Roofing Services in Newark
Newark's Forest Hill neighborhood is a dense patchwork of early 20th-century brick row houses and two-family homes, with a few surviving late 19th-century wood-frame Victorians tucked between them. Built between 1890 and 1930, these roofs were designed for a different climate and a different era of construction. That's where we come in.
Hillsborough Roofing Pros is a Newark roofing contractor that treats each roof as part of a larger system — the flashing, the drainage, the substrate beneath the shingles or membrane. We know that a flat roof on a brick row house here isn't the same as a flat roof on a suburban ranch. The original drainage was sized for 1930s rain patterns, not the intense spring and fall downpours we see now. When water ponds on a low-slope roof, it seeps into every seam and wicks along the decking, eroding the membrane from underneath. We fix that by installing properly sloped drains, self-adhered underlayment, and staggered courses that shed water fast.
For the older slate and tile roofs still hanging on in Forest Hill, we don't rush to tear them off. Replacement with asphalt shingles is common, but it often causes more problems than it solves — the flashing systems were built for a different material, and the historic character takes a hit. We work with the Newark Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission when your roof is in the Forest Hill Historic District, and we'll recommend a repair or a recover that keeps the original look where possible. If a full tear-off is the only option, we'll match the new material to the era of the house as closely as we can.
Years of industrial soot from the Passaic River factories have corroded metal roofs and flashing across the neighborhood. We've seen copper flashing that's flaked down to bare metal, and steel that's spalled beyond repair. We replace it with corrosion-resistant metals that stand up to the same air that wrecked the old stuff.
When we work in Forest Hill, we're working on streets we know — off Bloomfield Avenue, near Branch Brook Park, down by Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Our crews are local, so we understand the parking constraints, the narrow lots, and the need to keep debris off your neighbors' property.
Common Roof Problems in Newark
Flat and low-slope roofs on Forest Hill's brick row houses are the first to fail. The original drainage systems simply can't handle modern rain events, so water ponds after every heavy storm. That standing water seeps into the membrane, wicks along the substrate, and erodes the roof from the inside out. Before long, you're looking at rot in the decking and a ceiling stain that keeps growing.
The Victorian-era homes that survive here still carry their original slate or tile — but those roofs are reaching end-of-life wear. Slate cracks, tiles spall, and the flashing corrodes. Many owners replace with asphalt shingles, but that creates a mismatch: the flashing was set for a different material, so water finds new paths to seep through. And the historic character of the house takes a hit.
Decades of industrial soot and pollution have accelerated corrosion on metal roofs and flashing, especially closer to the Passaic River. What started as minor surface rust now flakes and peels, exposing bare metal that deteriorates further with every freeze-thaw cycle.
If your roof is in the Forest Hill Historic District, any visible change — including roofing — needs review by the Newark Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission. We handle that process for you, so you don't have to navigate it alone.