Perth Amboy Elite Roofing brings more than 20 years in business to roofing in South River, and this page is for the owner whose roof question begins with solar rather than a leak. Maybe a quote for panels is already in hand, and the open question is whether the shingles under them will outlast the array. That deserves an answer before anything is bolted down.
Our first job on any of these calls is a plain read of the roof. We walk the surface, then go into the attic or the top-floor ceiling to look for staining, damp sheathing and daylight, because a roof that already lets water in will not improve once it is covered in racking. If a repair will carry the roof through, we say so before replacement ever comes up.
We do not sell, design or install solar systems, and we file nothing with the borough on a panel project. What we do is the roof: the covering, the decking, the flashing and the ventilation that the array will sit on for years. Below is how the borough’s solar rules meet that roof, and how we plan the work around them.
South River’s Solar Ordinance and the Roof
What Section 350-30 says about rooftops
South River’s zoning chapter has a section written for solar, Section 350-30, and it starts from a clear preference. Its findings say new solar facilities should, where possible, go on existing rooftops and open areas. In other words, the borough’s own code points panels toward the roof you already have, which makes the condition of that roof part of the conversation from the start.
The section also treats solar facilities as inherently beneficial uses in every zoning district. For a homeowner that means the question is rarely whether panels are allowed at all. The practical questions are who has to approve them, how high they may stand, and whether the roof below is ready to carry them for as long as they are meant to stay.
Why the roof is judged first
Panels have to come off before the roof under them can be replaced. That is general practice in the trade, and it is the reason the remaining life of the covering matters so much before an array goes up. A roof with five good years left, topped with panels expected to last far longer, sets up a removal, a re-roof and a reinstall well before anyone planned on one.
The New Jersey Clean Energy Program’s statewide guidance makes the same point from the solar side. Its program FAQs advise scheduling a roof inspection before installing solar, to see whether the roof is sound enough to support a system, and say the roof and panel lifespans should ideally line up so both can be replaced together. We read the roof with exactly that timeline in mind.
Older houses under new arrays
The housing stock here makes that check more than a formality. Census estimates count 5,754 housing units in South River, and 1,138 of them were built in 1939 or earlier. Another 2,299 date from 1950 through 1969. On houses that age, the layers, decking and flashing under the current shingles can differ widely from one address to the next.
On an older house we look at what is actually there rather than what the shingles suggest. Two layers of covering, a sagging run of sheathing or chimney flashing that has been patched with tar all change the plan. New Jersey’s rehabilitation subcode calls for a tear-off when a roof already carries two or more layers, and that rule is one more reason to read the layers before an array is designed.
Looking for roofing closer to Highland Park? See Roofing in Highland Park.
Who Signs Off on Panels: Construction Official or Site Plan Review
Single- and two-family homes
Section 350-30 splits rooftop solar into two tracks. Panels on single- and two-family dwellings are exempt from site plan review, but each one requires the approval of the Construction Official before it is erected. The borough code names the South River Building Department, at 48 Washington Street, as the enforcing agency, with the Construction Official as its chief administrator.
That approval belongs to the panel project, not to the roof. On a detached one- or two-family house, replacing the roof covering is ordinary maintenance under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7, with no permit, inspection or notice required. So the roofing work and the solar approval are separate matters, and we keep the two clearly apart when we talk timing with an owner and the installer they have chosen.
Apartment buildings and commercial roofs
Everything else falls under the second track. The ordinance requires site plan approval for proposed solar panels on all other rooftops, as well as ground arrays, carports and similar facilities. Any building with three or more units falls here, including the 469 units in buildings of ten to 19 units, along with commercial roofs.
Those buildings often have low-slope rear or main roofs, and that is where we spend our time before any array is drawn. We check the seams, the edge metal and the drain or scupper, not only the visible patch, because a membrane that is failing at the perimeter will be far harder to reach once racking covers the field. Owners get a written condition report they can share with their solar designer.
What this means for the work we do
We never apply for solar approval and never present ourselves as part of that filing. The panel installer and the owner handle the borough’s process, and its timelines and fees are theirs to confirm, so we quote neither. Our part is making sure the roof is in the right state before that process ends with panels on top.
