Roofing & exteriors in Wallington, NJ
Wallington is one square mile of close-set houses across the Passaic River from the city of Passaic, and one of the densest boroughs in New Jersey. Its homes are pre-war frame two-families and 1940s-to-60s Capes and small colonials on narrow lots, most re-sided more than once. That means simple roofs a few feet from the neighbor's, drainage two houses share, and walls that hide their history.
Wallington was created in January 1895, at the tail of the "Boroughitis" wave that gave Bergen County twenty-six new boroughs, and named for Walling Van Winkle. In the early 1900s it was advertised as a "Slovak colony" for immigrant families leaving the cities, and it remains one of the most Polish-ancestry towns in the region. About 23 percent of today's housing predates 1939 and another 52 percent went up between the 1940s and the 1960s. Only about 7 percent dates from 2000 or later; the median house is from 1961, and the borough was built out by 1970.
It is a two-family town, not a single-family suburb. Duplexes, houses converted to apartments and small two-to-four-unit buildings make up nearly half of the borough's 5,108 housing units, detached single-family houses roughly a fifth, and renters outnumber owners. A pre-war frame two-family carries a roof that serves two households, walls sided over at least once, and a gutter run that may empty a few feet from the neighbor's foundation. The Capes and small colonials add their own list: five-inch gutters on roofs that need six, an unventilated kneewall attic under a finished half-story, and aluminum or vinyl over the original wood.
Then there is the ground: the low-lying southern half of the county, with the Passaic River as its entire western boundary and three old bridges — Gregory Avenue, Market Street and Eighth Street — over to Passaic. Low, flat, tightly built ground gives rainwater few places to go, so where a downspout discharges matters as much as what the roof is made of. We start with the roof and follow the water down.
What we check first on a Wallington house
The eave nearest the neighbor
On lots this narrow the edge of one roof is often within arm's reach of the next. We check whether both roofs drain into the same strip of ground, whether the gutters overshoot each other in a heavy rain, and where that water ends up.
Layers on the roof, layers on the walls
A house re-roofed and re-sided several times over six decades can carry two courses of shingle and two skins of siding. We count them: a third layer of shingle is not permitted, and whatever is under the aluminum decides how the new wall goes together.
The attic under the half-story
Capes finish the second floor into the roof, leaving short kneewall attics that rarely have intake or exhaust. We look for rusted nail tips, stained sheathing and ice at the eaves in February, and size ventilation with the roof, not after it. Where leaks actually start →
Where the downspouts go
Low ground and small lots mean a downspout dumping at the foundation is a wet basement. We run them to daylight where the lot allows, and size gutters to the roof area they serve. Gutters →
What we install on Wallington houses
Architectural shingle with ventilation
For the gable roofs on the two-families, Capes and colonials: a wind-rated architectural shingle over ice-and-water shield at eaves, valleys and wall intersections, with soffit intake and ridge exhaust sized to the attic. Roofing →
Low-slope membrane
For the flat and low-pitch sections on converted houses and small apartment buildings: fully adhered EPDM or TPO, tapered to the drains, with parapet and wall flashing detailed as one system. How long each roof lasts →
Siding, windows and doors
Insulated vinyl or fiber cement over new housewrap, with the original sheathing repaired first. Windows go in flashed into the opening, not caulked to old trim, and the estimate says what we do if the sills are soft. Siding → Windows & doors →
Small lots, low ground and rain with nowhere to go.
The boroughs along the Passaic and the Hackensack are the county's working towns: two-families and Capes shoulder to shoulder on ground that holds water. An exterior contractor here has to know membrane as well as shingle, size gutters for rain the soil will not absorb, and think about the neighbor's foundation too.
Neighborhoods and streets we work in Wallington
ZIP code served: 07057.
- Wallington South — the borough's highest share of duplexes and small two-to-four-unit buildings: shared driveways, facing eaves, low-slope roofs over converted houses.
- The Borough Center — pre-war frame houses, Capes and small colonials on close-set lots.
- The streets toward the Passaic River and the Gregory Avenue, Market Street and Eighth Street bridges — the low ground along the river, where downspout routing decides whether a basement stays dry.
- Spring Street and Hathaway Street, by the borough's soccer field and skate park — frame two-families and post-war Capes on narrow lots.
- The blocks near Wallington High School and the streets around the 17-acre Samuel Nelkin County Park — the borough's usual mix of duplexes, Capes and small colonials.
Wallington response, anywhere in 07057. Call (201) 446-5941 or request a free written estimate online.
Adjacent Bergen towns
Does Johannemann & Sons serve Wallington, NJ?
Yes — every address in 07057, from the two-family blocks of Wallington South to the Capes and small colonials around the Borough Center and the streets that run down to the Passaic River. We work on the pitched shingle roofs and the low-slope sections common to the borough's duplexes, converted houses and small apartment buildings, and on the siding, windows, doors, gutters and decks that go with them. Estimates are written, free and come with photographs.
My Wallington two-family is a few feet from the next house and both roofs drain into the same strip of ground. Whose gutters are the problem?
Usually both, and the fix is on your side of the line. On lots this narrow, two eaves often face each other over a shared driveway, and in a heavy rain each gutter overshoots into the other's ground. We look at where each roof plane sends its water, move downspouts so yours discharge to the street or the back where the lot allows, and size the gutter to the roof area it carries. A six-inch gutter on the long eave often ends the overshoot on its own.
Can I put another layer of shingles on my Cape instead of tearing off?
Only if there is one layer now. New Jersey's building code allows two layers of asphalt shingle, and a 1950s or 60s house that has been re-roofed once already has its two. We count the layers at the eave before quoting. Tear-off also lets us see the deck, replace rotted boards, add ice-and-water shield and open the eaves for ventilation — none of which a layover allows. Like-for-like re-roofing on a one- or two-family house is ordinary maintenance under the state code; we confirm with the borough's construction office.
Roofing for the homes of Wallington, NJ.
A free written estimate with photographs and the materials named by product, from a Bergen County exterior crew based in Edgewater.