Hear from Our Customers
When a roof is properly replaced or repaired, the most immediate thing you notice isn’t the roof at all — it’s the absence of worry. No more watching the ceiling after a hard rain. No more wondering if that soft spot near the eave is getting worse. That mental weight lifts fast.
For Woodside homeowners specifically, there’s a financial dimension that’s hard to ignore. Median home values here have climbed from around $95,500 in 2000 to over $344,000 today. That’s a quarter-million dollars in equity growth sitting under one roof — literally. A compromised roof doesn’t just mean a repair bill. It means water intrusion, mold, structural rot, and the kind of damage that shows up on a home inspection and shaves thousands off what you’d otherwise walk away with.
The housing stock in Woodside — mid-century Craftsman bungalows, Cape Cods, Foursquares, ranch-style homes — is aging. Many of these roofs are at or past the 20 to 30-year mark for standard asphalt shingles. Getting ahead of that isn’t an upsell. It’s just math. A free inspection from a contractor who actually knows Kent County’s weather patterns gives you a clear picture of where things stand, without any pressure attached.
First State Roofing & Exteriors Co. is a family-owned roofing and exteriors contractor based in Smyrna — roughly 15 to 20 miles from Woodside — with over 22 years of hands-on experience serving Kent County homeowners. Richard McCain, our owner and president, isn’t a figurehead. His name is on the work, and that accountability shows up in how we operate.
Every project is handled in-house. No subcontracting, no crews assembled from a staffing list for a single job. The team that walks your Woodside property for the estimate is the team doing the work. In a community this close-knit, a contractor’s reputation travels fast. Our 5.0-star rating across 63 verified reviews reflects what happens when we do the same thing right, over and over, for more than two decades.
We’re licensed through the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, fully insured, and BBB accredited. For Woodside homeowners who want to verify before hiring, those credentials are all checkable — no guesswork required.
It starts with a free inspection. A member of our in-house team comes out, walks the roof, documents what we find — including photos — and gives you an honest assessment. If your roof is fine for another few years, we’ll tell you that. If there’s damage that warrants repair or replacement, you’ll get a clear explanation of what’s going on and why, not a sales pitch dressed up as a diagnosis.
From there, you receive a written estimate with the full scope of work spelled out. Materials are specified. Timeline is set. Nothing is vague. For Woodside homeowners dealing with storm damage — and Kent County’s open farmland terrain means wind events hit hard and fast — we work directly with your insurance provider to help document the damage and navigate the claims process. That step alone removes a significant amount of stress from what’s already a disruptive situation.
Once the job starts, our crew works efficiently and cleans up completely before we leave. Nails in the driveway, debris in the yard — these are the things that show up in bad contractor reviews. We take cleanup as seriously as the installation. When the job is done, you’ll have documentation of the work, warranty information in hand, and a point of contact if anything comes up down the road.
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We handle more than just the roof. For older homes in the Woodside area — where a deferred roof often comes with companion problems like failing gutters directing water against the fascia or siding that’s absorbed years of moisture from a compromised roof edge — that matters. We cover roofing, siding, gutters, windows, and skylights under one contractor. One call, one point of accountability, no finger-pointing between separate crews.
On the roofing side, our services span residential roof replacement, roof repair, emergency roof repair available 24 hours a day, roof inspections, and ongoing maintenance. For the commercial properties and agricultural outbuildings throughout the 19980 ZIP area, we also handle EPDM and TPO commercial roofing — not just residential work. Material options include asphalt shingles, metal roofing, slate, rubber roofing, and more, with recommendations tailored to what actually performs in Kent County’s climate: the humidity that drives algae growth, the freeze-thaw cycles that crack shingles and weaken seals, and the wind events that this area’s open farmland does nothing to soften.
Financing is available for homeowners who need it, and free estimates are standard — no commitment required to find out exactly where your roof stands.
The honest answer is that it depends on the age of your roof, the extent of the damage, and what’s happening underneath the surface. A shingle that’s cracked or missing can sometimes be repaired without replacing the whole roof — but if the underlying decking has absorbed water, or if the roof is already 20 to 25 years old, a repair often just delays the inevitable and costs you more in the long run.
