fastened 12 inches on center. The sequence matters more than the metal. It goes under the underlayment at the eave and over it at the rake. Reverse it at the eave and water running down the underlayment dumps behind your fascia instead of into the gutter. We find that backwards on Berkeley County roofs constantly, and the homeowner usually thinks the gutter is the problem. If yours needs attention too, that is gutter repair, not a roof issue.
The cheapest material on the roof and the highest consequence
The eave is the highest uplift zone on the building. Flipping a field shingle upside down to save a bundle puts the sealant at the top of the course instead of the leading edge, which means your first course has zero adhesion exactly where the wind gets under it. Purpose made starter, at eaves and rakes.
Shingles, step, counterflashing, and new pipe boots
Old pipe boots come off and get replaced with the roof. Nobody should be putting a fifteen year old collar back under new shingles. Which shingle goes on top, how many nails, and where they land is covered on the asphalt shingle page. If you are weighing a standing seam instead, that decision lives on the residential metal roofing page.
Exhaust sized against the intake you actually have
Ridge vent gets sized against real intake, not the intake the builder drew. If the soffit behind those perforated panels was never slotted, more exhaust will not fix anything and can pull conditioned air out of the house instead. We go through that math on the residential roofing hub.
Finished roofs around Martinsburg and the Eastern Panhandle
Why homeowners here hire us
A Martinsburg address, not a service area pin
1886 Winchester Ave, Martinsburg, WV 25405. We are in Berkeley County, so a warranty call is a drive across town rather than a drive across a state line.
Licensed in five states
Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Florida. West Virginia requires that license number on advertising and posted at the job site. Ask every roofer you talk to for theirs.
Family owned since 2016
Licensed, bonded, and insured. The scope is written before the ladder goes up, so you can set our estimate next to anyone else’s and compare it line for line.
Somebody answers the phone
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week, rated 4.9 stars from 50 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Before you commit to a full replacement
Roof Inspection
A free look at what you actually have, with photos of everything you cannot see from the ground.
Roof Repair
Pipe boots, step flashing, missing kickouts, and chimney counterflashing. Most leaks on a twelve year old roof are a repair, and we will say so.
Asphalt Shingle Roofing
3 tab versus architectural versus impact rated Class 4, nailing in the common bond area, and the wind ratings that actually mean something.
Residential Metal Roofing
Standing seam gauge and finish, thermal movement, snow retention, and an honest conversation about oil canning before you sign.
Residential Roofing
The wider picture of how everything on a house fits together, including the ventilation math.
Specialty Roofing
Historic Preservation Overlay District review, Certificates of Appropriateness, and the slate questions that come with them.
Storm Damage Roof Repair
Wind and hail damage documented with the storm date on it, from tarp to finished roof.
Roof Insurance Claims
Ordinance and law line items, a photo report you can hand your carrier, and meeting your adjuster on the roof.
Where we replace roofs
Do not see your town? We work the whole corridor, so ask or call (540) 550-9703.
Roof replacement questions we get in Martinsburg
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How long does a roof replacement take?
Most single family homes in Martinsburg and Berkeley County are a one day tear off and install. Steep pitches, complicated rooflines with a lot of valleys and dormers, and larger roofs run into a second day. Slate, tile, and cedar take longer because the tear off itself is slower and the decking underneath usually needs work. Whatever the length, the roof is dried in before the crew leaves each day. We never leave a deck open overnight.
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Do I need a permit to replace my roof in Martinsburg?
It depends on your scope and on which jurisdiction you are in, and the two are not the same. County work is filed with Berkeley County Building Permits and Inspections through its online portal at onestop.berkeleywv.org. Inside Martinsburg city limits it goes through the Planning, Zoning and Building Department at mygovernmentonline.org. Requirements shift with scope, so confirm with the county before work starts. We pull whatever permit your job needs as part of the work, and the Berkeley County permit application has a Roofing row that asks for the contractor’s license number, so make sure whoever you hire can fill it in.
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What happens if you find rotten wood under my shingles?
The per sheet replacement rate is written on your estimate before any work begins, so the price is set before anyone knows the number of sheets. We photograph every sheet we replace with a tape measure in the shot and show you the pictures. Nobody can see under your shingles from the ground, so any bid that promises the deck is sound is a guess. On homes built before 1939 we often find 1×6 or 1×8 plank decking, and gaps wider than half an inch will not hold a roofing nail.
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Can you just install new shingles over my old roof?
We do not, and you should be careful with anyone who offers. A roof over hides the decking, buries any soft or rotted sheathing, prevents proper ice barrier and drip edge installation at the eaves, and traps heat that shortens the life of the new shingles. Two layers is the code ceiling, so a second covering also means the next homeowner pays for a double tear off. The money saved is real and small. The problems it hides are neither.
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Do I need to be home while you replace my roof?
No. Plenty of our Berkeley County replacements happen while the homeowner is at work. We would like ten minutes with you beforehand to settle dumpster placement, parking, and anything in the yard that needs protecting, and we would like you there for the final walk if your schedule allows it. If it does not, you get the same photo report either way. Expect noise and vibration inside the house during tear off, and take anything fragile off the walls in the upstairs rooms.
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Are you going to try to sell me a whole roof when I only need a repair?
No. If your roof is under about ten years old and you have a leak, it is almost always a flashing or a penetration, not the field, and a repair is the right call. The number one age related leak we find on a twelve to twenty year old shingle roof is a cracked pipe boot collar, which is a short repair on a roof that still has a decade left in it. Some companies sell a whole replacement on that. We will tell you it is a boot and go fix the boot.
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Do you take a deposit before starting?
Payment terms are set out in writing in your contract before you sign anything. If your replacement is connected to an insurance claim, West Virginia Code 46A-6M gives you five business days to cancel after your insurer notifies you that all or part of the claim is not covered, and we take no advance payment until that period expires. Emergency repairs are the one exception, since stopping active water intrusion cannot wait. We also will not discount or absorb any portion of your deductible, because West Virginia law prohibits it.
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Where is Black Stone Roofing located?
Our office is at 1886 Winchester Ave, Martinsburg, WV 25405, and we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Berkeley County is our home market, so most replacements we run are a short drive from the shop rather than a trip in from somewhere else. We also serve Jefferson County, Washington County in Maryland, and the lower Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. You can reach us at (540) 550-9703 or Info@BlackStoneRoofing.org.
Get a written roof replacement estimate
A real scope you can compare line by line: ice barrier extent, drip edge, flashing replacement, ventilation, and the per sheet decking rate. No pressure, no expiring offer, no reason to decide today. Call (540) 550-9703 or email Info@BlackStoneRoofing.org and we will get on your roof.