Roof repair & replacement in Hunterdon County, NJ

1980s to 2000s homes on their first or second roof

With a median build year of 1981, a large share of Hunterdon homes went up in the decades when colonials and contemporaries got bigger and their roofs got more complicated: several ridges, intersecting gables, dormers, and valleys that collect water from two roof planes at once. Asphalt shingles from that era commonly last 20 to 30 years, so many of these houses are on their second roof or due for one. The first places to fail are usually the valleys, the step flashing where a roof meets a second-story wall, and the shingles around skylights.

On a replacement we tear off to the deck, replace soft or delaminated plywood, and run ice & water shield in every valley, along the eaves and around skylights and chimneys. We replace step and counter flashing instead of reusing it, and we look hard at skylights: one that is as old as the roof is usually better replaced while the roof is open than leaked around for another ten years. On a roof with many planes, a leak can show up far from where the water gets in, so on repairs we trace the path from the stain back to the source before we quote.

• Valleys: worn or cracked shingles where two roof planes meet
• Step and counter flashing where a lower roof meets a sidewall
• Skylight curbs and flashing, and the age of the skylight itself
• Pipe boots and vents, which often crack long before the shingles
• Attic ventilation: whether soffit intake and ridge exhaust are balanced

Historic river towns: Lambertville and Frenchtown

Along the Delaware, whole neighborhoods are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lambertville Historic District is recognized for Federal and Late Victorian buildings dating from the early 1800s into the 1920s, and the Frenchtown Historic District, between the river and Nishisakawick Creek, includes Federal, Greek Revival and Italianate buildings. Homes of that age often have board sheathing, more than one old roof layer, slate or metal on porches and bays, and brick chimneys with worn flashing. A wide chimney needs a cricket on its uphill side, a small peaked section that splits the water around it; many older chimneys never had one, and a replacement is the time to add it.

On these houses we start with an inspection from the roof, not the driveway. Where slate is sound we repair it with matching slate and copper or lead-coated flashing rather than replacing the whole roof. Where shingles are the right choice, we pick a color and profile that suit the house. Board sheathing with wide gaps gets a plywood overlay or replacement so the new nails hold, and built-in gutters hidden in the cornice are opened up and checked, because a rusted gutter liner can leak into the wall long before anyone sees a stain inside.

Heavy rain and the Delaware

The Delaware River at Frenchtown floods at 16 feet, according to the National Weather Service. Three of its ten highest crests came within two years: 20.7 feet in September 2004 from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan, 23.6 feet in April 2005, and 22.9 feet in June 2006. The record is 27.79 feet from Hurricane Diane in 1955. Storms big enough to raise the river bring long periods of heavy rain to every roof in the county, not just the ones near the water.

That kind of rain finds weak flashing, cracked pipe boots, clogged or undersized gutters, and old built-in gutters that have rusted through. After a big storm, look for fresh stains on ceilings, damp attic sheathing, or water running behind the gutters. Large roofs shed a lot of water into a few downspouts, so on bigger Hunterdon homes we often recommend larger gutters and downspouts when we replace the roof. We repair roofs and gutters; flood damage from rising water is a separate matter for your insurer and a restoration company.

Large lots, long drives, scheduled work

Hunterdon is one of the farther counties we cover: about 48 miles in a straight line from our Elmwood Park office to Flemington. We plan Hunterdon jobs ahead so the materials for the whole job are on site when the crew starts, and because a tear-off needs dry weather, we move a start date rather than open a roof ahead of rain. Large lots help with staging the dumpster and materials, but long driveways, septic fields and soft lawns mean we agree with you on where the trucks and dumpster go before the day starts.

Each town has its own construction office, and the office decides what needs a permit. When your job needs one, we file it and schedule the inspection. For low-slope roofs on additions, porches and outbuildings, we can install a membrane like EPDM instead of shingles that are not made for low slopes.

• A free written estimate that lists tear-off, decking, flashing and ventilation
• A scheduled start date, with materials delivered for the whole job
• Tarps over landscaping, a clean deck before anything new goes down
• A magnet sweep for nails across the lawn and driveway before we leave