Society Hill at Somerset II Roof Replacement | Somerset, NJ

Our Society Hill at Somerset II roof replacement was a three phase campaign in an association-wide capital project built around roughly 2,100 roofing squares, approximately 210,000 square feet of roofing, a 36-building property, new gutters and downspouts, and a carefully phased construction schedule in Franklin Park, New Jersey. We worked alongside FirstService Residential and KIPCON Engineering, while Project Managers Robin Salmon and Wilson Mora coordinated the daily movement of crews, equipment, materials, inspections, and residents across the property. The selected roof color was GAF Pewter Gray, giving the completed buildings a crisp gray roofline that works naturally with a broad range of brick, siding, and trim finishes. GAF describes Pewter Gray as a clean, versatile roof color and currently offers it across multiple shingle families.

Society Hill at Somerset II sits at 111 Fisher Drive in Franklin Park, within Franklin Township in Somerset County. Franklin Township’s own public records identify the Society Hill II clubhouse at that address, while older public community information describes an established condominium neighborhood with a clubhouse, pool, tennis facilities, and playground. The project itself was large enough that those community spaces, resident streets, parking areas, and ordinary daily routines all had to remain part of the construction plan instead of becoming casualties of it.

Starting With the Roof Study, Not the Tear-Off

Long before the first active roof section opened, our estimating and preconstruction teams had to understand what KIPCON’s remediation design meant once it met the actual property. The incorporated engineering package included a 53-page Roof Remediation Project Manual and eight drawings, which gave us the technical framework for roofing, gutters, downspouts, related sheet-metal work, protection, cleanup, and building-specific details. Our estimators and project personnel then took that information into the field, reviewing access, roof geometry, staging areas, drainage conditions, occupied entrances, landscaping, equipment routes, and the places where one building’s construction could interfere with the next.

That early work matters more on a project of this scale because mistakes multiply. A bad staging decision on one building is irritating; repeating it across three dozen buildings becomes a management strategy nobody wants to defend. We used site observations, estimating records, engineering documents, photographs, measurements, and internal production notes to build a sequence that our field teams could actually execute.

Our internal handoff also gave Robin and Wilson more than a set of plans when production began. The estimating team, office staff, project management, and operations personnel carried information forward so crew leaders understood the approved scope, priority buildings, material requirements, resident considerations, and inspection process. Our multifamily roofing services are built around that kind of preconstruction because community roofing gets expensive quickly when the first real planning meeting happens beside an open roof.

KIPCON Engineering and a Three-Phase Plan

KIPCON’s engineering involvement gave the association a structured technical framework for the replacement. KIPCON provides roofing design, building inspections, specifications, bidding assistance, and contract administration for condominium and HOA communities, and its own roofing education emphasizes evaluating the existing system, defining specifications, and coordinating related components such as ventilation, gutters, and downspouts before replacement begins. That approach lined up closely with what Society Hill II required.

The contract divided the work into three phases, with Phase 1 focused on four of the highest-priority buildings and the remainder distributed through the later phases. That structure gave the engineering team, FirstService, the association, and our crews a logical way to move through a very large property without opening construction everywhere at once. It also created natural checkpoints for inspections, billing, field review, resident communication, and adjustments before the next group of buildings came into production.

Phase-based work is not glamorous, but it prevents a community from becoming one enormous collection of ladders, dumpsters, trucks, and temporary barriers. We could finish defined areas, clean them, move equipment, and give those residents their normal surroundings back before pushing deeper into the next section. A long project becomes considerably easier to live with when residents can see the construction actually moving somewhere.

Working With FirstService Residential

FirstService Residential served as the community-management connection between the association, residents, engineering team, and our field operation. FirstService’s New Jersey division manages condominium associations, HOAs, townhome communities, and other residential properties, with services that include resident communication, vendor coordination, property inspections, board support, financial management, and capital-planning assistance. Those functions matter on a project where the roofing crews are only one part of what needs to move every day.

