Flatlands is one of the six original towns of Kings County, settled by the Dutch, and the Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church on Kings Highway, a city landmark, still serves a congregation founded in 1654. The houses around it came much later. Most blocks were built from the 1920s through the 1950s with semi detached and detached brick houses, many of them Tudor style with tapestry brick, a steep front gable and a garage. Along Flatlands Avenue, Avenue J and Kings Highway there are small apartment buildings and stores.
Those steep roofs cover attics, and over the years a lot of those attics became bedrooms, offices and playrooms. Walls went up, insulation got stuffed between the rafters right against the roof boards, and the old gable vents were closed off or painted over. The result is a roof with no air moving under it. In summer the deck bakes and the shingles curl and lose their granules years early, usually on the south facing slope first. In winter warm air from the house melts snow on the roof, the water refreezes at the cold eave, and an ice dam backs water up under the shingles and into the ceiling.
The other thing we find in those attics is a bathroom fan blowing straight into them. All that moist air condenses on the underside of the roof boards in cold weather. From the attic you see dark stains, frost on the nail tips in January and roof boards that have gone soft. From outside, the shingles can look fine until the deck gives way under a foot. When we replace a Flatlands roof we add intake at the eaves and a ridge vent, put baffles in so the insulation does not block the air, and run the fans outside through a proper roof or wall cap. There is more on how that works in our roof ventilation guide.
A lot of the roofs we look at here were covered once already, with new shingles nailed over the old ones in the 1990s. New York City code does not allow a third layer, so the next roof means tearing everything down to the boards, which is also the only way to see how much of the deck the attic moisture has damaged. We work Kings Highway, Flatlands Avenue, Avenue J, Avenue K, Avenue L, Avenue M, Avenue N, Utica Avenue, Ralph Avenue and the East 30s, 40s and 50s streets.
What we actually see in 11234 and 11210: finished attic rooms with insulation packed against the roof boards and no air gap, bathroom fans venting into the attic, curled and bald shingles on south facing slopes, ice dams along the front eaves, and 1990s shingles nailed over the original roof.
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Q: My shingles are only 15 years old and already curling. Why?
A: Almost always heat from below. If your attic was finished and the insulation sits right against the roof boards with no vents, the shingles bake from underneath every summer. Better shingles alone will not fix it. The new roof needs air coming in at the eaves and leaving at the ridge, with baffles so the insulation does not block the path.
Q: We get ice along the edge of the roof every winter. What causes it?
A: Heat escaping from the house melts the snow higher up, and the water freezes again at the cold overhang. That ridge of ice holds back water that works under the shingles. The lasting fix is ventilation and air sealing in the attic, plus ice and water barrier along the eaves when the roof is replaced. Heat cables only treat the symptom.
Q: Our bathroom fan vents into the attic. Is that a problem for the roof?
A: Yes. The warm, wet air condenses on the underside of the roof boards in winter, and over a few years the roof boards rot and the nails rust. In Flatlands it is a leading reason we end up replacing deck boards. We run the duct outside through a roof or wall cap as part of the job.
Q: Can you put new shingles over my old roof to save money?
A: Only if there is just one layer now and the deck is sound. Many Flatlands roofs already have a second layer from the 1990s, and the city code does not allow a third. Even when a recover is allowed, we usually advise against it on a house with attic moisture, because tearing off is the only way to see the boards.
Q: How much is a shingle roof on a Flatlands Tudor?
A: Architectural shingles run about $7 to $10 per square foot installed. Tear-off adds about $1.50 to $3. On a semi detached Tudor that often comes to $9,000 to $18,000 in total, depending on how steep the roof is and how many boards are bad. Ventilation work is priced as a separate line so you can see it.
Q: Which ZIP codes do you cover in Flatlands?
A: All of Flatlands in 11234 and 11210, plus Marine Park, Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, Canarsie and Midwood. For an active leak call (516) 713-9199.
MLM Construction Group works out of 1717 Avenue P in Brooklyn, NY 11229. Flatlands is inside our regular service area, so estimates and emergency calls there are handled by the same crew, not subcontracted out.
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