Church Roofing in Queens, NY

What are the trustees looking at when they see a stain?

A stain marks where a path ended. Water enters at one place, runs along a deck, a beam or a layer of insulation, and drops where something gives way, so the mark on a ceiling can sit well away from the hole. A ring that grows after rain says the leak is live. A ring that stays the same says the water came from an earlier storm.

We ask the committee for dates, a few photographs and the weather that came before each stain. Matching those against the roof plan tells us whether one leak or several is at work. It also separates a roofing problem from condensation in a cold sanctuary, which looks similar and needs a different repair.

Interior finishes matter to the story too. Plaster, wood paneling and painted decoration react to moisture in recognizable ways: plaster blisters and falls, wood swells at the joints, paint lifts in sheets. A photograph of the damage up close tells us roughly how long water has been present, and that helps date the leak.

Why does a church have more than one roof problem?

Many churches carry a tall main roof and lower sections beside it: aisles, an entry porch, a sacristy, a hall. The main roof may be slate, tile, shingle or metal. The lower sections are often low-slope and covered with a membrane or a built-up system. Each has its own age and its own weakness, and each meets a wall where the flashing has to climb and be covered.

The first thing to check is the junction where a low roof meets the high wall, because it carries water from two surfaces. Next the drains and strainers on the low roof, since a packed strainer holds water against a seam. Then the parapet and the coping. A failed flashing at one of those junctions is the most common source of a stain in a side aisle.

Rooftop additions are the other source. A new heating unit, a vent for a kitchen in the hall or a satellite dish bolted through the membrane leaves a penetration and a sealant line, and sealant has a short life. We number every penetration on the plan and check its base flashing and cap.

What changes when the church sits in a historic district?

Historic designation can reach exterior roof work. Several churches and the post office in Forest Hills are on the National Register of Historic Places, ten Ridgewood districts were listed on the Register in 1983, and three lower-Glendale districts hold early twentieth-century buildings of distinctive yellow Kreischer brick. Part of Springfield Gardens sits in a registered historic district, which can affect exterior work on the buildings there.

Designation status shapes the plan, not the physics. A repair that leaves the exterior unchanged is usually simpler than one that changes a visible edge or material. We check status first, photograph the visible roofline and prepare drawings if review is needed. Forest Hills, Ridgewood and Glendale owners can start the same way.

How are tile, slate and masonry roofs different from flat ones?

Forest Hills has many Tudor Revival homes with red Ludowici clay tile roofs, so the material is familiar in the neighborhood. Tile and slate shed water by overlap, so the weak points are the pieces that crack or slip, the nails that rust and the flashing at valleys, chimneys and walls. Replacing a single broken unit costs little; replacing a whole slope because nobody checked it costs a great deal.

For masonry, the weak points are the mortar joints, the coping and the cornice. Water in a cracked joint freezes in winter and opens the crack. We check them by hand, record each one and recommend repointing before any new flashing goes over it. The sequence matters because flashing over a loose joint fails with it.

Gutters on a pitched roof carry the whole slope's runoff to a few downspouts. A gutter that has pulled away from the fascia, a joint that has opened or a downspout that discharges against the wall can soak masonry for years. We follow each downspout to its outlet and note any that end against a foundation.

What do Queens storms and winters do to these roofs?

Ida's remnants, on September 1, 2021, prompted the first flash flood emergency the city had declared, most of the deaths coming in Queens, and a gutter or drain that handles ordinary rain can choke in a cloudburst of that size. Winter brings roughly 30 inches of snow in an average year, and one storm on January 23, 2016 left 27.3 inches. Snow loads the low roofs and melts toward the valley beside the high wall, where ice can dam the water behind it.

We clear gutters and strainers before the first freeze, since a basket packed with leaves from the churchyard tree holds water all winter. Keeping roof drains and scuppers clear twice a year is the cheapest repair on the building.

Summer finishes the cycle. With the heat island and July afternoons near 85 degrees at Central Park, sun on a dark flat roof opens seams and softens tar, and after a hot season we mark blisters and open laps on the survey plan.

What is the next step for a committee?

The next step is a walk, then a written plan the committee can use. We survey each roof section, rate it and list the repairs in order of urgency. Water entry comes first, then the flat roofs, then the high roof. A building committee can approve one stage and raise money for the next, because the plan separates what must be done this year from what can wait.

If the congregation also runs a school or a residence, the school roof and the senior residence can be rated on the same scale, so one table covers every building.

Insurance is the last piece of the file. Should a storm lift tile or tear a flashing, photographs dated before and after back up the claim, and both sets sit beside the repair notes.