Roof repair & replacement in Somerset County, NJ

Planned communities, townhouses and HOA approval

Bernards Township and Bedminster are home to large planned developments such as The Hills and, from the 1980s, Society Hill and Spring Ridge. Together they mix single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums. Communities like these usually have an association with rules on shingle color, style and contractors. In some associations the association replaces the roofs; in others each owner does. Check your association documents and its approval process before you sign for a roof. If the association is responsible, report a leak to the management company first, since a repair by an outside roofer may not be covered.

On a townhouse row, one unit’s roof is tied to its neighbors’ along the shared walls. We tie new shingles into the adjoining roofs cleanly, run the underlayment and flashing past the party line, and match the color the association has approved. If several owners on the same row want to replace at once, we can price the units together, which also avoids a patchwork of shingle ages along one roofline.

• Who is responsible for the roof: the association or the owner
• Which shingle brands, lines and colors the association has approved
• Whether the association needs a written estimate, a certificate of insurance or a contractor license number with the request
• Any rules on work hours, dumpster placement and parking in shared driveways

1980s to 2000s homes reaching the end of their shingles

With a median build year of 1981, much of Somerset was built in the decades of large colonials with steep, cut-up roofs: hips, valleys, dormers, skylights and walls rising above lower roofs. Asphalt shingles from that period commonly last 20 to 30 years, so many homes across the county, from Hillsborough to Bridgewater, are on their second roof or due for one. On these roofs the shingles in the middle of a slope can look fine while the valleys, the flashing along sidewalls and the shingles around skylights are already letting water in, which is why a leak on a roof that looks good from the street is common.

We tear off to the deck, replace damaged plywood, and install ice & water shield in every valley, along the eaves and around skylights and chimneys. Many homes of that age also have too little attic ventilation for the insulation added since, which cooks shingles from below. A replacement is the time to balance soffit intake with ridge exhaust. New Jersey building rules limit how many shingle layers a roof can carry, so we quote a full tear-off rather than a layover. A tear-off also shows us the condition of the plywood, which on a 40-year-old house is often soft along the eaves and under old leaks.

• Ice & water shield at the eaves, in valleys and around every roof penetration
• New step and counter flashing where roofs meet walls, not reused metal
• Ridge vent matched to enough soffit intake to keep the attic cool and dry
• New pipe boots and vents rather than old ones reset in new shingles

Raritan storms and wind-driven rain

The Raritan River at Manville floods at 14 feet, according to the National Weather Service. Hurricane Floyd pushed it to 27.1 feet in September 1999 and Hurricane Irene to 26.24 feet in August 2011. In September 2021 the remnants of Hurricane Ida went higher still: the U.S. Geological Survey reports that the provisional peak at its Manville gage passed the Floyd record. In Bound Brook, the Army Corps of Engineers has finished the levees and floodwalls that protect the borough from the Raritan, Middle Brook and Green Brook, while work elsewhere in the Green Brook basin continues.

Storms like these also drive hours of heavy rain sideways into a roof. They expose lifted shingles, cracked pipe boots, loose flashing at walls and chimneys, and gutters that overflow behind the fascia. On older shingles the seal strips that hold each tab down weaken with age, so strong wind can lift and crease tabs that never lie flat again; those shingles need to be replaced, not just tacked down. After a big storm, check ceilings and the attic for new stains, look for shingles or tabs in the yard, and make sure downspouts are carrying water away from the foundation. On big roofs a few downspouts can carry a lot of water, so we check gutter size along with the roof. We repair the roof, flashing and gutters; damage from rising floodwater is a matter for your flood insurer and a restoration company.

Flat roofs, older town centers and scheduling

Older downtowns such as Somerville and Bound Brook have porches, storefronts and mixed-use buildings with flat or low-slope roofs. We install and repair EPDM, TPO and torch-down on those roofs and on stores, offices and small commercial buildings, and we tie low-slope sections on houses into the shingle roof above.

Our office is in Elmwood Park, about 35 miles from Somerville in a straight line, so Somerset work is scheduled in advance. We look at the roof, give you a written estimate and set a start date. Tear-offs need dry weather, so we watch the forecast and move the date rather than open a roof ahead of rain. We tarp landscaping and run a magnet sweep for nails before we leave. Each town’s construction office decides what needs a permit; when your job needs one, we file it and schedule the inspection.