Hear From Our Clients
There’s a specific kind of stress that comes with a roof that keeps coming back. You’ve had someone out before. They patched it. It held through summer. Then a nor’easter rolled through western Suffolk County and the ceiling stain came back maybe in the same spot, maybe somewhere new. That’s not bad luck. That’s what happens when the symptom gets fixed instead of the cause.
The homes in Wheatley Heights tell a consistent story. Most of the housing stock here was built in the 1960s and 1970s ranches, high ranches, split-levels and while plenty of those roofs have been replaced once or twice over the decades, the flashing systems, underlayment, and roof decking underneath often haven’t been touched the same way. Flashing failure around chimneys and in valleys is the leading cause of leaks in Wheatley Heights homes from that era. Water doesn’t always enter where it shows up on your ceiling.
When the repair is done correctly root cause identified, not just covered you stop thinking about your roof every time it rains. That’s the actual outcome. Not just a dry ceiling for one season, but a repair that holds through the freeze-thaw cycles, ice dam conditions, and wind-driven rain that mid-island Suffolk County delivers every single year.
We’ve been working exclusively on Long Island for over a decade. The owner, Alban Hoxha, is personally involved in every project not in a figurative sense, but in the literal sense that he shows up, he’s reachable by name, and the crew working on your home answers directly to him. There are no subcontractors. Every person on your Wheatley Heights roof is a trained Home Team Construction employee.
That matters more than it sounds. Wheatley Heights is a tight-knit community where neighbors talk, the civic association is active, and word travels fast. A contractor who puts their name on their work knows that. Alban built this company on the idea that a homeowner should never have to wonder who’s actually responsible for what happened on their roof.
We’re fully licensed under Suffolk County’s Home Improvement Contractor requirements which, unlike most New York counties, includes a mandatory exam. That’s not a minor detail when you’re protecting a home worth over half a million dollars in the Town of Babylon.
It starts with a real inspection not a glance at the shingles from the driveway. When we get on your Wheatley Heights roof, we’re looking at the full picture: shingle condition, flashing integrity at every transition point, underlayment, and the deck beneath it. On homes built in the 1960s and 1970s, that deck inspection matters. Older plywood can hold moisture damage for years before it shows up as a visible problem inside your home.
Once we know what we’re actually dealing with, you get a complete estimate before anything starts. That includes materials, labor, disposal, and any decking that needs to be addressed no line items that appear after the crew is already on your roof. If the repair requires a building permit from the Town of Babylon Building Department, we handle that process. Roof work that involves removing decking requires a permit in this jurisdiction, and any contractor who doesn’t mention that is worth questioning.
If you’re calling because of active damage a storm came through, you’ve got water coming in right now we respond around the clock. We’ll get to you, assess the situation, and weatherproof the area immediately while a permanent repair is planned. After the work is done, you get photo and video documentation of everything that was done beneath the surface. Not because it’s a nice gesture because you should be able to see exactly what you paid for.
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Our roof repairs cover the full scope of what’s actually happening not just what’s visible from the ground. That includes missing shingle repair, valley and step flashing replacement, chimney flashing, pipe boot seals, flat roof repair on garage additions and low-slope sections common in Wheatley Heights ranches, and ice dam damage remediation. If your attic ventilation is contributing to the problem and on older homes in this area, it often is we’ll tell you that directly instead of letting you call again next January.
Every repair includes documentation. Photos and video of the work completed beneath the surface, so you’re not just taking our word for it. If your damage is storm-related, we also handle insurance documentation as a standard part of the job not an add-on. We know what adjusters need to see, and we help make sure you’re not leaving a legitimate claim on the table.
What you won’t find here is a low estimate that quietly grows once the crew is already on your roof. Plywood, underlayment, and disposal are included in what we quote you upfront. The homes in Wheatley Heights have real value current median sale prices are running around $627,500 and the roof protecting that investment deserves more than a patch job and a handshake.
It depends on the scope of the work. In Wheatley Heights, you’re under the jurisdiction of the Town of Babylon Building Department. For surface-level repairs replacing a few shingles, resealing flashing a permit is generally not required. But if the work involves removing and replacing roof decking, that crosses into permit territory, and the Town of Babylon requires a building permit before that work can legally begin. Skylights also require a permit regardless of whether they’re new installations or replacements.
