Roofing Contractor in Randolph, NJ

Built in waves, coming due in waves

Through the first half of the 1900s Randolph was a resort town: farms, hotels and bungalow colonies that drew summer visitors to its lakes, woods and cooler air. Its population barely moved, from 2,246 in 1900 to 2,160 in 1940.

Then it was built out in waves. The Census counted 4,293 residents in 1950, 7,295 in 1960, 13,296 in 1970, 17,828 in 1980, 19,974 in 1990 and 24,847 by 2000. Each decade added its own subdivisions, and each subdivision was built by the same builder, with the same roofs, in the same few years.

That matters because roofs on the same street age together. When the first few houses in a neighborhood start getting new roofs, the rest are usually not far behind. Roughly where the waves stand now:

• Homes from the 1950s through the 1970s are typically on their second or third roof. The question is the condition of the deck after multiple tear-offs.
• Homes from the 1980s have usually had one replacement. If yours has not, it is overdue for a close look.
• Homes from the 1990s and early 2000s are the wave coming due now. Many still have their original roofs, which are reaching the end of a normal asphalt shingle life.

Six ways to tell how old your roof is

If you did not put the roof on yourself, its age is often a guess. These are the ways to narrow it down, roughly from most to least reliable:

1. 1Your purchase paperwork. The home inspection report and seller disclosure from when you bought the house often state the roof's age or the year it was replaced.
2. 2Labels and leftovers in the attic. Roofers sometimes leave a sticker, an extra bundle or a shingle wrapper in the attic or garage. The product name narrows down the era, and some labels carry a date.
3. 3Your neighbors. In a Randolph subdivision built by one builder, the house next door probably got the same roof in the same year. If theirs was replaced, ask when.
4. 4The shingle style. Flat, single-layer three-tab shingles with even cutouts are typical of older roofs. Thicker, laminated architectural shingles with a shadowed, uneven look became the standard later.
5. 5Granules in the gutters. Some granule loss is normal on a new roof. A steady layer of grit at the bottom of the gutters and downspouts on an older roof means the shingles are wearing through their protective surface.
6. 6The shingles themselves. Curled or cupped edges, cracked tabs, bare spots, missing pieces and lifted nails are signs of a roof near the end of its life, whatever the paperwork says.

If the answer is "probably original" and the house went up in the 1990s or earlier, it is worth having someone look. If you are weighing a repair against a new roof, read roof repair or full replacement.

Why the attic decides how long a roof lasts

Two identical roofs put on the same street in the same year can wear out years apart. The difference is very often the attic.

An attic that cannot breathe traps heat in summer, which bakes the shingles from underneath, and traps moisture in winter, which condenses on the underside of the deck. It also warms the roof in winter, which melts snow that refreezes at the cold eaves. At Randolph's elevation, with real snow most winters, that is how ice dams form.

The residential code New Jersey uses sets a minimum: a vented attic needs at least 1 square foot of net free vent area for every 150 square feet of attic floor, or 1 for every 300 when the venting is balanced between low intake at the eaves and high exhaust near the ridge (IRC R806.2). Many older Randolph homes were built with less than that, or have had soffit vents painted over, insulated over or blocked.

What we check

• Intake: soffit vents that are actually open, with baffles so insulation does not block them.
• Exhaust: a ridge vent or other high vents, and not a mix of types fighting each other.
• Bathroom and kitchen fans that vent outside, not into the attic.
• Signs of trouble: frost or dark staining on the underside of the deck, rusty nail tips, damp insulation.

On a replacement, ventilation is fixed along with the roof. A new roof on an attic that cannot breathe will age the same way the old one did.

What this Randolph roof shows

The photo at the top of this page is a valley on a Randolph roof. Two roof planes meet here and drain into a single channel lined with metal, called an open valley.

• Valleys carry the most water. Every drop that lands on both slopes above this point runs through this one channel, which is why valleys are one of the most common places for leaks.
• Trees drop debris right into it. The tall spruces beside this house shed needles that collect in the valley and slow the water down. A clogged valley holds water and, in winter, ice.
• The shingle edges along the valley matter. They should be trimmed in a clean line, with the corners clipped so water is not steered under them.
• Under the metal there should be ice and water barrier running the full length of the valley. On a replacement, that goes in before the valley metal or shingles.

Roofing and chimney work we do in Randolph

• Full roof replacement with complete tear-off, deck inspection and repair, ice and water barrier, synthetic underlayment, ventilation corrections, new flashing and new shingles.
• Leak repair at valleys, chimneys, skylights, walls and pipe boots.
• Ice dam damage repair at eaves, and ventilation fixes so it does not keep happening.
• Chimney repair including flashing, crowns and masonry.
• Gutters replaced or re-hung with the new roof.

See every service on our services page, or read how long a roof replacement takes.

Randolph roofing questions