Steve Ge has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since December of 2023, when a new roof and the removal of an existing solar array were booked together. The roof was finished on 9 January 2024.
37 panels off, and not put back
The array on this house was 8.3 kW across 37 panels, which works out at 225 watts apiece and places it well back into the previous generation of modules. It came off as a removal rather than a lift and reset: panels, mounting system and the rest of it away, with the flashings and lag bolts deliberately left in the roof for the roofing crew to take out along with the old shingles. Pulling fixings out of a roof that still has to survive the next rainstorm leaves holes that have to be sealed and then torn out again days later; leaving them until the tear-off means the holes never exist.
Seven skylights, kept where they were
The household asked for the seven existing skylights to stay, and they did. That is a decision worth naming, because seven skylights on a 2,600 square foot roof is a great deal of glass and each one is a penetration with a flashing detail around it. Working a new roof around seven of them is slower and more exacting than tearing out and replacing the lot, and it is what was asked for.
2,600 square feet, and stainless steel nails
A single layer of old shingles came off down to the sheathing and left with the dumpster. Deck protection went over the exposed sheathing, then a GAF Timberline HDZ system in Pewter Gray carrying a 50-year warranty, aluminum drip edge along 392 feet of rakes, eaves and valleys, and a ridge vent along the peak. The specification called for stainless steel nails throughout. A stainless fastener will not corrode, which matters because a nail is the one component of a roof that is buried, unreachable and expected to hold for the life of the shingles above it.
When the roof outlasts the array
The usual order on this site is a new roof first and panels onto it. This is the other case. An array from an earlier generation of panels, on a roof that has reached the end of its life, poses a question that has to be answered honestly: is what comes down worth the labor of putting back up? Here the answer was no, and the house is left with a bare deck properly covered, a 50-year system over it, seven skylights still in place, and the freedom to start again with modern panels at a time of its own choosing.
Project Facts
- Location
- Summit, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Removal/Replacement
- Client since
- December 2023
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 2,600 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Roofing questions from Summit homeowners
What roofing shingle goes on most homes in Summit, NJ?
The primary residential roofing offering uses GAF Timberline HDZ architectural shingles as part of a complete GAF roofing system. The installation can incorporate qualifying GAF leak barrier, roof deck protection, starter strips, Timberline HDZ shingles, ridge-cap shingles and attic ventilation products.
Is a roof replacement noisy?
Very. The old roof is being torn off and thousands of fasteners are being driven into the deck above your head. Anyone working from home may want to plan around it, pets can find it distressing, and fragile items on attic shelves or hanging on walls immediately below the roof are worth securing beforehand.
Does a wind warranty with no speed limit mean the roof cannot blow off?
No. It is a limited warranty without a maximum wind-speed limitation for qualifying systems, and that is a statement about coverage rather than about physics. Storm damage remains possible and the coverage remains subject to the warranty's terms and exclusions.