This is worth paying attention to because unpermitted work can create real problems down the line particularly when you go to sell your home or file an insurance claim. Any contractor who tells you permits aren’t necessary for a full deck replacement in the Town of Babylon either doesn’t know the local requirements or is hoping you don’t ask. We pull the required permits as part of the job, and we’re familiar with the Town of Babylon’s process, including their online submission system through OpenGov.
This is the right question to ask before anyone starts talking numbers. A repair makes sense when the damage is localized a section of failed flashing, a cluster of missing shingles after a storm, a single leak source that’s been identified clearly. A replacement makes more sense when the damage is widespread, the shingles have lost most of their granules across the whole surface, the decking has significant moisture damage in multiple areas, or the roof is simply at the end of its functional life.
For the homes in Wheatley Heights most of which were built in the 1960s and 1970s the honest answer often depends on how many times the roof has already been replaced and what condition the underlying structure is in. A 15-year-old roof on a 1968 ranch that’s been maintained well may only need a repair. A 20-year-old roof on the same house that’s had three previous patch jobs and shows granule loss across every slope is probably telling you something different. We’ll give you a straight assessment when we’re up there not a sales pitch for the more expensive option.
Ice dams form when heat escapes through your roof deck, melts the snow sitting on top, and that meltwater refreezes when it hits the colder overhang at your eaves. As it builds up, it forces water back under your shingles and from there, it finds its way into your home. You’ll often see the evidence as water staining on interior ceilings or walls in late winter or early spring, after the damage has already been done.
Wheatley Heights homes are particularly susceptible to this because of their age. The ranches and split-levels built here in the 1960s and 1970s were not built with modern insulation and ventilation standards. Inadequate attic insulation and poor ventilation are the root causes of ice dams not the weather itself. The weather just reveals the problem. A repair that addresses the leak without looking at the ventilation system is going to face the same issue next winter. When we assess a roof in this area and ice dams are part of the picture, we look at the full system, not just the damaged shingles.
In most cases, yes if the damage was caused by a storm event. Wind, hail, and falling debris are covered under standard homeowners insurance policies in New York. What matters is documentation. Adjusters need clear evidence of the damage, the cause, and the scope and the window for filing a claim after a storm is not unlimited. Waiting too long, or not having the right photos and records, can result in a denied or reduced claim.
We handle insurance documentation as a standard part of every storm-related repair job. We photograph and document the damage in the format that adjusters need to see, and we communicate directly with your insurance company when that’s helpful. This isn’t a service we charge extra for it’s part of how we work. Suffolk County homeowners have seen what happens after a significant nor’easter when contractors flood the area, do quick work, and leave before the claim is settled. We’re here before the storm and after it.
Most standard roof repairs flashing replacement, missing shingle repair, a localized leak fix are completed in a single day. The inspection, the repair, and the cleanup all happen in one visit in most cases. More involved repairs, like addressing significant decking damage or a flat roof section on a garage addition, may run into a second day depending on the scope.
The timing can also be affected by permit requirements. If the repair involves roof decking and a Town of Babylon building permit is required, that adds some lead time before work can begin though we handle the permit application process and track it through the Town’s online system. Weather is the other variable. We won’t start a repair that can’t be properly completed and sealed before rain is in the forecast. If you’re dealing with an active leak and need immediate protection, we’ll tarp and weatherproof the area first, then schedule the full repair once conditions allow for it to be done right.
Suffolk County’s Home Improvement Contractor license isn’t just a registration it requires passing a mandatory exam, which is a higher standard than most New York counties. That exam exists for a reason. It filters out operators who don’t understand local building codes, permit requirements, or the liability exposure that comes with doing the work incorrectly.
For Wheatley Heights homeowners specifically, the stakes are real. Homes here are selling in the $600,000 range. Unpermitted or improperly done roof work can surface as a problem during a home sale inspection, complicate an insurance claim, or leave you with no legal recourse if something goes wrong. A lower bid from an unlicensed contractor isn’t a deal it’s a risk transfer onto you. Suffolk County maintains a public database of licensed contractors. Before anyone gets on your roof, it takes about 30 seconds to verify their license. We’re in that database, and we’d encourage you to check before you hire anyone including us.
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