Matthew Johnson worked as the listed FirstService contact while our team coordinated production schedules, resident notices, project documentation, access concerns, engineering questions, and inspection activity. A project booklet was distributed, start notices were hand delivered, and an active online project portal gave residents another way to follow project information. That communication structure helped turn a three-phase roofing program into something residents could anticipate rather than something they discovered when the dumpster appeared outside.

The management relationship also mattered financially. The contract tied phase billing to engineer-approved substantial completion, supporting documentation, lien waivers, and retainage requirements, while final release depended on punch-list completion, permits, warranties, and closeout records. We did not need the crews discussing financing in the parking lot, but the construction progress still had to match the paperwork closely enough that everyone could see what had actually been completed.

Organizing 2,100 Roofing Squares

The project record lists approximately 2,100 roofing squares, which translates to roughly 210,000 square feet of roof surface. That volume changes the logistics of everything, from material orders and delivery timing to dumpsters, crew movement, equipment, and daily cleanup. Robin and Wilson had to keep production moving steadily without allowing the scale of the job to overwhelm the streets and parking areas serving the residents below.

A JCB telehandler and Equipter were deployed to support material movement and debris handling. ProGreen supplied the 30-yard dumpster and portable restrooms used during production, while Marvic Supply was identified as the material supplier. None of that appears in the finished aerial photograph, but a job of this size needs its own temporary infrastructure before the roofing crews can work efficiently.

The challenge was to keep those tools supporting the project instead of dominating the community. Equipment moved with the active phases, deliveries were tied to the production sequence, and work areas were kept concentrated around the buildings currently underway. Two hundred thousand square feet of roofing creates plenty of motion; the useful trick is making sure that motion looks like a plan.

Opening the Roof and Reviewing the Deck

The roofing program required removal of the existing system so the underlying roof deck and transition conditions could be reviewed before the new assembly was installed. The project record shows the plywood and deck inspection process as completed, while township coordination indicated that a separate sheathing inspection was not required. Our crews still needed to pay attention to the surface supporting the new roofing because new shingles do not magically strengthen questionable wood beneath them.

When decking concerns appear after tear-off, they need to be documented and handled while the roof is open. Approved incidental and unit-price work gave the project a mechanism for addressing legitimate field conditions without turning each discovery into an entirely new negotiation. That keeps the repair process tied to the engineer’s specifications and association approvals instead of letting the roof crew invent a solution because the clouds are getting darker.

The same attention applied around walls, penetrations, edges, and other transitions. Broad shingle fields get most of the finished photographs, but flashing and edge details spend their lives doing the less glamorous work of keeping water outside. We would rather spend more time on a few feet of transition detail than spend the next rainy season discussing why it was skipped.

Installing the GAF Roofing System in Pewter Gray

The association selected GAF Pewter Gray for the roofing program. GAF describes the color as a crisp gray that works with contemporary palettes while complementing brick and other traditional exterior materials, making it well suited to a large established condominium community where dozens of roofs need to read as one consistent architectural system.

The engineering documents called for an integrated GAF roofing system rather than shingles installed in isolation. The exact current product line and full accessory schedule should be confirmed from the final material order and closeout package before publication, but the principle is straightforward: leak protection, roof deck protection, starter components, field shingles, ridge components, ventilation, flashing, and drainage all have to work together. GAF’s current steep-slope installation guidance likewise treats leak barriers, flashing, ventilation, and roof-deck protection as interconnected parts of the roofing assembly.

That system approach mattered across a property this large. The workmanship on the final building needed to follow the same approved standard as the first four priority buildings, even after crews had spent months working through similar roof configurations. Repetition can make a team efficient, but it can also make people casual if supervision stops paying attention.

