Roof repair & replacement in Essex County, NJ

Prewar homes: board decks, old layers and slate

Nearly one Essex home in three is more than 85 years old. Houses from that era were sheathed with boards rather than plywood, and many have been re-roofed two or three times. When we replace one of these roofs we tear off to the boards, check every course, and replace or overlay sections that are split, rotted or too gapped to hold nails. We price that work up front so it does not show up as a surprise halfway through the job. Chimneys get the same attention: on a prewar house the original flashing is often buried under layers of roofing cement, and we replace it with new step and counter flashing instead of adding more cement.

Some older Essex neighbourhoods still have slate, copper valleys and decorative trim. Llewellyn Park in West Orange is a National Register historic district with Colonial Revival, Late Victorian and Tudor Revival houses, and Montclair has four local historic districts: Pine Street, Town Center, Upper Montclair Business and Watchung Plaza. On homes like these, a sound slate roof usually needs repair rather than replacement: we swap broken slates, replace failed copper flashing and rebuild valleys by hand. Copper that has turned green is usually fine; copper with pinholes, splits or soldered patches is near the end. Where a slate roof really is worn out, we talk through the options, a new slate roof or a quality shingle, and what each means for the look of the house and the cost.

Two-family homes, attached houses and landlords

Only 34% of Essex County homes are single-family detached houses. The rest are attached homes, two-family houses and apartment buildings, and fewer than half of all homes (45%) are lived in by their owners. That changes how a roof job runs. Owners who rent out units want a fixed scope and price they can plan around, and tenants want to know when the noise starts and stops.

When a house shares a roof line with the one next door, we tie the new roof into the neighbour’s at the dividing line and seal that seam carefully, since that joint is a common leak point. For landlords we write one estimate for the whole building, plan attic and top-floor access with the tenants in advance, and keep shared entries and stairs clear while the crew works. If the neighbour’s side is in poor shape, we tell you before we start, because water coming in through their roof can still end up in your wall. Where a top-floor unit has had leaks before, we check the ceiling side too, so the tenants know the source has been found.

Flat roofs on attached and mixed-use buildings

Attached homes and buildings with stores on the ground floor and apartments above often have flat or low-slope roofs. Most leaks on these roofs start at the edges: parapet walls and their coping, flashing at chimneys, hatches and rooftop units, and the drains or scuppers. A patch over the middle of the membrane does not fix a leak that starts at the wall. On a row of attached buildings, water can also travel along the shared wall into the next building, so the stain inside is not always under the problem outside.

We replace tired flat roofs with EPDM, TPO or torch-down, rebuild the parapet flashing and coping, and make sure water reaches a drain instead of ponding, adding tapered insulation or crickets where the roof does not slope toward an outlet. Heavy rain is a real test here: the remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021 led to Essex County being added to the federal major disaster declaration for New Jersey. A blocked drain or a low spot in the membrane turns a storm like that into a ceiling leak.

• Open seams where the membrane turns up the parapet wall
• Loose or cracked coping on top of the wall
• Worn flashing at chimneys, roof hatches and skylights
• Failed curbs and flashing under rooftop units
• Clogged drains, scuppers and leader heads
• Low spots where water sits for days after rain

Planning the job, and permits

Houses sit close together in much of the county and driveways are short or shared. Before the job we plan where the dumpster or trailer goes, cover the house, the landscaping and the neighbour’s side with tarps, and run a magnet sweep for nails before we leave each day. On attached homes, materials often have to come down at the front of the house, so we set up chutes and protection to keep the sidewalk and stoop clear and safe.

Our crew is based in Elmwood Park, about 13 miles in a straight line from Newark. Each Essex County town has its own construction office, and it decides what needs a permit. When your job needs one, we file it and schedule the inspection. For an active leak, call (201) 397-0232 at any hour: we stop the water first and schedule the permanent repair after.