Roofing & exteriors in East Rutherford, NJ
East Rutherford is a pre-war rail-and-factory borough on the Meadowlands, about three feet above sea level between the Passaic and the Hackensack. Most of its homes are older two-families and small apartment buildings around Park Avenue, with the newer townhouses of Carlton Hill to the west. That means low-slope roofs, shared walls, aluminum over original wood siding, and open wind east of Route 17.
East Rutherford was incorporated in 1889 as Boiling Springs Township and renamed in 1894. More than fifty industrial firms were located here by 1940, and the residential grid near Park Avenue and Rutherford station dates from that period. That is why most of the housing is older: two-families and small apartment buildings with a share of single-family homes, on tight lots where one roof often meets the next. Carlton Hill on the west side is the exception, mostly 1940 to 1999 construction, with the borough's townhouses and condos.
Two kinds of roof fail here. The pre-war two-families and the Park Avenue mixed-use buildings tend to carry flat or low-slope roofs, where the trouble is ponding, open seams and the flashing at a parapet or a neighbor's wall. The single-family homes and the Carlton Hill townhouses carry pitched shingle roofs, where age shows first at valleys, chimneys and an unventilated attic. On the walls, decades of vinyl or aluminum over the original wood hide what water has done at the sills.
Then there is the ground. At roughly three feet above sea level between the Passaic and the Hackensack, East Rutherford has little room to send water anywhere. A downspout that empties at the foundation of a low lot is a basement problem. We size gutters and route drainage with that in mind, and we start with the roof, because on a two-family it is the one system the whole building depends on.
What shapes exterior work in East Rutherford
Low-slope roofs on the two-families
A flat roof over two apartments sheds water with little help from gravity. We check pitch to the drains, the seams and the parapet flashing before we talk about membrane; where the roof meets the next building is the first place we look for a leak.
Three feet above sea level, rivers on two sides
Low, wet ground between two rivers means drainage is not an afterthought. Downspouts run to daylight away from the foundation, and gutters are sized so a heavy rain does not overshoot them.
Open wind off the Meadowlands
East of Route 17 the terrain is marsh and fill with little tree canopy, so the eastern blocks take the full wind. Pitched roofs get a sealed starter course, six nails per shingle and a wind-rated ridge cap; flat roofs get fully adhered membrane and fastened edge metal.
Aluminum and vinyl over original wood
Many of the borough's older houses were sided over in vinyl or aluminum decades ago. When we open a wall for new siding or a window replacement, we expect original sheathing, no housewrap and sometimes rot at the sills. The estimate says what we do if we find it.
What we install on East Rutherford houses
Low-slope membrane roofing
For the two-families and the Park Avenue mixed-use buildings: fully adhered TPO or EPDM with tapered insulation to the drains and new parapet flashing. Roofing →
Architectural shingle with ventilation
On the pitched roofs, a wind-rated architectural shingle over ice-and-water shield at eaves and valleys, with intake and ridge ventilation sized for the attic. How long a roof lasts here →
Siding, windows and doors
Insulated vinyl or fiber cement over new housewrap and flashed openings, with the original wood repaired first. Windows go in flashed into the wall, not caulked to the old trim. Siding → Windows & doors →
Low roofs, open sky and rivers on both sides.
The boroughs along the Passaic and the Hackensack are the county's working towns: pre-war two-families, flat roofs, small lots and low ground. An exterior contractor here has to know membrane as well as shingle, size gutters for rain the ground cannot absorb, and detail every edge against wind off the marsh.
Neighborhoods and streets we work in East Rutherford
ZIP code served: 07073.
- Park Avenue and the downtown blocks near Rutherford station — pre-war two-families and mixed-use storefronts with flat roofs and shared parapets.
- Carlton Hill — the newer pocket, townhouses and condos from the 1940s through the 1990s under pitched shingle roofs.
- Willow Wood Square — small apartment buildings and single-family homes, low-slope and pitched roofs side by side.
- The blocks toward Route 17 and the Meadowlands — the most wind-exposed houses in the borough.
- Homes near the Passaic River on the western boundary — low lots where downspout routing decides whether the basement stays dry.
East Rutherford response, anywhere in 07073. Call (201) 446-5941 or request a free written estimate online.
Adjacent Bergen towns
Does Johannemann & Sons serve East Rutherford, NJ?
Yes — every address in 07073, from the older residential grid around Park Avenue and Rutherford station to the townhouses and condos of Carlton Hill and Willow Wood Square. We work on the low-slope and flat roofs common to the borough's two-families and small apartment buildings, and on the pitched shingle roofs of its single-family homes. The siding, windows, doors, gutters and decks that go with them are our work too. Estimates are written, free and come with photographs.
My East Rutherford two-family has a flat roof that holds water after rain. Repair or replace?
It depends on what the water is sitting on. One low spot on a membrane with sound seams can usually be corrected with tapered insulation and a new drain or scupper — that is a repair. Standing water over blistered, alligatored or patched roofing means the membrane has failed, and another layer only hides the leak until the deck rots. We open a test cut, check the deck and insulation for moisture, and put the answer in writing before quoting a number.
Do I need a permit to replace a roof in East Rutherford, and who handles it?
Under New Jersey's Uniform Construction Code, replacing the roof covering on a one- or two-family house like for like is ordinary maintenance and generally needs no permit. Three-family and larger buildings, the mixed-use buildings along Park Avenue, and any structural repair to the deck or framing do need one. We confirm with the borough's construction office before work starts, pull the permit as contractor of record when one is required, and hand you the closed paperwork.
Roofing for the homes of East Rutherford, NJ.
A free written estimate with photographs and the materials named by product, from a Bergen County exterior crew based in Edgewater.