Robin, Wilson, and our field leadership kept the installation tied to the approved details as production advanced. Roof edges, penetrations, wall intersections, vents, and other transitions were reviewed along with the visible shingle surfaces. A roof can look excellent from the street and still fail at one neglected flashing detail, which is an expensive way to learn that aesthetics and waterproofing are not the same profession.

Replacing Gutters and Downspouts With the Roof

The contract did not stop at the shingles. The base work also included 6-inch gutters with 3-by-4-inch downspouts, along with related sheet-metal components required by the KIPCON specifications. That gave the association an opportunity to address the route water takes after it reaches the bottom edge of the new roof instead of renewing the roof and leaving an aging drainage system to argue with it.

That distinction matters when more than 200,000 square feet of roof surface is shedding water. Gutters need enough capacity, proper pitch, secure attachment, and clear outlets, while downspouts need to move runoff away from entrances, siding, foundations, walkways, and landscaped areas. Our gutter and drainage services follow the same principle: getting water off the roof is only half the job.

Residents may notice the new shingles first, but community managers should keep a close eye on the drainage system over the coming years. Overflowing gutters, disconnected downspouts, ice buildup, staining, erosion, or repeated ponding near the same building can reveal problems before water ever appears inside a unit. Drainage has a way of announcing itself politely before it becomes expensive.

Handling Skylight Decisions Separately

Skylights were also considered during preconstruction, but they were handled separately from the base association scope. Updated pricing was sent to FirstService before production so individual homeowners could decide whether they wanted to move forward with the available option. Keeping those selections distinct from the base contract allowed us to coordinate homeowner decisions without muddying the association-wide roofing program.

That is the right time to make a skylight decision, before the crews reach the building and while the surrounding roofing is already scheduled to be opened. Future replacement can still be done, but it means disturbing a roof that has already been completed. When residents elect the work during the roofing project, the installation can be sequenced with the surrounding roof system rather than treated as a later surgical procedure.

The final public page should only identify actual skylight replacements after the closeout record confirms which homeowners moved forward. Pricing an option and installing it are two different facts, and there is no reason to blur them simply because the finished article sounds more impressive with another product name in it.

Permits, Inspections, and Franklin Township Closeout

Our office coordinated the applicable permitting and inspection process with Franklin Township Construction Code. The Township Construction Code office handles permit processing, application status, and inspection scheduling for work under its jurisdiction, with separate building subcode review available for project-specific requirements. The project record shows permits received, deck review completed, and final-inspection activity moving through the closeout process.

Franklin Township notes that certain replacement roofs on one- and two-family detached dwellings can qualify as normal maintenance without construction permits, but Society Hill II is a condominium project governed by its own scope and permit requirements. Our project was already moving through the Township permit process, so the relevant job was not debating whether paperwork was interesting. It was making sure the permits and inspections matched the actual buildings being completed.

That work continued after the original June completion target. By August, the project had moved into final punch-list status, with physical roofing, inspection activity, documentation, and administrative closeout working toward the same finish line. The schedule ran longer than originally projected, but calling a project complete before the punch list and paperwork agree would only make the calendar feel better.

Keeping Residents Connected During Construction

The property remained occupied throughout the roofing program. Residents still needed to reach their homes, move vehicles, receive deliveries, use community spaces, and navigate the property while our crews were removing and replacing roofing overhead. Production had to make room for those routines because construction does not acquire special rights to everybody else’s Tuesday.

The project booklet, hand-delivered start notices, active portal, FirstService communication, and direct coordination with our team gave residents several ways to understand when their building was approaching. Weather and field conditions could still adjust the schedule, but the objective was to keep those changes visible instead of making residents decode construction progress by counting delivery trucks. FirstService’s current New Jersey services specifically include resident communications, vendor coordination, inspections, and community technology intended to keep boards and residents connected to ongoing management activity.

Daily cleanup remained part of the field schedule as well. Roofing debris, fasteners, packaging, sheet metal, and gutter material needed controlled routes from the roof to the disposal area, with ground crews maintaining the property around active buildings. Nobody should have to admire their new roof while standing beside a tire with a roofing nail in it.

