Water coming through the ceiling? The emergency line is answered by a person, 24 hours a day, every day of the year — we tarp and make safe first, and estimate in daylight. Call 000-000-0000
Architectural shingle is a genuinely good material. It is quick to install, easy and cheap to repair, available in a colour that will suit any building, and every roofer in the city can work on it. When one fails early it is almost never the shingle's fault.
It fails early for three reasons, over and over: nails in the wrong place or driven wrong, old flashing re-used because renewing it costs money and time, and an attic with no working ventilation slowly cooking the roof from underneath. All three are invisible from the street and all three are where a cheap quote finds its savings.
The three things that decide how long it lasts
None of them are the brand on the bundle. Every one of them is in our written scope.
Nailing
Six nails per shingle on this coast, driven into the nail zone, flush — not overdriven through the mat and not proud so the course above rides on the head. An overdriven nail is a failure point that will not show for eight years.
Flashing
Step flashing at every wall junction, new counter-flashing at chimneys, new valley metal, drip edge on every eave and rake, and a new boot on every vent pipe. Re-used flashing is the most common corner cut in this trade and it is the reason for most of the leak calls we attend on roofs under ten years old.
Ventilation
Continuous intake at the soffits and continuous exhaust at the ridge, balanced against each other. Exhaust with no intake does nothing at all. An attic running over 140°F in August is destroying the shingle from below and voiding its warranty while it does it.
Starter and ridge courses
A proper starter strip at the eaves and rakes, not an inverted shingle. This is what holds the first course down in a nor'easter, and it is worth about forty dollars a roof.
Ice and water barrier at the eaves
Self-adhered membrane back past the interior wall line. This is the detail that decides whether an ice dam means a stain on your ceiling or nothing at all.
Choosing the shingle
There are really only three decisions, and only one of them is about looks.
Three-tab or architectural
Three-tab is flat, thinner, cheaper and shorter-lived. Architectural (dimensional) shingle is heavier, carries a longer warranty, resists wind better and looks considerably better on a Queens roof. We install architectural on essentially everything now; the price gap no longer justifies the difference.
Wind rating
This is a coastal city. We install to a 110–130 mph rated specification as standard, which is a matter of nailing pattern and starter detail as much as of the shingle itself.
Colour
Darker roofs suit most Woodside brick and hide staining; lighter roofs run measurably cooler in an attic that is already marginal. We will bring samples and look at them against your building rather than in a showroom.
Algae resistance
The dark streaking on north-facing slopes across Queens is airborne algae. A copper-granule shingle resists it for the life of the roof and costs very little more.
Impact rating
Worth considering on exposed roofs and where hail has been a factor before. Some insurers discount for it — worth a phone call to your broker before you decide.
Repairs and partial work
Not every shingle roof needs replacing. These are the jobs we do far more often than a full tear-off.
Blown-off shingles after a storm
Replaced and hand-sealed, usually within a day or two of the call. Matching an older roof exactly is rarely possible, and we will show you what the closest match looks like before we fit it.
A single slope
Where one elevation has weathered much harder than the others, replacing that slope alone is legitimate and often sensible.
Ridge cap renewal
Ridge caps take the most UV and wind of any part of the roof and frequently fail a decade before the field does.
Pipe boots and vent collars
The rubber boot around a plumbing vent is the shortest-lived thing on your roof — typically ten to fifteen years — and one of the most common single causes of a ceiling stain.
Valley repairs
Valleys carry the most water on the roof. A worn valley can be rebuilt without touching the slopes either side of it.
Questions
Asphalt Shingle Roofing — the questions we are asked most
How long does an asphalt shingle roof last in New York?
An architectural shingle roof installed properly on a well-ventilated attic lasts 22 to 30 years here. The same shingle over a hot, unventilated attic can be finished in 15. This is the single biggest variable and it is entirely within a roofer's control at installation.
Can you just replace the damaged shingles?
Very often, yes — a handful of blown-off shingles after a storm is a straightforward repair, usually within a day or two. What we cannot do is repair a roof whose shingles have gone brittle: lifting one to get at the nails of the next simply cracks its neighbours. On a warm day we can tell you in five minutes which of the two you have.
What is the difference between three-tab and architectural shingles?
Three-tab is a single flat layer — thinner, cheaper, shorter-lived and visibly flatter on the roof. Architectural shingle is laminated from multiple layers, so it is heavier, has a much better wind rating, carries a longer warranty and gives a roof depth and shadow. The price gap has narrowed to the point that we specify architectural on virtually every job.
Why is my roof black-streaked on one side?
Airborne algae, which colonises the cooler, damper north and east-facing slopes. It is cosmetic rather than structural. It can be cleaned with a proper low-pressure treatment — never a pressure washer, which strips granules and takes years off the roof — and algae-resistant shingle prevents it returning.
Do I really need ridge and soffit vents?
Yes, and they only work as a pair. Exhaust at the ridge with no intake at the soffits produces almost no airflow at all. Balanced ventilation cuts summer attic temperature dramatically, prevents winter condensation on the underside of the deck, materially extends shingle life and is a condition of most manufacturers' warranties.
How many nails should each shingle get?
Six on this coast, placed in the manufacturer's nail zone, driven flush. Four nails is a specification for calmer climates and it is a common shortcut here. It is also invisible once the course above is laid, which is precisely why it gets skipped.
Will new shingles match my existing roof?
Rarely exactly. Shingles weather, colour lots vary, and a ten-year-old roof has faded. For a repair we get as close as the range allows and show you the match on the roof before fitting. Where appearance matters more than cost, replacing a whole slope gives a uniform result that a patch never will.
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Get a roof quote, or call the 24-hour line
Tell us what you are seeing and we will tell you honestly whether it needs somebody tonight or whether it will keep until the morning. Surveys and written quotes are free, and leak diagnostics are $145, credited in full against any repair you approve.