A new roof for older Clark, Cranford and Linden houses
Roof Replacement in Clark, NJ
When does a patch stop making sense? Roof replacement in Clark, NJ tends to come up when curled shingles cover a whole slope, grit collects at every downspout, or repairs keep opening in new places.
One step: call (732) 574-5073 with the roof's age, the layers you know of and what shows from the yard.
Patch or new roof: four checks
Count the trouble spots. Two or three small ones can be repaired; a dozen across one slope is a pattern.
Look at the downspouts. A heavy pile of shingle grit means the surface is shedding.
Ask the age. A roof late in its life makes a repair a short bet.
Ask what share of the whole roof is damaged, and hold it against the 10 percent yardstick.
On a visit
Call (732) 574-5073, mention the roof's age and anything visible from the lawn, and ask what the contractor's schedule looks like for a visit.
The whole roof surface, slope by slope, noting how much shows wear and how much is damaged.
The boards beneath the shingles, from the attic and from above, since a new covering goes onto sound wood.
The metal at walls, chimneys and valleys, and whether it can be reused or has to be replaced.
What goes in: underlayment, shingles, ice barrier at the eaves and flashing, listed in a written proposal.
Who handles town paperwork, the code edition the work follows, and what the contract spells out.
Leave the room first if
- A ceiling is sagging below a wet patch: clear the room under it and dial 911.
- Water inside a fixture or outlet is a reason to walk out and phone 911 from dry ground.
- Downed wire, or one snagged in a tree: PSE&G says to keep 30 feet clear. Dial 911, or phone the utility on 1-800-436-7734.
- A wet, icy or steep roof is no place to count shingles. Dial 911 if someone has fallen.
Short answers
- How loud is the problem, 1 to 10?
- Loud, 8 to 10: the ceiling sags, water has reached a fixture, or a wire has fallen. Step clear, then phone 911 or PSE&G. Middling, 4 to 7: leaks keep returning or a slope is curling, so dial (732) 574-5073 this week and ask about a visit. Quiet, 1 to 3: an aging roof that still sheds water. Pick a calm week for a look.
- Is there a rule of thumb for patch versus new roof?
- One builders' field guide, repeated in a Department of Energy brief, leans toward a new roof once repairs would cover over a tenth of the old one. That is a yardstick, not a law. A roofer measures the damaged area and says which side of the line your roof is on.
- Which details on underlayment and nails matter?
- FEMA's fact sheet for shingle roofs says always use underlayment. It shows six nails per shingle at the eaves, and a starter strip cut from shingles and set along the edge. It also asks for close attention to roof-to-wall flashing. Ask whether the proposal covers each.
- Does this cover Cranford and Linden too?
- Yes. Cranford roofing notes and Linden roofing notes have their own pages, and Clark is home base. Owners and landlords can call (732) 574-5073; tenants pass a dated photo to the owner first.
Read these before choosing
Isolated damage is covered on the roof repair page. If wind did it, see storm damage. Not sure how worn the roof is? A roof inspection puts numbers on it.
Signs to look for
- Shingles curling or cracking across an entire slope, not one patch
- Bare spots where the granules have worn away
- Repairs that keep showing up in new places
- Daylight, dark streaks or sagging boards seen from the attic
- A roof that has already had a second layer laid over the first
The order of a replacement
First comes a written proposal naming the materials, what the job costs in total, and when it starts and ends. The state wants that in writing for any job over $500.
Then the old covering comes off and the boards underneath get a look. Soft or stained wood is a reason to talk about replacing boards before anything new goes down.
Underlayment follows, then metal at the edges and walls, then shingles from the eave upward.
The last stretch is cleanup, the contractor's walk-through, and the inspection paperwork if the town asks for any.
A slope stripped to the boards
The photo shows a section of roof with the old shingles gone and the bare deck exposed. Rolls of underlayment and bundles of new shingles wait beside it.
This is the moment a roofer can see the wood. The Department of Energy's brief says unsound materials come back to haunt a house through structural problems and mold, so damaged boards come out.
Records for a bigger job
The state's ordinary maintenance list includes total replacement of existing roof covering on freestanding one- and two-family homes, so no permit application is required. The state's code list shows the 2024 editions adopted on August 17, 2026, so ask the town office which edition governs. Details sit on the contractor checks page.
Ask about a visit
Keep the address, a rough roof age and a few ground-level photos nearby, then call (732) 574-5073. Tenants hand the owner a dated photo first. Towns: Clark, Cranford and Linden.
