Project · Roof Replacement · Fort Lee, NJ

GAF Timberline HDZ Charcoal Roof Replacement in Fort Lee, NJ

A Fort Lee roof replacement taken down to the bare rafters: old plywood off with the shingles, then a new 5/8 inch deck, GAF Timberline HDZ in Charcoal, four VELUX skylights and two attic fans.

The project

This Fort Lee roof replacement ran across several working days in September 2026. The house is a large three-story brick home on a residential street in Bergen County, with an attached garage, an in-ground pool in the back and mature landscaping around it. The roof is a complex hip design: many planes meeting at hips and valleys, plus a lower section over the rear. A roof shaped like that has far more seams than a simple gable roof, and seams are where water finds its way in, so the layers under the shingles matter more here than they would on a plain roof.

A full tear-off roof replacement means the old roof comes off down to the wood, so nothing old stays buried under the new shingles. On this house the old plywood deck came off as well. That is the part most homeowners never see on a quote: on most replacements the existing deck stays put and only the covering changes. The second photo shows what was left here. Bare rafters, with the attic insulation and the HVAC ductwork in plain view between them, and nothing above the framing at all. A dumpster sat in the driveway and tarps protected the entry, the landscaping, the deck and the pool area during the work.

What we did

Full tear-off, old deck included. We stripped the old asphalt shingles, then pulled the old plywood off behind them, down to the bare rafters. That is the only point in a roof’s life when the framing is in plain view rather than hidden under sheathing.
New 5/8 inch plywood deck. We re-decked the entire roof in new 5/8 inch plywood. A nail holds only as well as the wood it goes into, and full-thickness, dry plywood gives every fastener something solid to bite. It also hands the crew one flat plane to work from, which matters because shingles telegraph every dip and soft spot under them.
GAF ice-and-water shield. A self-adhering membrane that seals around the fasteners driven through it, so the nails themselves are not an opening. This is the layer built for ice dams and wind-driven rain, the two things that push water backwards under shingles in a New Jersey winter.
GAF FeltBuster synthetic underlayment. Rolled out over the new plywood as the secondary barrier beneath the shingles. It keeps the fresh deck dry while the roof is going on and stays there as backup afterward. You can see the brand printed on it in the fourth photo.
GAF Timberline HDZ architectural shingles, Charcoal. Laminated shingles carry more material than a three-tab and give a roof depth and shadow instead of a flat sheet of color. On a cut-up hip roof the payoff shows in the lines: valleys that run straight, and hip and ridge lines that stay tight from one end of the house to the other.
4 VELUX skylights and 2 GAF electric attic fans. The four new VELUX skylights went in with shades and carry the VELUX 10-year no-leak warranty. The two GAF electric attic fans are powered ventilators that move hot air out of the attic. Both went into fresh plywood rather than around old sheathing, which is where openings in a roof usually start leaking.

The result

The finished roof is GAF Timberline HDZ in Charcoal across every plane, with the four VELUX skylights and the two attic fan domes set into the field of the roof and the hip and ridge lines running straight from end to end. What the drone photos cannot show is the more important part. Under those shingles sits a new plywood deck, new ice-and-water shield and new underlayment. The homeowner did not buy a new surface laid over old material. This roof starts over at the rafters, and the part that will matter in ten years is the part nobody can see anymore.

Because Top Roof is a GAF Certified contractor and the complete GAF system went on this house, from the ice-and-water shield and FeltBuster underlayment through the Timberline HDZ shingles, this roof is eligible for GAF’s enhanced system warranty coverage. The skylights carry the VELUX 10-year no-leak warranty on top of that. Top Roof LLC is licensed and insured, NJ HIC #13VH11535000, and rated 5.0 from 115 Google reviews. Read more about roofing in Fort Lee, see the same Charcoal shingle on our Tenafly roof replacement, or browse all of our projects across Bergen County. If it is the skylights you are here about, we cover leaks, replacement, new installation and removal on our skylight page.

Tear-off, new deck, finished roof

Thinking about a roof replacement in Fort Lee?

Our office is in Englewood, about ten minutes from Fort Lee. If you are collecting quotes, ask each contractor what happens to the plywood under your shingles, and get the answer in writing before anyone starts. The deck is the part you cannot see from the ground, and it is the part the whole roof is nailed to.

Top Roof LLC is a GAF Certified contractor, licensed and insured in New Jersey, NJ HIC #13VH11535000, rated 5.0 from 115 Google reviews. Right now we are taking $1,000 off a full roof replacement through November 30, 2026, and Wisetack financing is available at 0% for 24 months for qualified homeowners, subject to credit approval.

Or call 201-989-0999 · Roofing in Fort Lee, NJ · More projects