A roofing contractor in Latham splits time between two very different kinds of work. The housing is postwar and largely straightforward, while the commercial corridors carry a great deal of flat and low-slope roofing that fails in entirely different ways. We do both, and they need different scheduling as well as different materials.

Ranches, split-levels and commercial strips

Latham was built out largely between the 1950s and the 1970s, and the housing reflects it: ranches, split-levels and the occasional Cape, on generous lots with simple rooflines.

Simple rooflines are good news. A long ranch roof with few penetrations is one of the more straightforward replacements there is, and the cost is usually predictable because there is little to discover once the old covering comes off.

Split-levels are slightly more involved, because they carry a roof-to-wall junction where the upper section meets the lower one. That junction needs proper step flashing and kick-out detail, and it is a common leak point on houses of this type.

What we do most in Latham

• Replacements on 1950s to 70s ranches and split-levels
• Roof-to-wall flashing at split-level junctions
• Commercial flat and low-slope roofing along Route 9 and Troy-Schenectady Road
• EPDM and membrane repairs on commercial buildings
• Emergency repairs, since we are through this part of town regularly
• Ventilation upgrades on shallow ranch attics

The commercial corridors

Route 9 and Troy-Schenectady Road carry a lot of low-slope commercial roofing, and it fails in ways a house roof does not.

Ponding water after rain, seams that have separated, blocked internal drains and flashing at parapets and rooftop units are the recurring problems. None of them announce themselves inside the building until they are serious, which is why scheduled inspection is worth more on a flat commercial roof than on a pitched residential one.

We handle repairs, membrane replacement and maintenance on these buildings. See commercial roofing and flat roofing, EPDM and TPO.

Shallow attics and ventilation

A long ranch with a shallow pitch has a low attic volume, which means less air to buffer temperature swings and less room for the airflow that carries moisture out.

When we re-roof a ranch here we look at whether the intake at the soffits is actually open. Very often it has been blocked by insulation pushed into the eaves at some point, which stops the ventilation working no matter how good the ridge vent is.

Around Latham

We cover the Route 9 corridor, Troy-Schenectady Road, the Forts Ferry and Boght Road areas, the Latham Circle area and Cohoes-Crescent Road.

Airport-adjacent and exposed

The open ground around Albany International Airport and the commercial parks near it means parts of Latham get more wind than the sheltered residential streets. On low-slope commercial roofs that matters at the edges and the parapets, where uplift does its work first. Edge detail and proper termination are what keep a membrane roof down, and they are the first thing we check on a building that has had repeated problems.

Neighborhoods we cover

• Route 9 corridor
• Troy-Schenectady Road
• Forts Ferry area
• Boght Road area
• Latham Circle area
• Cohoes-Crescent Road