For the mid-century housing stock common in Woodside — Cape Cods, ranch homes, Foursquares built across the mid-to-late 1900s — many roofs are at or past the expected lifespan for standard asphalt shingles. A free inspection from a licensed contractor gives you a documented, photo-backed assessment of what’s actually going on, so you’re making the decision based on real information rather than guessing. We’ll tell you honestly whether a repair makes sense or whether replacement is the smarter call, without steering you toward the more expensive option if it isn’t warranted.
In most cases, yes — if the damage was caused by a covered event like wind, hail, or a storm, your homeowner’s insurance policy should cover roof repair or replacement, minus your deductible. The complication is in the documentation and claims process, which is where a lot of homeowners run into trouble.
Kent County sees real weather. The area around Woodside sits in open farmland with minimal windbreaks, which means wind events translate directly into shingle lift, torn flashing, and exposed decking. There’s documented tornado history in this corridor — an F2 struck just 3.6 miles from Woodside in 1967, and an F3 hit 22 miles away as recently as April 2023. When damage happens, the insurance company sends an adjuster, and what gets documented in that inspection largely determines what gets covered. We work directly with homeowners’ insurance providers, helping make sure the damage is properly documented before that adjuster visit. That step makes a real difference in the outcome of the claim.
For a standard single-family home, a full roof replacement typically takes one day, sometimes two if the home is larger or if there’s significant decking repair needed once the old material is removed. Weather is the main variable — and in Kent County, that means keeping an eye on the forecast, particularly during spring severe weather season and fall nor’easter season when conditions can shift quickly.
We set a clear timeline before work begins and stick to it. You’ll know what day our crew is coming, how long the job is expected to take, and what happens if weather causes a delay. For Woodside homeowners dealing with an active leak or visible damage, the priority is getting a temporary protective measure in place quickly while the full replacement is scheduled — our emergency response capability means you’re not left waiting with an open roof while paperwork gets sorted.
Asphalt shingles are the most common choice in Delaware, and for good reason — they’re cost-effective, widely available, and perform well across a range of conditions. But not all asphalt shingles are equal, and in Kent County’s climate, the specific product matters. Delaware’s humidity creates ideal conditions for algae growth, specifically Gloeocapsa magma, which shows up as dark streaking on north-facing and shaded roof surfaces. Algae-resistant shingles — which contain copper granules that inhibit growth — are strongly recommended for this region and are a meaningful upgrade over standard options.
Freeze-thaw cycles are also a factor here. Water gets into micro-cracks in shingles, freezes, expands, and widens those cracks over successive winters. Architectural (laminate) shingles hold up better under this kind of stress than standard 3-tab shingles. For homeowners in the Woodside area who want something longer-lasting, metal roofing is worth considering — it can last up to 50 years and handles both wind and freeze-thaw cycles significantly better than asphalt. We’ll walk you through the options that make sense for your specific home and budget.
After any significant storm in Kent County, out-of-town contractors show up fast — going door to door, offering quick inspections, pressuring homeowners to sign contracts on the spot. It’s a well-documented pattern, and the results are equally predictable: substandard materials, skipped permits, shoddy workmanship, and a company that’s unreachable six months later when problems emerge.
The simplest protection is verifying credentials before anyone gets on your roof. Ask for proof of Delaware licensing — you can check the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation directly. Ask for a certificate of general liability and workers’ compensation insurance. A legitimate contractor hands these over without hesitation. An unlicensed storm chaser either can’t produce them or produces documents that don’t hold up to a quick check. First State Roofing & Exteriors Co. has been operating in Kent County for over 22 years — we were here before the last storm and will be here after the next one. That kind of continuity is something a contractor who drove in from out of state last week simply cannot offer.
Yes, we offer financing. A full roof replacement in Delaware can range from roughly $9,500 on the lower end to $30,000 or more depending on the size of the home, the materials selected, and the scope of work involved. For a Woodside homeowner with a median household income in the $73,000 to $79,000 range, that’s a real expenditure — one that can strain cash flow even when you have significant equity in the home.
Financing means you don’t have to choose between protecting a $344,000 asset and keeping your savings intact. It also means you don’t have to delay a necessary replacement until a small problem becomes a much larger one. We offer competitive financing options that make it possible to move forward on the timeline that’s right for your roof — not just the timeline your bank account allows. The free estimate is always the starting point, so you know exactly what you’re working with before any financing conversation begins.
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