Shingle roofing is the work of stripping old asphalt shingle, checking the roof deck for rot, and rebuilding the roof in layers that keep water out for decades.
We roll self-adhered ice-and-water shield along every eave and up each valley, since that is exactly where a nor'easter drives rain sideways under the courses.
Synthetic underlayment covers the rest of the sheathing, followed by aluminum drip edge and the field course. Each shingle gets ring-shank nails set with a nail gun at the right depth, so nothing overdrives the mat.
We install architectural shingle on most homes, a laminated, dimensional product with a granulated fiberglass mat that handles wind far better than the three-tab shingle it replaces.
Fiberglass mat cores also resist the cracking that shows up when a roof swings between coastal freeze and thaw cycles.
Asphalt shingle still fits most Toms River homes, though we install wood shake, cedar shake, slate, clay tile, and concrete tile when the pitch and framing call for them.
Clay tile and concrete tile are heavy enough that we inspect the trusses, rafters, purlins, and ridge beam before quoting, because that load needs framing built for it.
Over a dormer, porch, or garage, we switch to a low-slope system such as modified bitumen, built-up roof, TPO, EPDM, or a PVC membrane, then seal the transition back into the shingle roof.
Every detail meets New Jersey building code, from the starter course at the rake to the ridge cap and ridge vent that let the attic breathe.
Ventilation earns its keep here. Humidity off Barnegat Bay settles into an attic, and a ridge vent paired with soffit vent intake keeps the sheathing dry instead of letting it rot from the inside out.
Where a wall, chimney, or skylight interrupts the roof, we bend step flashing and counter-flashing, and we set a pipe boot over every vent penetration.
Old roofs around here often hide nothing but tar paper and fifteen-pound roofing felt where a synthetic underlayment belongs, and that is usually where the leaks started.
Ice dams form at the eave when attic heat melts snow and it refreezes along the cold drip edge, which is one reason we push insulation, a vapor barrier, and attic ventilation upgrades during a tear-off.
We finish with sealant at the counter-flashing, and we never use roof cement or caulk to cover work that flashing should be doing.
You can recover a roof with an overlay when the decking is sound and the existing layer is flat, but building code caps how many layers are allowed, so we check before we quote.
If the decking is soft, we replace the plywood or OSB sheathing before anything new goes down, because a roof laid over a spongy substrate is money wasted.
Fasteners are hot-dip galvanized, not the plain screws that rust out in salt air after a few seasons.
A tear-off drops the old shingle down a chute into a dumpster, and we run a magnet sweep for stray nails before the truck leaves the driveway.
Roof shape changes the details we order and the way we flash them.
- A hip roof has four slopes meeting at a ridge, and it sheds wind better than a gable end that takes the gust broadside.
- A mansard or gambrel roof carries two pitches per side, and both need flashing details most crews never get right.
- The verge and rake edges catch the most wind, so we use a starter course and extra fasteners there on every roof.
- Parapet walls and coping on commercial buildings need scupper drains, because ponding water finds every low spot on a flat roof.
- A small canopy or awning over a door still needs apron flashing and sealant where it meets the wall, or it leaks into the header.
- Boot flashing and pipe flashing around vents fail before the shingle does, so we replace the rubber collar whenever we open a roof.
- Rooftop anchors for satellite dishes and solar mounts get sealed like any other penetration, with mastic rated for sun exposure.
- Granule loss that piles up in the gutter and along the roofline means the shingle is aging out, not that it needs a patch.
- Roofing squares, pry bars, and roofing shovels do the removal; air compressors and nail guns do the fastening.
- Scaffolding, ladders, and safety harnesses stay up until the last ridge cap is nailed off.
What saves money long term is the layering. A roof assembled with real ice-and-water shield and proper underlayment rarely needs emergency roof repair, and it holds through hurricane season the way a cheap overlay never does.
