Roof Replacement in Hillsborough, NJ
Hillsborough Roofing replaces roofs down to the bare decking on homes throughout Hillsborough and Somerset County. A replacement is not shingles over shingles. It is a tear-off to the wood, an honest look at what is under there, and a new roof built back in order with the ventilation calculated for the attic below it. We do all of it ourselves.
Why we tear off instead of layering over
You can nail a second layer of shingles over a first. It is faster and for a while it looks the same from the street. What it costs you is everything underneath: nobody sees the decking, nobody replaces the ice and water shield at the eaves, and the extra layer holds heat that shortens the life of the shingles you just paid for.
Tearing off means we see the deck. In Somerset County that matters, because the leaks that quietly rot plywood sit at valleys, chimney curbs, and the low eave courses where ice dams back water up in a hard freeze-thaw winter. Those are exactly the spots a layover hides.
The layers of a new roof, deck up
A roof is a stack, and every layer does one job. Here is the order we build in.
Decking and sheathing
Plywood, OSB, or on older homes plank decking with gaps between the boards. With the roof stripped we walk the whole deck, mark anything soft or delaminated, and replace it in full sheets rather than patching odd pieces. Plank sometimes needs an overlay so the nails have something to hold.
Ice and water shield at the vulnerable edges
A self-adhering membrane that bonds to the deck and seals around nails. It goes at the eaves, up the valleys, and around chimneys and skylights, the places where ice damming and concentrated flow put standing water above the shingle line in a New Jersey winter.
Synthetic underlayment across the field
Over the rest of the deck we run synthetic underlayment instead of felt. It lies flatter, does not wrinkle when damp, and holds up if weather moves in mid job. It is the layer keeping the house dry between tear-off and dry-in.
Drip edge, starter strip, and the shingle lines
Metal drip edge goes on at eaves and rakes so water leaves the roof instead of curling back onto the fascia. Starter strip runs the perimeter to give the first course something to seal to. Then the field goes on in straight lines, GAF Timberline HDZ, Owens Corning Duration, or CertainTeed Landmark, with valleys open metal or closed cut.
Ridge vent and the ventilation math
Intake at the soffit and exhaust at the ridge get balanced against attic square footage, not guessed. Ridge vent with no soffit intake pulls conditioned air out of the house. Soffit vents packed with insulation do nothing at all. We check both ends before we set the ridge, because ventilation decides whether the new shingles reach their rated life.
How the job runs on your property
Most houses in Hillsborough are a one to two day tear-off and reroof, weather permitting, and we plan the start around the forecast. We do not strip more roof than we can dry in the same day.
Before anything comes off we tarp the beds and shrubs, put plywood under the dumpster feet, and set a debris catch along the base of the walls. Old shingles go into the container as we go, not into piles on the lawn. Each evening we sweep the perimeter and run a rolling magnet across the driveway, walks, and beds. Small failures on an otherwise sound roof are a different conversation, and we will point you to roof repair when that is the better answer.
What is on the roof when we leave
- Bare decking inspected and any soft sheathing replaced before a single shingle goes down
- Ice and water shield at eaves, valleys, and every curb and penetration
- Synthetic underlayment across the full field
- New drip edge and starter strip around the full perimeter
- New step and counter flashing at walls and chimneys rather than reused metal
- Balanced intake and exhaust ventilation sized to the attic below
- Magnet sweep of the drive, walks, and beds before we pull off the street
Related roofing services
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