Union County is a compact mix of dense older housing in Elizabeth and Plainfield and established suburban stock through Westfield, Cranford and Summit, where 1920s colonials and post-war capes dominate.
Union County packs a lot of housing eras into a small area. Elizabeth and Plainfield bring dense older stock with two- and three-families, low-slope rear roofs and tight access. Westfield, Cranford, Summit and Scotch Plains bring 1920s and 1930s colonials and tudors with steep pitches, slate-look detailing and mature trees over them. Between the two you get miles of post-war capes and ranches in Union, Linden and Roselle that are now on their second or third roof.
The most useful thing to know about Union County roofs is their age profile. A large share of the county's asphalt roofs were installed in the same two decades, which means an unusual number of them are hitting end of life at once — and the first failures are almost never the field shingles. Pipe boots crack, ridge vents loosen, valley metal corrodes and step flashing pulls away years before the shingles are genuinely worn out.
That is good news for homeowners who get an accurate diagnosis, because a targeted repair can legitimately buy several more years. It is bad news for anyone who is sold a replacement for a cracked pipe boot.
The Union County building stock we work on
1920s–1930s colonials and tudors in Westfield, Cranford and Summit with steep pitches and complex trim
Dense older housing and two-families in Elizabeth and Plainfield with low-slope rear sections
Large volume of post-war capes and ranches in Union, Linden and Roselle on their second or third roof
Attic conversions and dormer additions creating ventilation and tie-in problems
Mature street trees across the suburban belt, loading valleys and gutters
Roof problems we find most often in Union County
Cracked pipe boots
The most common single repair on Union County's 1990s–2000s asphalt roofs. A ten-dollar rubber collar splits and drips directly into the ceiling below.
Step flashing pulling away from siding
Where a roof plane meets a wall on colonials and split-levels. When the flashing is surface-nailed instead of woven into the courses, it lifts and water enters.
Dormer and attic-conversion ventilation
Converted attics with no intake path sweat in winter. Homeowners call it a leak; the roof is dry and the attic is the problem.
Failing low-slope rear roofs
On the older urban stock, rear and porch roofs are usually the oldest section of the building and the first to need real work.
Communities we cover in Union County
Each community below has its own page with local detail. City pages keep their original addresses from the current Done Rite site — this county hub adds hierarchy without moving a single existing URL.
Each Union County municipality issues its own roofing permits and sets its own inspection schedule. We confirm the requirement for your address up front so the job is not stopped mid-tear-off.
Warranty, licensing and credentials
Done Rite Roofers is a GAF Certified roofing contractor licensed in New Jersey (HIC #13VH12674100), Pennsylvania (#PA192943) and Connecticut (#HIC.0698708), carrying $2 million in insurance plus bond. Workmanship in Union County is backed by our 25-year workmanship warranty, alongside the manufacturer's separate material coverage.
Reviewed by
Technical accuracy of this page is reviewed by Done Rite's lead roofing estimator, based on ten years of roof repair and replacement work across New Jersey.
Answers
Union County roofing questions
Coverage
Explore our North New Jersey coverage
Tap any county to open its roofing page, and tap a city marker where we have a dedicated community page. Boundaries are real county lines, and every county shown has a live page on this site.
Bergen County is home base — the Done Rite office is in Garfield. Local housing stock is dominated by pre-war and post-war homes carrying multiple shingle layers, with rear additions creating pitched-to-flat transitions.
Every county and community listed here has its own page on this site. Duplicate legacy URLs are kept reachable but deliberately left out of this index.
Real projects
Recent New Jersey roof projects
A look at recent New Jersey roofs we have worked on: the town, the roof system, the problem the homeowner called about and how we solved it.
Ventnor City, NJ · Atlantic County
Architectural asphalt full replacement
Problem
Recurring second-floor ceiling stain traced to failed original chimney counter-flashing on an early-1900s barrier-island home, with two existing shingle layers and soft decking at the north valley.
Solution
Full tear-off of both layers, decking replacement at the valley, ice-and-water shield at eaves and valleys, rebuilt chimney step and counter flashing, new open metal valley, balanced soffit intake with ridge exhaust.
Ponding water on a row-home roof with a clogged interior drain and shrunken seams at the parapet termination, leaking into the top-floor rear bedroom.
Solution
Tear-off to deck, tapered insulation to re-establish slope toward the drain, heat-welded TPO membrane, new drain assembly and clamping ring, fully terminated and coped parapet.
Storm-torn shingles across the rear slope of a two-family with active water entering the second-floor hallway during a nor'easter.
Solution
Same-visit tarping and water diversion, photo documentation for the insurance claim, then permanent slope repair with new underlayment, matched shingle courses and replaced pipe boots.
