Residential Roofing in Burlington County, New Jersey

The county's housing stock, and what it means for roofs

The older river communities along the Delaware — Burlington City, Beverly, Riverside, Riverton, Palmyra, Bordentown — contain a great deal of 19th and early 20th century housing: steeper pitches, more complex rooflines, porch roofs at low slope, masonry chimneys, and in many cases plank sheathing rather than plywood. These roofs have more junctions per square foot than anything built since, and junctions are where roofs leak.

The post-war and mid-century suburbs are a different problem entirely. Willingboro's Levitt-built housing, the ranches and split-levels of Maple Shade, Delran and Cinnaminson, and the Capes scattered through the older boroughs tend to have simple geometry, shallower pitches and long unbroken runs — but also shallow eaves, minimal overhang and ventilation schemes that were never generous to begin with.

The later subdivisions in Mount Laurel, Evesham, Lumberton and Medford brought larger, more articulated roofs: multiple gables, several valleys, dormers, bay projections and attached garages set at an angle. More roof area, more valleys, more flashing, and more that can go wrong at a junction.

Setting matters as much as the house

Two identical houses age differently depending on where they stand. A roof under a mature canopy in the wooded south and east of the county stays damp longer after rain, collects organic debris continuously rather than seasonally, and carries more shade-related growth on its north-facing slopes. A roof on an open lot in the agricultural north of the county dries quickly but takes far more direct sun and more uninterrupted wind.

Neither is worse. They simply fail in different ways and on different timescales, and the maintenance that suits one is largely wasted on the other.

What a residential roof actually needs

Most houses need remarkably little between repairs: the drainage kept clear, the penetrations checked periodically, and the roof looked at after significant weather. The components that fail first — vent boot collars, sealed flashing joints, ridge cap, the seal on the windward slope — are all cheap to address early and expensive to address after a season of water in the decking.

The other thing a house needs is an honest answer about where its roof is in its life, so that a replacement can be planned rather than triggered by a ceiling stain in February.

• Keep valleys and gutters clear so water leaves the roof as designed
• Check penetrations — vent boots are the most common single failure
• Look at the roof after storms, not only after leaks
• Make sure the attic can breathe: intake at the eaves, exhaust near the ridge
• Know roughly how old the covering is, and plan rather than react