Roof Inspection in North Arlington, NJ

Is the roof so old that nobody remembers when it went on, or has a storm just passed over it? Call __PHONE_DISPLAY__ with the address and the age of the house, and a roofer can set a time to look it over before anything leaks.

Call __PHONE_DISPLAY__ for a time Pairs with storm damage

Roofer on a ladder checking the eave under twin dormers

When it cannot wait

Reasons to look before the next season

Plenty of roofs get looked at only when they leak. A walk around in autumn, ahead of the first freeze, or in spring after the thaw, catches a lifted flashing or a clogged valley while it is still a small job. The National Park Service's roofing brief asks for inspection at least twice a year and names flashing failure as usually a major cause of roof deterioration.

A house that has just changed hands, or a roof nobody has seen in a decade, is also a fair reason. Dial __PHONE_DISPLAY__ and ask for a time; the address and the roof's age, if known, help.

What the work involves

What a roofer walks past, in order

From the ground, the roofer looks along the ridge and eaves, then at the gutters and the walls under the roofline. Up top, the work covers the field of shingles, the flashing at every chimney, wall and vent, the valleys and the way the edges are finished. In the attic, a flashlight shows the underside of the boards, the insulation and any dark trails left by water.

Ladder falls in the United States kill more than 100 people a year, NIOSH reports, which is reason enough to keep homeowner checks at ground level, with binoculars.

Stop and get help first if

A service cable has come loose from the house or lies on the roof edge: assume it is live, stay well back, and call 911 or the utility.
Someone is about to climb a ladder to look: do not set it near wires or on soft, sloping ground, and stay off it altogether when the surface is wet.
Smoke or a scorched smell comes from the attic or around the chimney: leave the house and call 911.
The attic floor feels spongy or the ceiling below is bowed: stay off the attic floor and keep others out of the room beneath.

Close to home

By the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 year-built ranges, about 89 percent of North Arlington's homes (6,157 of roughly 6,900) predate 1980, and 1,366 go back to 1939 or earlier. On a house of that vintage, ask the roofer to count the shingle layers and to look closely at the metal around the chimney.

The Teterboro Airport normals for 1991-2020 run from an average July high of 87.0 degrees down to a January average low of 25.7, a spread of about 61 degrees (derived by subtraction). Roofing materials expand and contract across that range every year, and that wear is what an inspection looks for.

What moves the price

What the price of a look depends on

A walk-through with a short written summary is a different job from a full report with photographs of each slope. The size of the roof, how steep it is, whether the attic can be reached and how many stories the roofer has to climb all change the time.

Questions worth asking: what the visit includes, whether photos come with it, and whether the price is credited if repair work follows.

Paperwork pointer

Who needs to know about an inspection

An inspection is a look, not work, so the paperwork questions begin only if repairs follow. For those, the rules page covers what the state exempts, what each town's office handles and how to check a contractor: before work begins.

Blue tarp held down with wood strips beneath two dormers

Pairs with

Storm Damage

After wind, falling limbs or a downpour

Did the wind leave shingles in the yard, a limb on the roof or a wet spot on the ceiling by morning?

Open storm damage

Where the facts come from (6)

Checked 1 Nov 2026