Roofing in Mountain Lakes
Hapgood began laying out this borough around nine lakes in 1910, and by 1923 he had put up 482 stucco houses across it. Residents still sort them into the three types he named, the Manor House, the Semi-Bungalow, and the Swiss Chalet, but nearly all of them share the same signature: a low hip roof with deep overhanging eaves sitting over pastel stucco walls and boulderstone foundations. That roofline is beautiful and it is also demanding, because a wide eave and a stucco wall together decide where every gallon of roof runoff ends up.
The place where a Hapgood roof plane dies into a stucco wall or a stucco chimney is where these houses get into trouble. Water sheeting down the roof wants to run straight behind the stucco unless a properly sized kickout flashing throws it clear at the eave, and undersized or missing kickouts are one of the most common reasons a century-old stucco wall starts staining and softening below a roof-wall junction. Stucco hides moisture for years, so by the time it shows on the inside the sheathing and framing behind it have usually already taken damage.
We work these houses part by part rather than reaching for a full tear-off. Often the real fix is rebuilding the step and counter-flashing where a hip meets a dormer cheek, cutting fresh reglets into the stucco chimney so new counter-flashing seats into the masonry instead of getting caulked to its face, or renewing the ice-and-water shield and valley liner under the eave while leaving sound field shingles alone. The goal is to keep the original Hapgood roofline intact and watertight, and to tell you plainly when the roof needs less than you feared.
Sleeping porches, dormers, and stucco chimneys on a Hapgood roof
A lot of these houses carry a second-floor open-air sleeping porch, and where that porch roof or its low-slope deck ties back into the main house you get a roof-to-wall transition that lives under constant runoff from the eave above. Those junctions want real step and counter-flashing woven into the courses, and on the flatter porch decks a membrane turned up behind the counter-flashing where shallow-pitched shingles would only back water up under the wall. Hip roofs with dormers add more of the same: each dormer cheek wall and each valley off the hip needs its own flashed detail, plus a cricket or saddle behind a wide chimney to steer water around it instead of letting it pond against the stucco.
The chimneys themselves are usually stucco over boulderstone, and they are where we take real care. Counter-flashing on a masonry-and-stucco chimney belongs in a cut reglet with fresh galvanized or copper stepped into the courses rather than smeared across the surface, and the cricket, pipe boots, and any nearby valley all have to shed toward the eave and its kickout. On the deep overhanging eaves that define these roofs, ice-and-water shield running from the eave up through the valleys is what protects the exposed chestnut trim and the stucco below when snow backs up behind an ice dam.
Morris County Weather & Wear
Inland Morris gets more snow than the coastal counties and sustained winter wind on the ridgelines. Roofs here need solid ice-and-water-shield coverage at the eaves.
Services for Mountain Lakes Homes
Every Tri-State service is available to Mountain Lakes homeowners. Click any service for the full scope and pricing details.
Roof Inspection
Comprehensive multi-point inspections that catch problems early.
Roof Repairs
Fast, lasting fixes for leaks, missing shingles, and storm damage.
Roof Replacement
Full tear-off replacements with architectural shingles and a written warranty.
Gutter Cleaning & Installation
Keep water moving away from your home with clean, well-pitched gutters.
Chimney Repair & Servicing
Crown repair, tuckpointing, flashing, and chimney rebuilds.
Concrete Slab Foundations
Poured slab foundations for additions, garages, and outbuildings.
Vinyl Siding Installation
Modern, low-maintenance siding that boosts curb appeal and value.
Metal Roofing Installation & Repair
Standing-seam and metal roofing built to outlast asphalt by decades.
Slate Roofing Installation & Repair
Natural and synthetic slate — the longest-lasting roof you can buy.
Tile Roofing Installation & Repair
Clay and concrete tile roofing with a 50+ year lifespan.
Flat Roof Repair & Replacement
TPO, EPDM, and modified bitumen for flat and low-slope roofs.
Skylight Installation & Repair
Leak-free skylight installation, replacement, and re-flashing.
Foundation Repair & Waterproofing
Crack repair, basement waterproofing, drainage, and structural fixes.
Masonry, Brick & Concrete
Brick & stone repointing, steps, walkways, concrete repair, and restoration.
Retaining Walls & Hardscaping
Engineered retaining walls, paver patios, walkways, and drainage.
In-Depth Guides for Mountain Lakes & Morris County
These pages go deep on specific services in your area — local permit practice, the housing stock we see on these streets, and answers to the questions Morris County homeowners actually ask us.
Roofing Materials We Install in Mountain Lakes
Different Mountain Lakes homes need different roof systems. Here are the material tiers we install most often in this part of Morris County — picked based on the housing stock, climate exposure, and the kind of work Mountain Lakes homeowners actually ask us for.
Architectural Asphalt Shingle
Best value for most NJ homes
Designer / Luxury Asphalt
Upgraded curb appeal + longer warranty
Cedar Shake & Shingle
Natural look for historic homes
Standing-Seam Metal
Lifetime roof for steep pitches
Snow-Load Ice Shield Spec
Built for Mountain Lakes's heavy winters
How Your Mountain Lakes Roof Project Runs
Every job follows the same five steps, from the first call to the final magnetic nail sweep:
- 1Free on-site inspection
- 2Written estimate with photos
- 3Material delivery and crew dispatch
- 4Tear-off, deck inspection, and install
- 5Final walkthrough and warranty registration
Common Mountain Lakes Roof Problems We Fix
Patterns we see again and again on Mountain Lakes roofs — most driven by the local housing stock and Morris County climate. If any of these sound familiar, give us a call for a free on-site assessment.
- Kickout flashing at the eave: where a Hapgood roof plane ends against a stucco wall, an undersized or missing kickout lets runoff track behind the stucco and rot the sheathing before anything shows inside
- Stucco chimney counter-flashing: boulderstone-and-stucco chimneys need counter-flashing set into a cut reglet with a proper cricket, since surface caulk on that face fails within a few seasons
- Second-floor sleeping-porch tie-ins: the low-slope porch decks and their roof-to-wall junctions need membrane and step or counter-flashing, since shallow-pitched shingles there back water up under the wall
- Hip-and-dormer valleys: the hip roofs carry multiple dormers, and every dormer cheek wall and valley needs its own flashed and lined detail to keep water off the stucco
- Ice-and-water shield under the deep eaves: the signature overhanging eaves and heavy tree canopy invite ice dams, so eave and valley membrane is what protects the exposed wood trim and stucco below
Coverage in Mountain Lakes
We're in this part of NJ daily. Free in-person inspections, same-day or next-day response, and full free written estimates with photo documentation.
Call (201) 779-3961 and we'll confirm exactly when we can be at your Mountain Lakes property.
Nearby Morris County Cities
We work across Morris County every week — if your town is on this list, you're on our regular schedule, with the same response times, the same crew, and the same written workmanship warranty.
Every NJ County We Serve
We cover every county in New Jersey from our Garfield headquarters. Open a county for response times, town coverage, and the roof issues we see most in that part of the state.