Roofing a Triple-Decker or Multifamily Building in Greater Hartford

Why do older multifamily buildings in Hartford and New Britain have so many roof problems?

Age, shared roofs and flat sections combine. Hartford's reported median build year is 1931, most of its housing holds more than one household, and the older multifamily stock often includes flat or low-slope roofs where water has to be drained rather than shed. Each re-roof over the decades adds a layer of repairs and patches.

Start with the buildings. Frog Hollow was developed with three- and six-family houses for factory workers, and the west-side neighborhood of Parkville mixes industrial and residential streets. New Britain, once called the Hardware City for makers such as Stanley Works and P&F Corbin, is mostly rental housing in densely built neighborhoods, with about 64 percent of the stock built before 1960. Those are roofs that have seen a great many winters.

Then look at how multifamily buildings are shaped. A three-decker or a block of flats has a roof that must protect every unit beneath it, often with a pitched front, a nearly flat back, a porch roof tacked on, a rear stair enclosure and a brick chimney or two. Every place where one roof plane meets another, or a wall, is a joint that has to stay sealed.

Finally, roofs on rental buildings tend to be repaired when a tenant calls about a stain, so over decades they become roofs made of patches. A roofer asked to quote a replacement is often looking at several generations of repairs at once.

What are flat and low-slope roofs made of?

Most flat and low-slope roofs use a continuous membrane rather than overlapping shingles. Common types are built-up roofing with layers of felt and asphalt, modified bitumen sheets, and single-ply membranes such as EPDM rubber and TPO. Each is joined at seams and sealed at the edges, so seams and edges are where a roofer looks first.

A shingle roof sheds water by overlapping courses. A flat roof cannot count on slope, so it relies on a waterproof skin joined into one sheet and pitched very slightly toward drains. If that skin is cut, lifted at a seam or left to pond water, the building underneath takes the water.

That is why a quote for a flat roof should name the system. The table below sets out the common ones in plain terms, without prices, because published Connecticut cost figures vary too widely to quote.

Where do multifamily roofs usually leak?

Water usually gets in at details rather than across the open field of the roof. Typical culprits are clogged or poorly pitched drains, flashing where the roof meets a brick wall or parapet, the base of a chimney, a vent or stack that pokes through the surface, a failed seam, and the roof of an attached porch or rear stair.

A stain on a third-floor ceiling is a clue, not an address. Water often travels along a rafter or a pipe before it appears, so the hole may be several feet from the mark. These are the places that deserve a look on almost any older multifamily building.

• Drains and scuppers. Leaves, shingle grit and debris stop water leaving the roof, and standing water finds every weakness in the membrane.
• Wall and parapet flashing. Where the membrane turns up a brick wall, the top edge is sealed with metal or mortar that cracks with age.
• Chimneys. Masonry chimneys shed water into the roof around them, and the flashing, the crown and the mortar joints all age together. See our page on chimney flashing and repair.
• Penetrations. Plumbing stacks, exhaust vents, satellite mounts and old antenna brackets each need a flashing that has been intact since it was installed.
• Seams and blisters. Sheets that have lifted or bubbled at the overlaps are open to wind-driven rain.
• Porch and stair-enclosure roofs. These smaller roofs are often covered by a different, cheaper material than the main roof and are repaired last.

Who is responsible for the roof, the owner or the tenants?

In general the building's owner or, in a condominium or association, the entity named in the governing documents is responsible for a shared roof, and tenants report problems rather than fix them. Your lease, condo documents or association rules decide the details, so read them and put every leak report in writing with photographs and dates.

This is not legal advice. The practical problems come from nobody having been told. Tenants who see a stain should photograph it, note the date and send it to the landlord or property manager in writing, not only by phone. Owners who hear about a leak should arrange for a roofer to look soon, because a small opening in winter can spread into insulation and plaster before anyone sees it.

In a condominium or a small building where two or three households split the cost, agree on three things before a leak: who calls the roofer, how access to the roof and to each top-floor unit will be given, and how the cost is divided.

If you are the owner and you call Hartford Roofing on (833) 751-2102, you are put through to an independent roofer who serves your town, and that roofer, not this line, gives you the scope and the price. Ask for it in writing.

Can the whole building be re-roofed at once?

Yes. Landlords and owners in New Britain and Hartford often ask a roofer to price a whole-building re-roof rather than patching one section at a time. A full re-roof needs a building permit under the 2022 Connecticut State Building Code, and the town sets the specific rules, so confirm them with the municipal building office.

A whole-building job has one real advantage: one scope and one flashing plan for the entire roof, with no seams between old work and new. It also forces the questions that patching avoids: how many layers are on now, whether the deck underneath is sound, and whether drains and gutters need rebuilding.

The two-layer rule matters on the pitched parts of a building. Asphalt shingles are limited to two layers under IRC R908.3, so a pitched front slope that has been shingled twice usually has to be stripped to the deck before new shingles go on. That is a good moment to look at the wood beneath, which is rarely visible any other time. Our guide on when to replace the roof on an older New England home covers how roofers read layers and decking.

Structural changes such as a new dormer or a changed pitch need extra plans. For your building's permit, ask the roofer who applies for it. Permit rules differ by town, and nothing replaces a call to the building office.

What does winter do to a flat or low-slope roof?

Hartford averages about 49 inches of snow a year, and a flat roof holds that snow until it melts. The risks are slow-draining melt that ponds, ice that blocks drains and scuppers, and ice dams on any pitched sections. Do not shovel or walk on a snow-covered flat roof: you cannot see the edge or the drains.

Bradley airport records show about 49.0 inches of snow and 44.1 inches of precipitation a year, with a January average high of 36 F and low of 22 F. A roof can melt and refreeze repeatedly in the same week, and water that freezes in a drain or scupper turns the roof into a shallow tray.

Ice dams form when heat escaping from the building below melts snow that refreezes at the cold eaves. On a three-family house that heat comes from three households, which can mean a lot of warmth leaking into a top-floor attic or roof cavity. The common advice is attic insulation in the R-49 to R-60 range, sealed air leaks around pull-down stairs, vent fans and recessed lights, and a roof rake for a low roof you can reach from the ground. Never use salt or calcium chloride on a roof. Our page on ice dam removal and prevention explains what a roofer does when dams have already formed.

If water is coming through a ceiling during a thaw, contain it, move belongings and call.

What should a multifamily roof quote spell out?

A useful written quote names the existing roof system, the replacement system, what happens to the old material, how drains, edges, chimneys and penetrations will be flashed, who pulls the permit, and how access to units will be handled. A quote that says only "re-roof, one price" leaves every one of those questions open.

Each roofer reached through this line is independent and sets its own price and scope, so the written quote is the most useful thing you will receive. Ask for the scope section by section, and if a section is excluded, the quote should say so.

Connecticut requires a written contract for jobs over $200, and home improvement contractors working on residential buildings of six units or fewer must register with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection once their contracts exceed $1,000 in a 12-month period. Our guide on checking a roofer's Connecticut registration shows how to look one up.