In practice that means our visit usually comes early, while the owner is still comparing solar quotes. A roof that needs replacing gets replaced first, on its own schedule. A roof that only needs repairs gets those repairs and a written note of what we found, so the owner can decide with full information whether the covering and the array are a sensible match.
Three Feet Above the Highest Point of the Roof
Reading the height limit
Section 350-30 sets a hard ceiling on rooftop arrays: the height of any roof-mounted panels may be no greater than three feet above the highest point of the roof. The measurement is tied to the roof itself, which on a pitched house makes the ridge the reference point rather than the surface directly under a given panel.
On a typical pitched roof most arrays sit close to the shingles and the limit is not a practical concern. It becomes one when panels are tilted up on a frame, or when the highest point of the roof is not much above the area where the panels go. The installer designs to that number, but the roof’s final height, after any re-roof, is the figure it is measured from.
Low-slope roofs and tilted racks
Flat and low-slope roofs are where tilt frames are most common, and they are also where the roof surface sits closest to the highest point of the roof. That narrows the room under the three-foot cap. It also means the rack is anchored through or ballasted on a membrane that has to stay watertight under every foot, bracket and cable run.
Before a rack goes on a low-slope roof we want the membrane sound from edge to edge. On EPDM, TPO or modified bitumen we look at lap seams, base flashing at parapet walls, coping joints and every drain. Replacing that membrane later means lifting the whole array, so a tired roof is better replaced while the surface is still clear.
Flashing, vents and penetrations
Every array adds penetrations or ballast, and the details around them decide whether the roof stays dry. On a pitched roof we look at how the mounting points will meet the shingles, where pipe boots and roof vents sit, and whether the ridge vent and soffit intake will keep working once part of the field is covered.
We replace step, counter and chimney flashing with a new roof rather than reusing the old metal under fresh material. That matters more under panels than anywhere else on the house, because flashing hidden behind an array is the hardest kind to reach once a leak begins. Getting it right before the racking goes up saves a removal later.
Re-Roofing Before the Panels Go On
Matching the roof to the array
If the roof is near the end of its life, the cleanest order is a new roof first and the array afterward. That way the covering, the flashing and the decking all start their service life at the same time as the panels, which is the alignment the statewide solar guidance recommends. We tell owners plainly when we think a roof has enough life left to go under panels as it is.
When a roof does need replacing, we talk through materials with the array in mind. Architectural shingles such as GAF Timberline HDZ, Owens Corning Duration or CertainTeed Landmark are a common choice for a pitched roof, laid over ASTM D1970 ice and water barrier at the eaves and valleys and synthetic underlayment across the field. With panels going on top, we also settle drip edge and vent placement before the first bundle goes up.
Planning panel removal and reinstall
Owners who already have panels and now need a new roof face the other version of this problem. We build the panel removal and reinstall into the schedule from the first conversation, so the dates line up with the owner’s solar company and nothing is discovered on the morning the crew arrives. The array comes off, the roof goes on, and the panels go back on a finished surface.
On a two-family house or a rental, we schedule with the tenants in mind. The people living upstairs know when the crew is coming, how long the work will take, and where access is needed. At the end of each workday the sidewalk, yard and gutters are cleaned, and a magnet sweep picks up loose roofing nails before anyone walks across the lawn.
What the written scope shows
Our estimates list tear-off, decking, underlayment, flashing, ventilation and gutters as separate lines, so a South River owner can set our numbers beside another contractor’s and compare them item by item. Panel coordination appears in the scope too, so it is never a surprise cost added after the roof is open. The same document is what an owner can hand the solar company that wants to know the roof’s condition and age.
If we find damaged decking once the old covering is off, we photograph it and show the owner before replacing it, at a per-sheet price fixed in the contract. Our contracts follow New Jersey’s home improvement rules, including the three-business-day cancellation notice, so an owner weighing a roof against a solar timeline has room to think before work starts.
- 20+ Years in Roofing
- Itemized Written Estimates
- Attic-to-Roof Leak Tracing
