Roofing crew installing shingles on a Long Island house

Alec's Construction repairs and replaces roofs in Northport, Suffolk County — leaks traced to the cause, flashings and valleys, ice-dam damage, and full replacements — working out of the yard in East Patchogue. Roof repairs, flashing and sheet-metal work run straight through the winter; replacements go on the warm days.

Roofs in Northport

Northport village roofs are the oldest and most complicated on our board — steep Victorian roofs with multiple valleys, dormers and chimneys, slate on some of them, and a harbour wind that finds every weak flashing. Outside the village the post-war streets have the standard cape and ranch roofs. In the village, a roof is mostly flashings and valleys, and the shingles are the easy part.

Leaks Are Flashing Problems Until Proven Otherwise

The field of a roof — the plain expanse of shingles — almost never leaks. Water gets in where the roof meets something else: a chimney, a dormer wall, a valley, a skylight, a plumbing vent, a wall. Every one of those joints is a flashing detail, and on a great many Long Island roofs the flashing was done once, failed, and has been roof-cemented over ever since. Roof cement is brittle within a few winters and hides the failure while the water keeps going in.

Tracing a leak means finding where the water actually enters, which is often several feet from where the stain shows, and fixing the flashing there — step flashing woven with the courses, counterflashing let into the mortar, a proper valley — rather than patching the shingles above the stain.

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

Winter Roofing, Honestly

  • Repairs, flashing, valleys, caps and chase covers — all winter, in any temperature.
  • Ice-dam damage — the roof repaired, the interior restored, and the attic corrected so it does not repeat.
  • Full replacement — on the warm days. The self-sealing strip on asphalt shingles needs sun and warmth to bond, and a roof laid in the cold gets hand-sealed at every course so it holds in the first nor'easter.

Permits in Northport

The Village of Northport runs its own building department at 224 Main Street, (631) 261-7502, separate from the Town of Huntington. Roof replacement is permitted work in most of Suffolk, and the layer limits decide whether the old roof comes off — it should.

Free roof inspection in Northport. Alex goes up, photographs every flashing, the valleys and the field, and you get the photographs and an honest repair-or-replace answer whether or not you hire us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a slate roof in Northport village be repaired rather than replaced?

Very often yes, and it should be. A slate roof that is losing a few slates a year is usually failing at the fasteners, not the slate, and individual slates can be replaced and the flashings renewed without touching the rest. What kills slate roofs is somebody walking on them, and somebody replacing failed flashings with roof cement. We will tell you honestly whether the roof is at the point of replacement or whether a careful repair and new flashings buys another decade, which for a lot of Northport slate it does.

Where does a roof usually leak?

At the flashings, not the field. Chimneys, valleys, dormer cheeks, skylights, plumbing vents and the roof-to-wall joints are where the water gets in, and roof cement troweled over old flashing is the most common failed repair on Long Island. Tracing the leak to the actual entry point — which is often not above the stain — is the first job.

Should I repair or replace?

If the roof is sound and the leak is a flashing or a valley, repair it and get years more from it. If the shingles are curling, losing granules and on a second layer, a repair buys a season and a replacement is the honest answer. We say which it is, and we will tell you when a repair is the right call.

Does a roof replacement need a permit?

In most Suffolk towns and villages, yes, and several limit the number of shingle layers, which decides whether the old roof comes off. We file, and we take the old layers off — a roof laid over two old ones is heavy, hides the sheathing, and shortens the life of the new shingles.

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Work With Alec's Construction

This guide is written by the crew that does the work. See Alec's Roofing service — tear-offs, repairs, flashing and storm damage across Suffolk and Nassau. Licensed and insured on Long Island, one crew start to finish, free walkthrough and a written estimate inside 48 hours.

Booking the cold months now: we also handle Seamless Gutters and Storm Damage & Insurance Restoration.

Get a Free Estimate from Alec's Construction

Working across Suffolk County since 2018, one crew from start to finish. We come out, look at the actual job, and put a written number in your hand — no pressure, no obligation.

Or call (631) 312-7441

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