Mount Laurel Township · Burlington County
Roofing Contractors in Mount Laurel, NJ
Residential, office and commercial roofing throughout Mount Laurel Township, Burlington County.
Photo: Anthony Quintano from Mount Laurel, United States / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Residential and commercial
Two kinds of roofing work in Mount Laurel
Mount Laurel is one of the largest and busiest municipalities in Burlington County: nearly forty-five thousand residents across twenty-two square miles, with major highway access and a very substantial office, corporate and retail presence — NFL Films among the businesses based here.
Few places in the county produce such a broad roofing workload. Corporate office buildings and retail centres with large low-slope roofs and extensive rooftop plant; a large residential stock spanning the 1960s to the present, including sizeable planned communities; and older properties around the township's original settlements.
The municipality
The township covers twenty-two square miles bordering Evesham, Hainesport, Lumberton, Maple Shade, Medford, Moorestown, Westampton and Willingboro, plus Cherry Hill in Camden County. It is drained by Parkers Creek, a tributary of the Rancocas, and by the South Branch of Pennsauken Creek. Ramblewood is a census-designated place within it, and Birchfield, Centerton, Colemantown, Fellowship, Hartford, Masonville, Pine Grove and Rancocas Woods are other localities.
The building stock
Three stocks of roughly equal importance. Corporate and retail building with large low-slope membrane roofs, heavy rooftop mechanical plant, and the accumulated penetrations of decades of tenant fit-outs. A very large residential stock, from 1960s and 1970s development through to recent construction, including substantial planned communities such as Ramblewood and Birchfield. And older housing around the township's original settlements and near Rancocas Woods.
Commercial roofing
Low-slope roofs on commercial buildings
- Large office and retail roofs carrying extensive rooftop mechanical equipment
- Accumulated penetrations from years of tenant fit-outs and service upgrades
- Ponding where drainage on large commercial roofs has degraded
- Large planned communities whose roofs age on a shared schedule
- Multiple valleys on the more articulated later residential stock
- Wooded lots around Rancocas Woods with substantial debris loads
Roof repair
Repairs that come up most
- Ponding on large office and retail roofs after heavy rainfall
- Leaks around rooftop units and penetrations added during fit-outs
- Failed base flashing at curbs and parapets on commercial buildings
- Valleys collecting debris on multi-gabled residential roofs
- Whole sections of planned communities reaching end of covering life together
Replacement
Planning a replacement around an occupied building
Commercial replacement is sequenced so each section opened is made watertight the same day. On a house, it is a tear-off to the deck with flashing and ventilation rebuilt — not reused.
How roof replacement worksDrainage
Drains, scuppers, gutters and ponding
On the commercial side, large catchments drain to a limited number of internal drains and scuppers, and one blocked strainer can put a substantial area under standing water — which keeps seams and terminations under continuous pressure. On the residential side, the recurring issue on articulated newer housing is valley discharge overshooting a gutter, and on the older stock it is simply where the downspouts empty.
Weather
Storms and seasonal load
The township records average monthly temperatures from about 33°F in January to about 77°F in July — a wide annual swing that puts genuine thermal cycling through a roof assembly. Summer thunderstorms deliver high-intensity short-duration rainfall onto very large commercial roof areas, and that is the condition that finds drainage which is no longer adequate.
Trees
Tree cover
Debris loads vary substantially across the township. The older neighbourhoods and the wooded areas around Rancocas Woods and the creek corridors collect heavily; newer open subdivision lots and the commercial corridors collect much less. Setting the maintenance interval by what is actually over the roof is more useful here than any township-wide rule.
Inspection
Twice-yearly for commercial, annually for homes
Most of the value on a commercial roof is keeping the drains clear and catching failed terminations and new penetrations. On houses, an annual look plus one after significant storms.
Roof inspectionServices
Roofing services in Mount Laurel
Commercial Roofing
Low-slope and membrane roofing for commercial, retail, industrial and institutional buildings.
Flat Roofing
Low-slope membrane roofing on additions, porches, dormers and commercial buildings.
Roof Repair
Leak tracing and targeted repairs for shingle, flat and tile roofs across Burlington County.
Roof Inspection
A documented assessment of what a roof is actually doing — before committing to any work.
Questions
Roofing questions from Mount Laurel
Do you work on office and corporate buildings?
Yes. Large low-slope roofs with rooftop mechanical plant are a core part of the work in Mount Laurel. They fail at seams, terminations, curbs, penetrations and drains rather than in the field of the membrane, and a survey of penetrations is often the most productive half hour anyone spends on a roof like that.
Our tenant fit-outs keep putting new things through the roof. Is that a problem?
It is one of the most common sources of commercial leaks. Every fit-out tends to add conduits, refrigeration lines, vents or equipment mounts, and much of that work is done by trades who are not roofers and do not own the roof afterwards. Anything new that penetrates the roof deserves a look afterwards, regardless of who made the opening.
Can a large commercial roof be coated instead of replaced?
Sometimes. Restoration is a genuine option where the substrate is sound and the insulation beneath the membrane is dry. It is not an option where the insulation is saturated, because coating over wet insulation seals the water in and the problem continues underneath while the roof looks refurbished. Establishing which situation you have — by core sample or survey — should come before any recommendation.
Several houses in my development are getting new roofs. Should mine be checked?
It is a reasonable prompt. Houses in a planned community were roofed at much the same time with the same materials and have weathered identically, so they tend to reach the end of a covering within a few years of one another. Ventilation and previous work still vary house to house, so yours deserves its own assessment.
Why does water pour over the gutter at one corner of my house?
Almost always because a valley discharges at that point. A valley can deliver the drainage of two whole roof planes into a few inches of gutter, fast enough to overshoot it completely. A larger outlet, a diverter or a repositioned downspout usually solves it without touching the roof.
Nearby
Service areas near Mount Laurel
Further reading
6 min read
Flat Roof Drainage Problems Explained
On a low-slope roof, almost every membrane problem is really a drainage problem that has been going on for a while.
6 min read
Why Roof Valleys Are Common Leak Areas
A valley may carry half a roof's drainage through a channel a few inches wide. It is the hardest-working part of the covering.
7 min read
What Happens During a Professional Roof Inspection
A good inspection is mostly spent at the junctions. The middle of the roof is rarely where the trouble is.
Residential or commercial roofing in Mount Laurel
Tell us about the roof. The municipality page you are on is recorded for context only — the property address you give is what we use.