Paramus is a straightforward drive from our Cliffside Park office along Route 4. The borough's housing is a generation newer than the pre-war boroughs near the Hudson, which changes the problems: fewer slate roofs and plaster ceilings, more low-slope shingle roofs that are on their second or third covering, and chimneys built for oil heat that have since converted to gas. Estimates are free and we tell you plainly what we find.
Housing in Paramus
Paramus developed rapidly after World War II. Its residential neighborhoods are dominated by split-levels, ranches, Cape Cods and some bi-levels from the 1950s and 1960s, typically with moderate or low-pitched asphalt shingle roofs and single brick chimneys. The Route 17 and Route 4 corridors carry a large concentration of retail, office and commercial buildings, nearly all with flat or low-slope roofs.
Weather and exposure
Paramus lies inland, west of the Hackensack River, on relatively flat ground. Wind exposure is moderate compared with the Palisades boroughs. The Saddle River runs through the borough, and low areas near it see flooding during heavy rain. Residential streets planted after the war now have large mature trees. Low-pitched post-war roofs shed water slowly and are prone to ice dams and ponding at valleys, and summer thunderstorms bring wind and hail.
