Roofing crew installing shingles on a house in Mount Sinai, New York

Alec's Construction repairs and replaces roofs in Mount Sinai (11766) — 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 Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai has the harbour at the bottom, the bluffs above it, and the newest housing on this part of the North Shore. Around Mount Sinai Harbor, the marina and Shore Road, the low streets take the northeast wind straight off the water through the narrow inlet. Above them are 1970s to 90s colonials and contemporaries on wooded lots under oak and tulip trees. The contemporaries are the distinctive roof here: steep shed roofs, low-slope sections, clerestory walls, skylights and long walls where a roof dies into siding. That is a lot of flashing on one house, and every piece faces the wind off the Sound on the north-facing slopes. The bluff-top houses take that wind first. A contemporary roof in Mount Sinai usually leaks at a joint, not in the field of shingles.

What We Look at First in Mount Sinai

On a Mount Sinai contemporary we trace the leak backward from the ceiling to the nearest joint in the roof: a skylight curb, the top of a shed roof where it meets a wall, a low-slope section, or a kick-out that was never installed. We water-test that joint before we open anything. On the colonials we start on the north slopes and gable ends facing the Sound. Permits go to Brookhaven at Independence Hill.

North Shore Roofs: Steep, Old and Facing the Sound

The harbour hamlets have some of the oldest and most complicated roofs in Suffolk — steep pitches, several valleys, dormers and chimneys — and a northeast wind off the Sound and the harbour that finds every weak flashing on the north side first. On a roof like that, the shingles are the easy part. The roof is mostly its flashings and valleys.

A leak on an older North Shore house is traced, not guessed at. Water often enters at a chimney, a dormer cheek or a valley and runs along the sheathing before it shows on a ceiling several feet away. The repair is at the entry point: step flashing woven with the courses, counterflashing let into the mortar joint, a proper valley rather than a bead of roof cement.

The north-facing slopes on these hills hold snow longest and see the least winter sun, which is where ice dams form. A roof that ice-dams every winter has an attic problem underneath it, and the roof repair includes saying so.

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

Repair or Replace, Honestly

If the roof is sound and the leak is a flashing or a valley, the right answer is a repair, and the roof has years left in it. If the shingles are curling, shedding granules and already on a second layer, a repair buys a season and replacement is the honest answer. Alex goes up, photographs every flashing, the valleys and the field, and you get the photographs either way.

A replacement here is a tear-off to the deck. The sheathing gets checked and renewed where it is soft, ice-and-water membrane goes at the eaves and valleys, flashings are replaced rather than reused, and the attic ventilation is balanced so the new roof is not cooked from below or iced at the eave.

Permits in Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai files with the Town of Brookhaven at Independence Hill in Farmingville; the streets around Mount Sinai Harbor and Cedar Beach are in the mapped flood zone. 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 Mount Sinai, 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 Mount Sinai contemporary has skylights and low-slope sections. Why does it keep leaking?

Because those houses have more roof joints than ordinary houses, and the wind off the Sound pushes water into every one. The usual culprits are skylight flashing that was sealed rather than stepped, low-slope sections roofed with shingles instead of a membrane, and shed roofs that stop against a wall without proper counterflashing. We find the exact joint, rebuild it properly and use a membrane where the pitch is too low for shingles.

Do you tear off the old roof in Mount Sinai or go over it?

We tear off to the deck. A roof laid over an old layer hides soft sheathing, adds weight and shortens the life of the new shingles, and layer limits in most Suffolk towns decide it anyway. Tear-off lets us renew the sheathing, flashings and membrane properly.

Where does a roof in Mount Sinai 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.

Who issues the permit for roofing work in Mount Sinai?

Mount Sinai files with the Town of Brookhaven at Independence Hill in Farmingville; the streets around Mount Sinai Harbor and Cedar Beach are in the mapped flood zone. 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 Mount Sinai through the cold months: Seamless Gutters and Attic Insulation.

Also Serving Mount Sinai

Talk to Alec's Construction About Roofing in Mount Sinai

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.