Roofing crew installing shingles on a house in Mastic, New York

Alec's Construction repairs and replaces roofs in Mastic (11950) — leaks traced to the cause, flashings and valleys, wind and ice-dam damage, and full tear-off replacements — working out of the yard in East Patchogue. Repairs and sheet-metal work run straight through the winter; replacements go on with the warm days.

Roofs in Mastic

Mastic runs from the William Floyd Parkway east to the Forge River, and the roofs are mostly on 1950s-to-70s ranches and capes on small lots. These are simple roofs — a long gable or a low hip over one storey, sometimes a dormered cape — and the problem is rarely the shape. It is exposure and history. The blocks toward the Forge River and its canals were rebuilt fast after 2012, and a lot of the roofs on that side went on in the same rush as the siding. A southeast gust off Moriches Bay works at the rakes and corners first, the same places the vinyl lets go. Up toward Montauk Highway the threat changes to pitch pine on sandy ground, which comes over whole after a wet week and lands on one-storey roofs that cannot take the weight. Two halves of one hamlet, two different roof conversations.

What We Look at First in Mastic

In Mastic we pull a few tabs at the rake edge and look at the nailing before anything else. A roof that went on in a hurry shows it there: nails high, starter strip missing at the rakes, drip edge skipped. If the nailing is right, the roof gets repaired. If it is wrong across the field, it gets replaced, because no amount of patching fixes nails that miss the shingle's common bond. Work files with Brookhaven in Farmingville.

Canal-Street Roofs: Rebuilt Fast, Re-Roofed Over

A lot of the canal-grid houses in Mastic were repaired in a hurry after 2012, and some of those roofs went on over an older layer rather than down to the deck. A roof laid over another one hides the sheathing, carries more weight and gives the new shingles less life, and it is the first thing we check when a canal-street roof leaks.

The houses on these grids are 1950s and 60s ranches and capes, close together, with simple gable roofs and the occasional low-slope addition at the back. The low-slope section is where water sits, and where shingles were used on a pitch too shallow for them it is where the leak is.

The wind comes off the bay over open water and the canals, and it finds the rake edges and the ridge first. A replacement here goes down to the deck, the sheathing gets checked and renewed where it is soft, the eaves and valleys get ice-and-water membrane, and the edges get fastened for the wind they actually see.

Failed step flashing and old roof cement where a chimney meets the shingles

Leaks Are Flashing Problems Until Proven Otherwise

The open field of a roof almost never leaks. Water gets in where the roof meets something else — a chimney, a wall, a dormer, a valley, a vent pipe, a skylight — and on a great many Long Island roofs that flashing was done once, failed, and has been covered in roof cement ever since. Roof cement goes brittle within a few winters and hides the failure while the water keeps getting in.

So a repair starts by finding where the water actually enters, which is often several feet from where the stain shows, and fixing the flashing there. Repairs, flashing and sheet-metal work run all winter. Full asphalt replacements go on the warmer days, and shingles laid in the cold are hand-sealed so they hold in the first wind.

Permits in Mastic

Mastic files with the Town of Brookhaven at Independence Hill in Farmingville. Roof replacement is permitted work in most of Suffolk, and the limit on shingle layers decides whether the old roof has to come off — on our jobs it comes off regardless. We file the permit.

Alex walks the house in Mastic, photographs what he finds and gives you a written scope in the order the work has to happen — whether or not you hire us. Call (631) 312-7441 to set up a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

My Mastic house near the Forge River was re-roofed in the rush after 2012. Should I have it checked?

It is worth a look, not because those roofs were all done badly but because so many went on at once with whoever was available. The things to check are the nail line, the starter strip at the rakes and eaves, the drip edge and whether the attic got any ventilation. A roof can look fine from the street and still be nailed where the next southeast gust will peel it. A few minutes on a ladder at the rake tells you most of it.

Where does a roof in Mastic usually leak?

At the flashings, not the field. Chimneys, valleys, dormer walls, skylights, plumbing vents and roof-to-wall joints are where water gets in, and roof cement over an old flashing is the most common failed repair on Long Island. The entry point is often not above the stain, so the first job is tracing it.

Does a new roof fix ice dams on a Mastic house?

Not by itself. Ice dams come from attic heat melting snow that refreezes at the cold eave. Ice-and-water membrane at the eaves limits the damage, but the cure is air sealing and ventilation in the attic so the roof deck stays cold. We look at the attic on every roof walkthrough.

Who issues the permit for roofing work in Mastic?

Mastic files with the Town of Brookhaven at Independence Hill in Farmingville. Roof replacement is permitted work in most of Suffolk, and the limit on shingle layers decides whether the old roof has to come off — on our jobs it comes off regardless. We file the permit.

Related Guides

Work With Alec's Construction

This page is written by the crew that does the work. See Alec's Roofing service — tear-offs, repairs, flashing and storm damage across Suffolk County. One crew from the first walkthrough to the last inspection.

Also in Mastic through the cold months: Seamless Gutters and Attic Insulation.

Also Serving Mastic

Talk to Alec's Construction About Roofing in Mastic

We come out, look at the house, photograph what we find and put a written scope in your hand. No pressure, no obligation. Working across Suffolk County since 2018.

Or call (631) 312-7441

No cost, no obligation. We reply the same day.