Schenectady roofs, old and new

Schenectady has a wider range of roofs than most Capital Region cities. The Stockade is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the country, with homes dating back centuries. The GE Realty Plot was built out in the early 1900s with large houses for General Electric engineers and executives, many with slate or tile roofs that were built to last and deserve careful repair.

Across Mont Pleasant, Bellevue, Woodlawn and Hamilton Hill, the housing shifts to two-family houses and single-family homes from the early and mid 1900s, mostly with asphalt shingles, plus flat-roofed commercial buildings along Upper Union Street, State Street and Broadway.

What we do most in Schenectady

• Roof repair and leak patching, from flashing and pipe boots to ice dam damage
• Full roof replacements on single-family and two-family homes
• Commercial flat roofs with EPDM or TPO on storefronts, offices and multifamily buildings
• Chimney flashing, a frequent leak point on the city’s older houses

Historic homes and permits

The Stockade and the GE Realty Plot are historic districts, and exterior changes there can require city review before work begins, including roofing material choices. Most full replacements also need a building permit. We check the address before we quote, so what we propose fits what the city allows.

Repair first when it makes sense

Plenty of Schenectady roofs have a lot of life left and just need a proper repair: a rebuilt chimney flashing, a replaced pipe boot, a few new slates, a resealed flat roof seam. We look at the whole roof, photograph what we find and tell you plainly whether a repair will hold.

Nearby

We also work across Schenectady County, including Niskayuna, Rotterdam and Glenville, and in Scotia.

Two-family homes and rentals

Much of Schenectady’s housing in Mont Pleasant, Bellevue and Hamilton Hill is two-family houses and small rentals. We work with owner-occupants and landlords on repairs and replacements, coordinate with tenants and keep both units watertight at the end of each workday. On these houses the back porches and rear additions often have their own low-slope roofs, which we repair or replace along with the main roof.

Schenectady winters

Schenectady sits in the Mohawk Valley, and snow and ice arrive with every nor’easter. The roofs that hold up best here have ice and water shield along the eaves and valleys, attic ventilation that keeps the roof deck cold, and chimney flashing that has been rebuilt rather than patched. When we replace a roof in the city, those three things are part of the scope, not an upgrade.

Two-families and rentals

A large share of the housing here is two-family or rented, which makes scheduling and access as much a part of the job as the roofing. Occupied buildings need the roof secure every evening rather than at the end of the week, and tenants need to know when work is happening.

Neighborhoods we cover

• Stockade
• GE Realty Plot
• Union Street
• Upper Union
• Woodlawn
• Bellevue
• Mont Pleasant
• Hamilton Hill
• Eastern Parkway
• Central Park area
• Downtown