Ditmas Park and Prospect Park South are the exception to the Brooklyn rule. Where most of the borough is flat membrane roofing behind parapets, the detached Victorians of Victorian Flatbush carry full pitched roofs with turrets, wraparound porch roofs, multiple dormers and valleys that run in three directions at once. Many still have their original slate or cedar. Replacing one of these roofs is closer to a Westchester estate job than to anything else in Brooklyn, and it has to be quoted and built that way.
This guide covers what makes these roofs different, the material choices when the original slate or cedar is finished, the Landmarks rules that apply across most of the area, and why the flashing is the job. For the wider borough see our Brooklyn roofing page.
What you are dealing with
The houses in Prospect Park South, Ditmas Park, Fiske Terrace and Midwood Park were built mostly between the turn of the century and the First World War as freestanding suburban-style homes. Their roofs share a few traits:
- Complex geometry. Hips, gables, conical turret roofs, gambrels and porch roofs on the same house, each meeting the others at a valley or a wall.
- Original material. Slate on many, cedar shingle on others, sometimes both on the same roof, with a century of patches on top.
- Flashing-heavy detail. Chimneys through the slope, dormer cheeks, turret-to-main-roof junctions, porch roof to wall. Every one of these is a place water can enter.
- Old decks. Plank or skip sheathing under the slate, often sound, sometimes not, and impossible to assess fully until the roof comes off.
- Low-slope porch returns. The wraparound porch roofs are often nearly flat and were built for a metal or membrane covering that has been replaced with shingles that cannot handle the pitch.
The consequence is that on a Ditmas Park Victorian the field material, whether slate, cedar or shingle, is a smaller share of the cost and the risk than the flashing, the valleys and the transitions. A quote that prices the roof by the square without walking the details is going to be wrong.
Restore the original, or replace it
The first question on any of these houses is whether the original roof can be saved. Hard slate with failed fasteners and flashing is a restoration: strip, save the sound pieces, replace the underlayment and metal, re-lay with copper nails. Cedar that has been maintained and is not rotted through at the butts can sometimes be repaired rather than replaced. We test before we recommend, and we say which it is.
When replacement is the answer, the material options for a Victorian in this part of Brooklyn are:
Natural slate
Vermont slate is the match for a house that had slate, and on a home that will stand for another century it is the roof with the lowest cost over that span. The framing on these houses was built for it. The turret and the valleys take skilled hand-cutting.
Cedar
Western red cedar shingles are the right material on a house that had cedar, and they read correctly on a shingle-style Victorian in a way that nothing else quite does. We install Waldun cedar with copper flashing. Cedar needs ventilation and air behind it to last, which the original builders understood and some later renovations did not.
Composite slate or shake
DaVinci and Brava composite gives the slate or shake profile at a fraction of the weight and with Class A fire and Class 4 impact ratings. It is the practical choice when the framing has been altered, when an addition was built for asphalt, or when the budget will not reach natural material across a large and complex roof.
Luxury asphalt
CertainTeed Grand Manor for a slate look and Carriage House for a shake look are the luxury shingle lines we install on Victorians where the owner wants the character of the original at asphalt cost. On a house with this much visible roof, the difference between a standard architectural shingle and a luxury line is obvious from the street.
Landmarks in Victorian Flatbush
Prospect Park South, Ditmas Park and Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park are designated historic districts under the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the roofs of these houses are among the most visible elements the commission protects. Replacing slate with slate, or cedar with cedar, is the most straightforward approval. Changing material, for example from slate to a composite or a luxury shingle, is reviewed and the commission will want to see the product. Dormer, turret and porch roof changes are all visible and all need the permit.
We build the LPC timeline into the schedule and handle the filing alongside the DOB permit. The sequence matters: LPC first, then DOB, then work. Our permit guide lays out both processes.
The details that make or break the roof
On a Victorian replacement we allow for the following as standard, because they are where these roofs fail:
- Copper or lead-coated copper valleys, open or closed depending on the material, with the metal running far enough under the field to handle a valley that carries water from three slopes.
- Step flashing and counterflashing at every dormer cheek and chimney, cut into the mortar joint rather than surface-sealed.
- A membrane system, not shingles, on any porch roof or return below the pitch the field material can handle.
- Ice and water membrane at every eave, valley and transition, extended further up the slope on the north side where the snow sits.
- Snow guards above entrances on slate roofs.
- Gutters and downspouts sized for the roof area. Many of these houses have half-round gutters, some original, and where they are sound we keep them. Where the gutters were replaced with undersized aluminum that overflows at the inside corners, replacing them with the roof is the moment to do it, since the drip edge and apron go on with the roof edge.
Getting a roof estimate in Ditmas Park
REVMA is based in Bayside, Queens and installs slate, cedar, composite and luxury shingle roofs across Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester. We are licensed and insured, NYC DCWP license 2126882-DCWP. On a Victorian we walk every valley and every flashing before we quote, and we put the material options in writing so you can compare them on the same scope. Call (646) 889-4529 or request an estimate. Our roof inspection page describes the photographic condition report we produce, which is a useful starting point when you are deciding between restoring and replacing.