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

Alec's Construction repairs and replaces roofs in Setauket (11733) — 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 Setauket

Setauket is one of the oldest places on Long Island, and its roofs show it. Around the village green and along Main Street and Old Town Road are 1700s and 1800s houses, some still with cedar or slate roofs, under trees planted with them. South toward Route 25A are 1960s and 70s colonials on wooded lots under oak and tulip trees that stand over the roofs. Setauket Harbor and Conscience Bay open north onto the Sound, so the wind off the water hits the north-facing slopes hardest, and a falling limb is the most common way an old roof gets opened. A limb through a cedar roof on a historic house is a different repair from a limb through asphalt on a 1970s colonial — different materials, different fasteners, different way of weaving new into old. The Villages of Poquott and Old Field next door run their own building departments.

What We Look at First in Setauket

On an old Setauket house with cedar, we look at the shingles around the damage before planning the repair: how they are laid, how weathered they are, and whether the surrounding courses will take new shingles woven in. Then we check the underlayment or skip sheathing beneath. On the 1970s colonials we start with the slopes under the trees. We confirm whether the address files with Brookhaven or with Poquott or Old Field.

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 Setauket

Setauket and East Setauket file with the Town of Brookhaven at Independence Hill in Farmingville; the Village of Poquott on the harbour and the Village of Old Field to the west run their own building departments. The harbour-front and Conscience Bay streets 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 Setauket, 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

A limb came through the cedar roof on my old Setauket house. Can it be patched, or does the whole roof go?

Usually it can be patched. We remove the broken shingles and the courses above them, repair the sheathing underneath and weave new cedar into the existing courses so the joints overlap properly. New cedar will look lighter for a while and weather to match. If the rest of the roof is near the end of its life — brittle, split or thin — we tell you, because a patch on worn cedar does not last.

Should I repair or replace my roof in Setauket?

If the roof is sound and the leak is a flashing or a valley, repair it. If the shingles are curling, losing granules and on a second layer, a repair buys a season and replacement is the honest answer. Alex photographs the whole roof and tells you which it is.

Do you tear off the old roof in Setauket 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.

Who issues the permit for roofing work in Setauket?

Setauket and East Setauket file with the Town of Brookhaven at Independence Hill in Farmingville; the Village of Poquott on the harbour and the Village of Old Field to the west run their own building departments. The harbour-front and Conscience Bay streets 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 Setauket through the cold months: Seamless Gutters and Attic Insulation.

Also Serving Setauket

Talk to Alec's Construction About Roofing in Setauket

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.