Bensonhurst filled in after 1915, when the Sea Beach line was tied into the new 4th Avenue subway. What went up is still here: rows of attached and semi detached brick two family houses on the numbered streets and the avenues from 14th to 25th, and four to six story apartment buildings closer to 86th Street, Bay Parkway and New Utrecht Avenue. Most of the houses date from the 1920s to the 1950s, and many have been in the same family for two or three generations, with parents downstairs and a son, a daughter or a paying tenant on the top floor.
That arrangement changes how a leak plays out. The owner lives on the ground floor and never sees the roof or the top floor ceiling. The tenant notices a stain, puts a pot under it and mentions it a few weeks later. By then the roof boards under the wet spot may be soft and the plaster ready to come down. When a leak reaches a rental apartment it can also bring an HPD complaint, and a violation comes with a deadline to correct it. We answer those calls first, dry in the roof the same day when we can, and give the owner photos and a written description of the repair to keep with the paperwork.
On the walk ups the weak spot is often the stair bulkhead, not the roof field. The door threshold sits too low, the roofing was never carried up under it, and every driving rain pushes water across the landing and down the top flight of stairs. Tenants report it as a ceiling leak in the hallway. The fix is raising the curb under the door and flashing the membrane up the bulkhead walls properly, and while we are there we check the parapet coping, the roof hatch and the drain, which on a building this size is often one outlet doing all the work.
Many of the two family houses have a pitched front slope over the top floor bedrooms and a flat roof behind it. Where the two meet is a common leak point, especially when the front was reshingled in one decade and the back was torched in another by a different roofer. We redo that transition as one piece of work. We cover 18th Avenue, 20th Avenue, Bay Parkway, 86th Street, Bath Avenue, New Utrecht Avenue, Cropsey Avenue, 25th Avenue and the numbered streets and Bay streets in between.
What we actually see in 11214, 11204 and 11223: top floor ceilings stained for months before anyone called, stair bulkhead doors with no curb under the threshold, a single roof drain on a walk up half blocked with leaves, front slopes and rear flat roofs done by different roofers years apart, and patched roofs with an open HPD violation waiting on the repair.
📞 Serving Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and all surrounding Brooklyn neighborhoods. Call (516) 713-9199 for a free estimate.
A complete roof replacement on a 76th Street house, photographed from the air across the whole job. The entire roof came off down to the rafters, the decking was replaced, and the house was closed in and finished in six working days.
The reason a roof like this is a six day job and not a two day job is the shape. Count the planes: two hip ends, a dormer, and the valleys where they meet. Every one of those is a hand cut detail. A simple gable roof of the same square footage goes on in half the time, because it is one flat field and two edges.
We also took it to the rafters rather than laying over. On a Brooklyn house of this age the original boards have usually been through at least one previous roof, and you do not find the soft spots until the old layers are off. Replacing decking is cheap while the roof is open and expensive once the shingles are back on.
Order of work matters on a roof with this many junctions. Valley metal, pipe collars and step flashing all go in before the shingles that cover them, not after. Flashing sealed on top of finished shingles is the single most common thing we find when we are called back to somebody else's roof two winters later.
Six working days, start to finish, with the house dried in every night. If you want the same job walked and quoted on your street, call (516) 713-9199.
Q: My tenant says water is coming through the ceiling. What should I do first?
A: Call us the same day and get someone onto the roof. We cover or patch the source right away so no more water goes in, then look at the whole roof and tell you whether it needs a repair or a replacement. Ask your tenant to move belongings away from the spot and send you a photo, so there is a record of when it started.
Q: I got an HPD violation for a leak. Can you help me clear it?
A: We do the roof repair and give you dated photos, an invoice and a written description of exactly what was fixed. You use those to certify the correction with HPD before the deadline. The interior plaster and paint in the apartment still have to be repaired as well, and we can tell you when the roof is dry enough for that.
Q: Water comes in under the roof door of our building and down the stairs. Is the roof bad?
A: Usually the roof is fine and the problem is the bulkhead. If the door threshold sits at the same height as the roof, rain blows right under it. We raise the curb, flash the membrane up the walls and under the new threshold, and the stairwell stays dry.
Q: My front slope has shingles and the back is flat. Why does it leak where they meet?
A: Because two different materials meet on a small change in slope, and they were often installed by different roofers years apart. The shingles lap onto a flat roof that has to be turned up under them, and if that was not done right, water gets under both. We tear back both sides and rebuild the transition as one detail.
Q: How much should I budget for a roof on a Bensonhurst two family?
A: Budget about $9 to $18 per square foot for the flat part, which is $13,500 to $27,000 on a typical 1,500 square foot roof, including stripping the old roofing. If the front slope needs shingles too, add roughly $8.50 to $13 per square foot of slope, tear-off included. Walk up apartment buildings are priced after a roof visit because size and drains vary a lot.
Q: Which ZIP codes do you cover in Bensonhurst?
A: All of Bensonhurst in 11214, 11204 and 11223, plus Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, Gravesend and Borough Park. For an active leak call (516) 713-9199.
MLM Construction Group works out of 1717 Avenue P in Brooklyn, NY 11229. Bensonhurst 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 Bensonhurst 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 Bensonhurst? 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