A stain, a missing shingle or a drip in the attic
A leaking or damaged roof in Harrison, NJ
Most Harrison roof repairs start small: a tan stain on the top-floor ceiling, a shingle in the gutter, a drip heard in the attic. Next step: call (862) 418-5296; say where it shows, how long it has been there and about how old the roof is.
Back away and get help if
- Water seeping around a ceiling light or a wall outlet: step out of that room, then dial 911 from a dry floor.
- A ceiling bulge may be holding water: clear the room beneath it and dial 911.
- A wire down in the yard or sagging toward the house: stay well back, assume it carries current and dial 911. PSE&G, if it supplies your power, answers at 1-800-436-7734.
- A leak that has you eyeing the roof when it is wet, icy or steep: keep your feet on the ground. Dial 911 if someone has fallen, and book a roofer for the rest.
What sits between the shingle and the attic
A pitched roof is a stack. Shingles shed the rain. Underlayment, a water-resistant sheet, backs them up. The deck, plywood or boards, holds everything, and metal flashing seals the joints at walls, chimneys and valleys.
Most repairs involve a single layer. Think two shingles, a length of flashing or a nail that worked its way up. FEMA's fact sheet on shingle roofs lists two details worth hearing in a roofer's description: underlayment beneath the shingles, and roofing nails rather than staples.
Around Harrison and next door
Harrison packs many households under few roofs. The Census Bureau's 2024 five-year survey counts about 3,700 of the town's 10,062 homes in buildings of two to four units, and only 615 as detached single-family houses. The margins of error run to several hundred, but the pattern is plain: one leak can stain two or three apartments.
Age adds to it. The same survey counts 2,007 Harrison homes dating from 1939 or before, with a margin of 394, and the 2020 master plan puts about 38 percent of the town's homes ahead of 1960. How many layers of roofing are already up there is a fair question for a house that old.
Where January puts the pressure
On an average January day at Newark Airport, the low is 25.5 degrees and the high is 40, so the freezing line runs through the middle of the day. The National Weather Service's 1991-2020 normals also give January 9.1 inches of snow. Water that gets into a crack freezes at night and thaws by afternoon, again and again. The airport is the station behind these numbers, so weather on a given Harrison street can differ.
Spring brings the first run of steady rain. April averages 53.3 degrees and 3.87 inches of precipitation, which is when a crack opened by winter can finally leak into a room.
What to look at with feet on the ground
Everything here can be done from the ground or through a window. A job that needs a ladder belongs to the roofer.
- Cross the street and take in the whole slope at once. Shingles that sit higher than their neighbors, curl at the edges or leave a bare patch stand out from there.
- Lift the attic hatch and use a flashlight to follow the roof boards from below. Dark streaks or damp insulation mark the entry point. Wet insulation has to be removed, according to a Department of Energy brief on roof repair.
- Note the date, the room and the size of any ceiling stain, and photograph it next to a coin. A second photo after the next rain shows whether it spread.
- Check what the gutters hold. A handful of gray grit at the mouth of a downspout means the shingle surface is wearing off.
Ask for the registration number first
New Jersey's consumer-affairs division says a home improvement contractor's registration number is not a license, and that the number belongs on advertising, vehicles and business paperwork. A quote from someone who cannot show one is a reason to slow down.
Checking a contractor explains where to look the number up and what a written contract lists.
Ready to describe the roof?
Ready for the call: the street address, where the damage shows and a guess at the roof's age. Dial (862) 418-5296. Renters: the dated photo goes to your landlord or property manager at the outset. Covered: Harrison, Kearny, East Newark and Newark.
Call (862) 418-5296