Exterior Contractor Serving Bogota, NJ

Almost certainly yes. Multiple shingle layers over original board decking on a Bogota cape cod means the deck condition is unknown and the weight of accumulated layers is already a concern. A third layer isn’t something we recommend — it adds weight, traps moisture, and hides whatever the deck actually looks like underneath. We do a full tear-off, inspect every square foot of the deck, replace any soft or damaged sections, and install over a clean surface. That’s the only way to know what you’re putting a new roof on top of.

Original wood clapboard on a 1940s Bogota bungalow that has been through 80-plus years of NJ weather is a substrate assessment question before it’s a material selection question. We probe every section — corners, window sills, course transitions — and assess what the sheathing looks like where accessible. If the substrate is sound, James Hardie HardiePlank in a profile that matches the original exposure is the correct replacement. If there’s sheathing damage, that’s addressed before any new material goes on.

Gutters pulling away from the house means the fascia behind the gutter lip has rotted to the point where the hangers have nothing solid to hold onto. This happens when gutters overflow for extended periods — water runs behind the gutter lip repeatedly, and the fascia absorbs it until it softens. The fix: pull the gutters, replace the rotted fascia with PVC that won’t rot on the same timeline, and reinstall properly sized gutters with hidden hanger systems. We scope it all at once so the new gutters go onto sound material.

Original 1940s wood double-hung windows on a Bogota home are past any repair threshold in most cases — the sash cords are gone, the glazing compound is failed, the frames have swelled from decades of moisture cycling, and the thermal performance is essentially zero. We measure every opening and provide full-frame replacement options in Andersen or Marvin profiles that match the original proportions. If any window is in genuinely sound condition, we’ll tell you that too.

A door that sticks in summer and gaps in winter is a wood door that’s responding to seasonal moisture changes — swelling when humid, contracting when dry. This is the fundamental limitation of wood doors in NJ’s climate. A Therma-Tru fiberglass door doesn’t warp in NJ’s temperature swings and insulates far better than wood. We assess the frame condition first — if the frame is sound, a slab replacement is straightforward. If the frame has moved with the door, the prehung unit comes out.

Paint that peels consistently on exterior trim is almost always a moisture problem, not a paint problem. Moisture is getting into the wood from behind — through failed caulk joints, missing drip edge, or gutter overflow — and pushing the paint off from the inside. Repainting without addressing the moisture source repeats the cycle every few years. We probe every trim section, identify the moisture sources, and replace compromised sections with Azek PVC that won’t absorb moisture regardless of how long the caulk joint stays sound.