One decade built the town
From 1,817 people in 1950 to 9,446 in 1960: most of Oakland's roofs share a birth year and a history of reroofs. We count layers at the eave, probe the deck, and price the tear-off first.
North-west Bergen · Bergen County · 07436
Roofing & exteriors in Oakland, NJ
Oakland is the far northwestern corner of Bergen County: 8.77 square miles in the Ramapo River valley, hemmed in by the Ramapo Mountains, with a state forest inside the borough line. Most of its houses went up between 1950 and 1972 — split-levels, ranches, bi-levels and expanded capes — with larger custom homes on the wooded slopes toward Ramapo Lake. We roof, side, re-window and re-gutter them.
In detail
Oakland stayed rural until the highways came. It had 479 residents when it was carved out of Franklin Township in 1902, and 932 in 1940. Then came 1,817 in 1950, 9,446 in 1960 and a peak of 14,420 in 1970, as Route 208 and later Interstate 287 tied the Ramapo valley to the rest of the county. The population has held between 12,000 and 12,800 from 1990 on, so there has been little tract building after the 1970s beyond infill and mountainside custom homes.
That curve is the housing stock: 1950s and 60s split-levels, ranches, bi-levels and expanded capes on suburban lots, gable and hip roofs in asphalt shingle, vinyl or wood siding over frame construction. On a house of that age the failures are predictable: a second layer of shingle over the first, brittle step flashing at the chimney, and no ice-and-water membrane, because New Jersey's code has never required it outside Sussex County. Add a rear section extended later at a pitch too flat for shingle, and 5-inch gutters never sized for the trees that have grown up around the house.
Then there is the terrain. The western half of the borough is wooded, rocky upland, with Ramapo Mountain State Forest reached from Skyline Drive. Shaded north-facing roofs, moss, leaf load and limb fall are the everyday exposures there, and the ridge lots are the windy ones. In the valley, West Oakland grew from a 1940s–60s summer bungalow colony on the Ramapo River; the cottages became year-round homes and many sit in the flood zone. If you have a leak now, start with roof repair; if the problem is water around the house, start with gutters.
What is different here
Roofing in Oakland: what the borough asks of us
Cottages that became houses
West Oakland's bungalow colony was built for summers. The converted cottages carry low-pitched roofs, shallow eaves and walls never meant for January. We put membrane where shingle cannot work, ventilate the roof, and re-clad over a proper weather barrier.
The forest is inside the borough line
Ramapo Mountain State Forest sits within Oakland, and the canopy runs down into the streets. Roofs under it stay shaded and damp: moss, clogged gutters, ice dams, the odd limb through the shingle. We specify algae-resistant shingle, guards that shed leaves, and full attic ventilation.
Ridge lots and mountainside homes
The larger 1980s–2000s colonials off Skyline Drive and toward Ramapo Lake take the wind and carry more stone and cedar. We nail shingle to the high-wind pattern, seal the ridges, and maintain cedar siding rather than bury it in vinyl.
Materials
What Oakland's houses actually need
01
Architectural shingle, membrane and metal
The gable and hip roofs on the splits and colonials take a GAF or CertainTeed architectural shingle over ice-and-water membrane at eaves, valleys and walls. Flat rear sections and cottage roofs get a fully adhered membrane. On the hillside homes, standing seam metal or cedar shake fits; see our metal roof cost guide.
02
Siding over post-war framing
Vinyl or aluminum laid over the original wood with nothing behind it is the norm on a 1960s split. We open a test area, photograph it, and re-clad in fiber cement or a quality vinyl over a weather-resistive barrier, flashed at every opening. On the stone-and-cedar houses up the slope we repair and re-stain cedar rather than replace it.
03
Windows and doors from the build-out years
Original single-pane wood sash and first-generation aluminum sliders are still in many Oakland houses. An insert unit in a sound frame keeps the trim; a rotted frame gets a full-frame replacement flashed into the siding. Costs are in our window pricing guide.
04
Gutters sized for the canopy, decks for the slope
Seamless aluminum, 6-inch where the roof area and the trees call for it, and guards that shed oak leaves. Downspouts run to daylight, which in West Oakland is the work that matters most. On the sloped lots we build decks with the ledger flashed properly into the wall. See our gutter guard guide.
North-west Bergen
High ground, big trees, roofs that need looking at from above.
North-west Bergen is the county's high, wooded ground: larger lots, mature canopy, lakes and streams, pre-war village centers beside post-war subdivisions. The work here is less about density and more about what trees, shade and weather do to a roof, and gutters that keep up with an oak.
Where we work
Neighborhoods and streets we work in Oakland
ZIP code served: 07436.
- West Oakland — the river valley where the 1940s–60s bungalow colony grew; converted cottages, low-pitched roofs, the flood zone gauged at West Oakland Avenue.
- Ramapo Valley Road (US 202) — the downtown corridor and Copper Tree Mall; low-slope commercial roofs, post-war side streets behind.
- Skyline Drive and the slopes toward Ramapo Lake — wooded upland below the state forest; larger colonials in stone and cedar, wind on the ridge.
- Long Hill Road near the Franklin Lakes border — the industrial parks including the Oakland-McBride Center; low-slope membrane roofing.
- Around Dogwood Hill, Heights and Manito schools and Valley Middle School — the residential streets of splits, ranches and capes from the build-out decades.
In short
Oakland response, anywhere in 07436. Call (201) 446-5941 or request a free written estimate online.
Nearby
Nearby Bergen towns
Questions
Does Johannemann & Sons serve Oakland, NJ?
Yes — all of 07436, from the Ramapo Valley Road downtown to West Oakland on the river and the slopes off Skyline Drive, from our Edgewater base. Most of Oakland's houses were built between 1950 and 1972, so the work is what those houses need. That means architectural shingle roofing, leak and flashing repair, low-slope membrane on the flatter sections, siding over post-war framing, window and door replacement, gutters sized for the tree canopy, and decks on sloped lots.
My house is in West Oakland near the Ramapo River. What should I do differently?
Move the water on purpose. The Ramapo River overtopped bridges and destroyed homes in Hurricane Irene in 2011, and the borough's Flood Commission helps owners of repetitive-loss houses raise them. Many West Oakland houses began as seasonal cottages with low-pitched roofs and shallow eaves. We put a fully adhered membrane on any pitch too flat for shingle, run every downspout to daylight or a working drain, not the foundation, and keep siding and trim clear of grade. On an elevated house, gutters and downspouts are re-routed to the new grade.
Why does my 1960s split-level get ice dams and moss on one side?
Because the western half of Oakland is wooded upland and a north-facing roof under that canopy stays shaded and damp, while a split-level attic is often short on ventilation. Moss holds water against the shingle; a warm, unvented attic melts snow that refreezes at the cold eave. On a reroof we open the soffit and ridge for airflow, lay ice-and-water membrane at the eaves and valleys, and specify an algae-resistant shingle. Gutter guards that shed leaf load instead of trapping it finish the job.
Do I need a permit to replace a roof or build a deck in Oakland?
In New Jersey, like-for-like roofing and siding on a one- or two-family house is generally treated as ordinary maintenance and does not need a construction permit. A new or rebuilt deck, a new window opening, or a change to the roof structure does, and we file it with the borough. In the mapped flood zone along the Ramapo River the construction office may also look at the value of the work relative to the house, so we tell you before we file, not after.
Free assessment
Roofing for the homes of Oakland, NJ.
A free written estimate with photographs of what we found and the materials named by manufacturer and line, from a Bergen County exterior crew.