Bay Ridge was built mostly between 1905 and the 1930s, and it is not one kind of house. The side streets between 4th and 5th Avenues are lined with two story limestone and brick row houses with bowed or angled fronts. Toward Ridge Boulevard and Shore Road the lots get wider and you find detached and semi detached houses with pitched shingle roofs, plus prewar apartment buildings facing the water. Along 3rd and 5th Avenues it is stores with apartments above.
Over the decades a lot of these houses grew. A family needed a bigger kitchen, so a one story extension went out the back with its own flat roof. A front porch got enclosed. A dormer went into the attic. Each addition has its own small roof, and each one meets an older brick or stucco wall. The flashing at that joint is usually the weak point: tar smeared into the brick instead of a metal flashing tucked into a mortar joint, or stucco run down over the flashing so nobody can see it. When the ceiling stain shows up in the kitchen at the back of the house, we look at where the extension roof meets the wall before we look at anything else.
The apartment buildings along Shore Road, Ridge Boulevard and 4th Avenue are a different job. Buildings taller than six stories have to have their facades, parapets included, inspected every five years under the city's Facade Inspection and Safety Program. When that report marks a parapet unsafe or in need of repair, the roof edge usually comes into it, because the parapet coping, the counterflashing and the membrane turned up behind the wall all meet in the same few inches. We work from the engineer's report, so the roof and the parapet get done once and in the right order, not by two crews blaming each other.
Bay Ridge got its first historic district in 2019. The Bay Ridge Parkway Doctors' Row Historic District covers 54 limestone row houses on Bay Ridge Parkway between 4th and 5th Avenues, and their original cornices are part of what was protected. Roof work on those houses needs a Landmarks permit even when nothing shows from the street. Like for like work that stays out of view is normally signed off by Commission staff without a public hearing. We file before we start, and we protect the cornice while we work. We cover Shore Road, Colonial Road, Ridge Boulevard, Narrows Avenue, Bay Ridge Parkway, 3rd Avenue, 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue, from 65th Street down to Fort Hamilton.
What we actually see in 11209 and 11220: rear extension roofs flashed with tar instead of metal, enclosed porch roofs pitched too flat for shingles, parapet coping cracked on Shore Road apartment buildings, dormer cheeks leaking behind the siding, and bowed front row houses with the roof edge pulled away from the cornice.
📞 Serving Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and all surrounding Brooklyn neighborhoods. Call (516) 713-9199 for a free estimate.
Q: My kitchen ceiling leaks at the back of the house. Is it the main roof?
A: Usually not. In Bay Ridge the kitchen is often in a rear extension that has its own flat roof, and the most common leak is where that roof meets the old back wall. If the flashing there is tar instead of metal set into the brick, water gets behind it. We check that joint first, and in many cases fixing the flashing solves it without touching the rest of the roof.
Q: Can I put shingles on my enclosed porch roof?
A: Only if it has enough pitch. Shingles need a slope of at least 2 in 12, and many porch and extension roofs in Bay Ridge are flatter than that. Shingles on a roof that shallow leak when wind drives rain up under them. We measure the pitch and use a membrane where shingles will not work.
Q: Our building's facade report flagged the parapets. Is that a roofing job?
A: Partly. The engineer's report under the Facade Inspection and Safety Program covers the parapet, but the top of that wall is where the coping, the counterflashing and the roof membrane all meet. If the masonry is rebuilt and the roof edge is not redone with it, the leak comes back. We read the report with your board or manager and price the roof edge together with the parapet work.
Q: My house is on Doctors' Row. Do I need Landmarks approval to replace the roof?
A: Yes. The Bay Ridge Parkway Doctors' Row Historic District was designated in 2019, and a roof replacement on those houses needs a Landmarks permit even if the roof cannot be seen from the street. If the new roof matches the old one and stays out of view, the approval normally comes from Commission staff without a hearing. We prepare the filing and protect the original cornice during the job.
Q: What does a new shingle roof cost on a detached house in Bay Ridge?
A: For a typical detached house with 1,400 to 1,800 square feet of roof, plan on about $12,000 to $23,000 with GAF Timberline HDZ, tear-off included. Rotted decking, a lot of valleys and dormers, or new gutters push it higher. The written price comes once we have walked the roof and looked at the deck from the attic.
Q: Which ZIP codes do you cover in Bay Ridge?
A: All of Bay Ridge and Fort Hamilton in 11209, and the northern blocks in 11220, plus Dyker Heights, Sunset Park and Bensonhurst. For an active leak call (516) 713-9199.
MLM Construction Group works out of 1717 Avenue P in Brooklyn, NY 11229. Bay Ridge is inside our regular service area, so estimates and emergency calls there are handled by the same crew, not subcontracted out.
Highest possible Better Business Bureau rating. Verified track record of quality work in Bay Ridge and all of Brooklyn.
Background checked and verified through Google's guarantee program. You are protected on every job.
Licensed & Insured. All permits pulled, all work done to NYC DOB code. Full liability and workers' comp.
Active leak in Bay Ridge? We respond fast, nights, weekends, and holidays. Call (516) 713-9199.
Every major installation backed by our 20-year workmanship warranty plus manufacturer materials warranty.
We beat or match any written estimate from a licensed competitor. Fair, transparent pricing, always.
Free estimate, we respond within 24 hours. Call Meir Levy directly or fill out the form on our homepage.
📞 (516) 713-9199 📋 Free Estimate Form