Roof repair & replacement in Union County, NJ

Mid-century Cape Cods and colonials

With 33% of homes built between 1940 and 1959, much of Union County’s housing comes from the era of the Cape Cod and the center-hall colonial. Capes in particular have half-story bedrooms under the roof, with knee walls, dormers and very little attic space. That design traps heat in summer and lets warm air reach the underside of the roof in winter, which melts snow and feeds ice dams at the eaves. Ranches and split-levels from the same years bring their own problem: long, shallow roof sections over porches and attached garages where shingles were never the right material.

When we replace a roof on one of these homes we check the dormer cheeks and step flashing, which are a common leak point, and we fix the ventilation: soffit intake where the eaves allow it, baffles so insulation does not block the air path, and a ridge vent at the top. Ice & water shield goes along every eave and in every valley. We also check the short roof sections over dormers, where the slope is low and shingles wear faster. A new roof on a Cape that still cannot breathe will age faster than it should. Bathroom and kitchen fans that vent into the attic instead of out through the roof are common on homes this age, and we reroute them through a proper roof vent so the moisture leaves the house.

Two-family homes and shared roofs

About half of Union County homes (51%) are single-family detached houses. The other half are attached homes, two-family houses and apartment buildings, and 57% of all homes are owner-occupied. Many owners live in one unit and rent the other, so the roof has to be done with two households in the building. A two-family roof is also usually more cut up than a single house of the same width, with more vents, two chimneys or flues, and porches front and back.

We give one written estimate for the whole roof, plan attic and top-floor access with tenants ahead of time, and protect shared porches and entries during the work. On attached homes we tie the new roof into the neighbour’s at the dividing line and seal the joint, and on two-families we look closely at the rear: low-slope porch roofs and back additions often need a rubber membrane instead of shingles. On those porch roofs we pay most attention to where the membrane meets the house wall, since that joint, not the middle of the roof, is where most porch leaks start.

Plainfield’s historic districts and older homes

The 23% of Union County homes built before 1940 include whole historic neighbourhoods. The City of Plainfield lists ten historic districts, among them Crescent Area, Van Wyck Brooks, Netherwood Heights and Putnam-Watchung, and seven of the ten are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Prewar homes often have slate, copper flashing, built-in gutters or complex rooflines with turrets and many valleys. On a roof like that the right call is usually a careful repair: replacing broken slates, re-lining a valley or rebuilding flashing to match what is there, rather than tearing off a roof that still has decades left in it. Built-in gutters, troughs set into the roof edge, need special care: when their lining fails, water runs into the wall and the ceiling below, and the fix is relining the trough, not hanging a new gutter in front of it. Where a full replacement is the right call on an older home, we talk through materials that suit the house before anything comes off.

Heavy rain, flat sections and permits

Union County was added to the federal major disaster declaration for New Jersey after the remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021. Rain like that finds every weak spot: clogged gutters that overflow behind the fascia, undersized downspouts, and flat porch or addition roofs where water sits. During a roof job we check that gutters and downspouts carry water away, and that low-slope sections drain properly. Gutters on older homes are often too small for the roof area that drains into them, and one overflowing corner can rot the fascia and soffit within a few years. Ice dams in winter and downpours in summer test the same weak points, so fixing drainage pays off in both seasons.

Our crew is based in Elmwood Park, about 18 miles in a straight line from Elizabeth. Each Union 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.

• Gutters cleared, checked for pitch and refastened where they pull away
• Downspouts sized and placed so water reaches the ground and leaves the house
• Flat porch and addition roofs rebuilt with a membrane that drains
• Every vent, pipe and flue on low-slope sections resealed or reflashed