Roof Repair for Old Tappan homes and buildings
A large Old Tappan roof has more of everything: more valleys, more hips, more wall intersections where a one-story roof meets a two-story wall, more skylights and a taller chimney. Each of those details is a potential leak, and on a roof this size a leak can travel a long way inside before it shows on a ceiling.
The most frequent trouble spots are the kick-out at the bottom of a roof-to-wall intersection, where water should be diverted into the gutter but often runs into the wall instead, skylight curbs, and long valleys under trees. On roofs with cathedral ceilings, limited ventilation adds condensation and ice dams to the picture.
We trace leaks carefully on large roofs and check the chimney and its flashing as part of every inspection.
Old Tappan housing
Old Tappan is mostly single-family, with a large share of larger homes built from the later decades of the twentieth century onward on generous lots: center-hall colonials, contemporaries and other two-story designs with complex roofs, skylights and tall masonry chimneys. Townhouse communities and some older homes add variety, and commercial and office buildings with low-slope roofs are present.
Weather & exposure
Old Tappan is wooded and inland, with Lake Tappan along part of the borough. Tree cover drops debris into the many valleys of large roofs and shades slopes. Large two-story houses present tall walls and high roofs to winter wind and snow. Freeze-thaw cycles work on tall exposed chimneys, and long eaves over heated rooms are prone to ice dams.
Repair or replace? What we tell Old Tappan homeowners
On a large Old Tappan roof, a leak at one detail is almost always a repair, and correcting kick-outs, valleys and skylight flashing can extend the life of the whole roof. If shingles are brittle everywhere or leaks keep appearing at different details, replacement is the better investment, and we will tell you plainly.
After storm damage, we document it for an insurance claim if you file one. Estimates are free.
