DeSouza Roofing is run by the person whose name is on it. Thiago DeSouza has spent ten years on roofs across Boston and the towns north of it, and the company is built around one idea: you should get the recommendation your roof actually needs, not the one that pays the contractor best.
Every roofing company says that. What matters is whether the business is built so it can afford to be true.
Ten years on New England roofs
Ten years is not long in a trade with third-generation companies in it. It is, though, ten New England winters — snow load, a January thaw that refreezes at the eaves, nor’easter wind, and a freeze-thaw cycle that works every flashing seam like a slow crowbar.
What a decade of it teaches is mostly unglamorous. That the stain on a bedroom ceiling is almost never under the leak. That most “roof leaks” are flashing, pipe boots or ventilation. That an ice dam is a heat problem before it is a roof problem. And what a roof looks like at year eight, fifteen and twenty-two — which is what you are paying for when someone climbs up to tell you to repair or replace.
Why we do repair as well as replacement
Most homeowners’ biggest fear is not the price of a roof. It is being sold a $22,000 replacement when a $700 flashing repair would have fixed it, and having no way to tell the difference from the ground. That fear is earned, and it has a structural cause: a company that only sells full replacements has one thing to sell you, and every diagnosis it makes runs through that filter whether anyone intends it to or not.
We do roof repair, roof replacement and siding. A repair is a real job here — priced as a repair, not as a deposit on a replacement we plan to talk you into later. That is why both live under one name: it makes “your roof has good years left” a sentence we can afford to say, in writing.
If it can wait, we will tell you it can wait. If it cannot, we will tell you that too, and put a written number on it before any work starts. Either way the look is free.
What “owner-involved” actually means
Every contractor uses the phrase, so here is the concrete version. The number on this site is answered by the person who will be on your roof. No dispatcher, no call center, no lead-gen brand selling your address on. Thiago walks the property, gets in the attic, checks the ventilation and flashing, and writes the estimate himself.
The payoff shows up when something goes sideways. If the decking under the old roof is worse than the attic suggested, you do not get a change order buried in the final invoice — you get a call the same hour, with a price, before anything is replaced. One decision-maker, and you have his number.
Why there are no badges on this site
You know the row: manufacturer logos, a BBB seal, an award ribbon, “4.9 stars from 300+ reviews,” a rotating quote from “Sarah M. in Medford.”
There are none of those here, and it is deliberate: we would have had to invent them. A company willing to fabricate a trust signal on its own homepage is not one you want quoting a number you cannot check from the driveway. So judge us on something you can actually test in a ten-minute phone call.
| Instead of this signal | Test this — on us, and on everyone else you call |
|---|---|
| A wall of certification logos | Ask what goes under the shingles. If the answer skips ice & water shield, drip edge, flashing and ventilation, no badge covers that. |
| Star ratings and review counts | Ask what happens if they open the roof and find rot. A straight answer beats a number out of five. |
| “Free inspection” as a hook | Ask whether they will put “this roof does not need replacing yet” in writing. Some companies structurally cannot. |
| A single headline price | Ask what moves it. Real cost is a range with the drivers named; anyone quoting firm before seeing the roof is guessing. |
Run that list on us, then on the next two companies you call. It is worth more than any badge row — which is why we would rather you did it.
What you can expect from us
- A look at the actual roof — on it and in the attic — before any number is quoted.
- A written specification, layer by layer, so you can compare estimates line for line.
- An honest repair-or-replace answer, including the one where you keep the roof.
- Free estimates, no pressure to sign, no expiring discount.
- The same phone number from first call to cleanup, and no surprises on install day.
Questions people ask before they call
Who will actually be on my roof?
Thiago and the crew he works with. You are not handed off to whichever subcontractor is free that week, and the person who wrote your estimate is on site while the work is done.
Are you insured?
Yes, and we will provide a current certificate of insurance on request. Ask that of every contractor who quotes you, and ask for the certificate itself rather than a verbal “we’re all set.” A legitimate contractor will not mind the question — and you should not have to take anyone’s word for it, including ours.
Do you charge for the estimate or the inspection?
No, and it stays free whichever way the answer goes. We would rather you called us in eight years than paid us this month.
Will you really tell me if I don’t need a new roof?
Yes, in writing. It happens regularly — a ceiling stain that turns out to be a failed pipe boot, or step flashing that pulled away from the chimney. We fix it, and we leave.
Do you only do roofs?
Roofing is the core of it, and we also do vinyl and fiber cement siding. Siding that fails early is usually getting wet from above — the roof edge, the flashing or a gutter line.
Where we work
Boston and the corridor north of it: Somerville, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, Woburn, Wakefield, Burlington and Wilmington. A deliberately tight area — staying close is how one owner stays on every job.
Call (617) 721-1814 and describe what the roof is doing, or put it in writing. Straight answer either way.