What Residents Should Expect From the New Roofs

Residents should expect stronger weather protection, a more uniform Pewter Gray roofline, improved drainage through the new gutters and downspouts, and updated flashing and sheet-metal details across the completed buildings. They should also expect occasional inspections and maintenance because a new roofing system is durable, not immortal. Wind, fallen branches, ice, animals, clogged drainage, and unrelated contractors remain perfectly capable of causing trouble.

Residents can help by reporting visible or interior changes early. New ceiling stains, displaced shingles, loose metal, gutter overflow, unusual water near an entrance, or damage after severe weather should be brought to FirstService rather than investigated personally from the roof. There is no association award for discovering a leak while balancing on a ladder.

Any future satellite, solar, HVAC, telecommunications, or other contractor needing roof access should receive association authorization before altering the roofing system. Penetrations and repairs need to be documented and completed in a way that preserves the surrounding roof and applicable warranty rights. A small hole is still a hole, regardless of how expensive the equipment mounted above it happens to be.

Protecting the Association’s Investment

For FirstService and the Society Hill II board, the finished project should become the new baseline for a building-by-building maintenance program. Contracts, KIPCON specifications, drawings, permits, inspections, photographs, repair records, material documentation, warranty certificates, gutter information, and punch-list records should remain organized by building and phase. Thirty-six buildings are too many to manage with institutional memory and somebody’s old inbox.

Professional roof inspections should be scheduled periodically and after major wind, hail, tree-impact, snow, or ice events. Reviews should cover shingles, flashing, ridge and ventilation details, gutters, downspouts, wall transitions, penetrations, sheet metal, and any roof areas altered by later trades. The broad roof surface may be the easiest thing to photograph, but the edge conditions usually have more interesting stories to tell.

Drainage deserves its own maintenance schedule. Gutters should be cleared of leaves and debris, downspouts should remain secure and unobstructed, and recurring overflow or ponding should be documented by building rather than handled as isolated complaints. The association just invested in a roof system designed to move water efficiently; letting the drainage network fill with leaves would be a particularly avoidable sequel.

The final manufacturer warranty documents should also be retained with the project records once issued. The current tracker does not yet identify a completed warranty submission or labor-warranty entry, so this page should not promise a specific coverage tier before those documents are finalized. Our roof warranty guidance can provide broader context, but the registered Society Hill II certificates should control the actual coverage.

A Large Roofing Program Becomes a Maintenance Program

Society Hill at Somerset II required us to coordinate approximately 2,100 roofing squares, a 36-building contract scope, three construction phases, KIPCON engineering, FirstService management, GAF roofing, new gutters and downspouts, permits, inspections, resident notices, equipment, financing requirements, and months of daily field movement. Robin and Wilson carried much of that work through the property while our estimating, administrative, operations, and field teams kept the schedules and documentation moving behind them. The Pewter Gray roofs are the obvious result, but a project this large only reaches that result when the less visible pieces keep pace.

The association is now moving from construction into stewardship. The lifts and dumpsters leave, the notices stop arriving, and the work becomes inspections, drainage maintenance, controlled roof access, warranty records, and small repairs handled before they become capital emergencies. That quieter phase will determine how much value the community ultimately gets from the work completed in 2026.

Society Hill at Somerset II now joins our growing portfolio of completed community roofing projects across New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic. Boards and managers planning a large roofing, drainage, siding, deck, window, or broader exterior capital project need more than crews and materials; they need a process that can manage engineering, residents, paperwork, and the buildings themselves without losing track of why the project started.

Planning a roof replacement or another exterior capital project for your condominium, HOA, townhome, or multifamily community? Contact Lemus Construction to discuss your property, engineering requirements, phased schedule, resident communication, financing considerations, warranty needs, and long-term maintenance plan.