Roofing & exteriors in North Arlington, NJ
North Arlington is the last town in Bergen County before Kearny, a compact borough on the ridge between the Passaic River and the Meadowlands. Most of its houses are 1940s–60s capes, ranches and two-families on narrow lots, with a pre-war layer around Ridge Road. Small roofs, flat rear sections and close neighbors decide how exterior work gets done here.
The borough covers 2.53 square miles at the southern tip of the county, with the Passaic River and Belleville to the west and the Hackensack Meadowlands and Kearny to the east. Ridge Road runs along the high ground at about 85 feet, and the streets fall away toward River Road on one side and Schuyler Avenue on the other. Nearly an eighth of the land is Holy Cross Cemetery and another 85 acres is Riverside County Park, so 6,749 housing units are packed into what is left.
The streets were essentially finished by 1970: 62.8 percent of the housing dates from 1940 to 1969 and another 19.8 percent from 1939 or earlier. That leaves 1920s–30s bungalows and two-families close to Ridge Road, post-war capes, ranches and colonials on the side streets, and newer condos and apartment buildings along Schuyler Avenue and the riverfront. Two-families and converted houses outnumber the single-family houses.
That means simple gable and hip roofs in asphalt shingle, two-families with a flat rear section behind a pitched front, and original clapboard under aluminum and vinyl. It also means five-inch gutters on lots with no room for the water. We handle shingle and low-slope roofing, siding, windows and doors, gutters and decks across the borough.
Two roofs on one house, and no room between the houses
Duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings are the single most common housing type in North Arlington, accounting for 39.26% of the borough's housing units.
NeighborhoodScout, North Arlington real estateA pitched roof in front, a flat one behind. Two-families and expanded capes here often carry a low-slope section over a rear addition or enclosed porch. The joint where the shingle field drains onto that membrane is where most of the borough's leaks start. We build that transition as one assembly: membrane turned up under the shingle, metal over the joint, a drain that clears.
Side yards you cannot walk a ladder through. Lots are narrow and the roof edge is often a few feet from the neighbor's wall. A downspout cannot discharge onto the house next door, staging has to protect their siding, and tear-off debris has nowhere to fall but the front. We plan access and drainage before we price.
High ground on the ridge, low ground at both edges. The Ridge Road spine is the highest ground in the borough and takes more wind than the streets below it, so starter courses and ridge caps get nailed and sealed to the high-wind pattern. Toward River Road and the Meadowlands side of Schuyler Avenue the ground is low river frontage, where a downspout emptying at the foundation is a basement problem. There we run downspouts to daylight or a drywell.
What North Arlington's housing stock actually needs
Architectural shingle on capes, ranches and colonials
Full tear-off, plank decking repaired, ice-and-water membrane at eaves and beside dormers, and a shingle with a published wind rating installed to qualify for the manufacturer's enhanced warranty. A finished half-story cape also needs real intake and ridge ventilation; see how long a roof lasts in New Jersey.
Low-slope membrane on two-families and apartment buildings
Fully adhered single-ply membrane on rear sections, porch roofs and the flat-roofed buildings along Schuyler Avenue and River Road, with the shingle-to-membrane transition, drains and parapet caps detailed as part of the roof.
Siding and windows on layered walls
Most frames here have vinyl or aluminum over the original wood, with rot at sills and corners hiding under it. We strip the layers, repair what we find, then flash every opening before fiber-cement or insulated vinyl goes on. Windows go in full-frame at the same time; costs are in the window replacement guide.
Gutters sized for the roof, routed for the lot
Six-inch gutters where a five-inch run overflows at an inside corner, oversized outlets, and downspouts routed off the neighbor's lot and away from the foundation. Lots this dense carry less tree canopy than up-county, but a flat-roof drain still clogs every fall.
Flat land, tight lots and two roofs on every block.
South Bergen was built out early and densely: pre-war frames and two-families on narrow lots, post-war capes between them, and low, wet ground toward the Passaic, the Hackensack and the meadows. The work is getting roof water off a small lot cleanly and detailing where a pitched roof meets a flat one.
Neighborhoods and streets we work in North Arlington
ZIP code served: 07031.
- Ridge Road (Route 17) — the spine on the high ground, past Queen of Peace Church; 1920s–30s bungalows and two-families either side
- Belleville Turnpike (Route 7) — the route to Kearny and the Belleville Turnpike Bridge; post-war capes and two-families on the side streets
- River Road and Riverside County Park — low ground along the Passaic, older houses beside newer condos; downspout routing matters most here
- Schuyler Avenue and the Meadowlands edge — the condo and apartment corridor; flat roofs, parapets and drains
- The side streets off Ridge Road — the 1940s–60s capes, ranches and colonials that make up most of the borough
North Arlington response, anywhere in 07031. Call (201) 446-5941 or request a free written estimate online.
Adjacent Bergen towns
Does Johannemann & Sons serve North Arlington, NJ?
Yes — every address in 07031, from the high ground along Ridge Road down to River Road on the Passaic and Schuyler Avenue on the Meadowlands side. We work on the pitched shingle roofs of the borough's capes, ranches and colonials and the low-slope roofs on its two-families and apartment buildings, plus the siding, windows, gutters and decks that go with them. Estimates are written, free and come with photographs.
My North Arlington two-family has a shingle roof in front and a flat roof in back. Do they have to be replaced together?
Not always, but the joint between them does have to be rebuilt whichever one you replace. That transition, where a pitched shingle field drains onto a low-slope section, is the most common leak on a two-family here. If the flat section is failing and the shingles have years left, we replace the membrane and run it up under the bottom courses of shingle with new flashing. We tell you in writing what condition each roof is in, so you can plan the second one instead of being surprised by it.
Do I need a permit to re-roof or re-side a two-family in North Arlington?
Under New Jersey's Uniform Construction Code, replacing the roof covering or siding like for like on a one- or two-family house is ordinary maintenance and generally needs no permit. Three-family and larger buildings, the apartment buildings along Schuyler Avenue, the commercial buildings on Ridge Road and Belleville Turnpike, and any repair to the roof 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 at the end.
Roofing for the homes of North Arlington, NJ.
A free written estimate with photographs and named materials, from a Bergen County exterior crew working across the county from Edgewater.