Roofing in Edison NJ: The Biggest Township in Middlesex County, and Where Our Yard Is

Edison is not one place. Menlo Park, Clara Barton, Stelton and Bonhamtown are all Edison, and they do not look alike, were not built at the same time and are not the same distance from each other.

That matters in two very ordinary ways.

The first is the drive. Our yard is at 1163 Inman Ave, inside Edison itself, so most of the township is a short run either way, whether that is the northern end towards Metuchen and the Plainfield side or the southern end down by Route 1. When we give you an arrival window we are working from your address, not from the township.

The second is that "roofs in Edison" is not a useful category. A 1950s ranch and a much later house on the other side of the township have different pitches, different framing and different failure points. We would rather look at yours than tell you what Edison roofs are like in general.

We do three things to the outside of a house: the roof, the siding and the gutters. Doing them together means one crew, one schedule and one company answerable for the whole exterior instead of three companies blaming each other.

Edison suburbanised fast after the Second World War. Through the 1950s and 1960s large tracts turned into housing developments, industrial parks and shopping centres, and most of the township's housing stock dates from that period onward.

Three things about post-war roofs that are worth knowing before you take a quote.

The pitches are shallower. A 1950s ranch or split level is drawn flatter than a 1920s colonial. Shallow is fine, until somebody puts the wrong product on a slope that was never steep enough for it. Below a certain pitch, asphalt shingles are not the right covering and a membrane is.

Ventilation was an afterthought. Attic ventilation as we would specify it today was not standard when these houses went up. An underventilated attic cooks the shingles from below in summer and grows condensation in winter, and both of those shorten the life of a roof you paid for. When we quote a re-roof here we look at what air is actually moving through the attic, because ridge vent added during a re-roof costs very little compared to doing the roof twice.

If you have a Cape. Capes are common in this part of Middlesex County and they are the hardest of the post-war shapes to get right, because the sloped ceiling leaves almost no room at the eave for insulation and airflow at the same time. If your upstairs rooms are hot in August and you get ice at the gutter in January, that is the cause, and it is not solved by better shingles.

Edison carries a lot of commercial and industrial building alongside the houses, along the Route 1 and Route 27 corridors and through its industrial parks. Those are flat and low slope roofs, and they are a completely different trade from a shingle roof.

We do that work. Single ply membrane, which in practice usually means TPO, a welded plastic sheet rather than anything nailed in courses.

If you own or manage a flat roof in Edison, call and we will come and look at it.

Under New Jersey's construction code, replacing the roof covering on a detached one or two family home is treated as ordinary maintenance, which means no construction permit is required. That changes the moment sheathing, rafters or anything structural gets replaced. Then it is no longer ordinary maintenance and a permit is required.

Edison's construction and code enforcement office is at the Edison Municipal Complex, on 732-248-7257, and that office is generally open Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 4:30. They are the authority on your job. Checked August 2026, and rules and fees change.

Is Edison really the biggest municipality in Middlesex County?

Yes, by population. That size is also why there is no single answer to what a “Edison roof” looks like: Menlo Park, Clara Barton, Stelton and Bonhamtown are all Edison, and they were built at different times in different styles.

Do I need a permit to replace my roof in Edison?

Usually not, if it is a detached one or two family house and only the roof covering is being replaced. If the sheathing or framing has to come off, yes. Edison's construction and code enforcement office at the Municipal Complex decides, and we pull the permit when one is needed.

My house is a Cape. Does that change anything?

It does. Capes are common in this part of Middlesex County, and the sloped ceiling leaves little room at the eave for both insulation and airflow at once. If the upstairs runs hot in summer and you get ice at the gutter line in winter, that is usually the cause, not the shingles.

Do you work on flat roofs, or only houses?

Both. Edison carries a lot of commercial and industrial building along the Route 1 and Route 27 corridors, and we do that flat and low slope work too, usually a TPO single ply membrane welded at the seams.

Since your yard is in Edison, is it cheaper if I am in Edison too?

No, the price is the same everywhere we work. Being local changes how fast we can come back with more material or look at a small leak, not what the job costs.

Plainfield is north west of you and Westfield is north east. Both have their own page.

Book an estimate and somebody comes out, gets on the roof, and writes down what is actually up there. You get the price in writing before you decide anything, and the visit costs you nothing either way.

A&J Professional Services, 1163 Inman Ave Ste 101, Edison NJ 08820. Call (908) 432-7081.