Roof Replacement, Gutters & Soffit – Hamburg, NY
Project Details:
Location:
Property Type:
Residential two-story home, built in the 1940s, with an attached garage
Project Dates:
Initial consultation in winter 2024, with installation completed over a 3-day window in summer 2024
Products Used:
GAF HDZ Shingles (Patriot Red), 5″ commercial .032 gauge gutters, baffles, white vinyl vented soffit and fascia
Project Summary
A 1940s home in the Village of Hamburg needed more than a new roof. The house was built without proper eaves, so the gutters had always been mounted flush against the siding instead of hanging just below the roofline. Over the years, that setup pushed moisture behind the siding every time the gutters filled, and it eventually caused leaking inside part of the home. The homeowner spent time trying to fix the problem from the inside first, working on the attic to cut down on the issue before deciding the eaves themselves needed to be changed.
Roofs by Bryan partnered with Guardian Seamless Gutters & Carpentry to fix the problem at its source instead of patching the symptoms year after year. The team rebuilt the eave structure, installed new GAF HDZ shingles in Patriot Red, and added seamless gutters, baffles, and vented soffit and fascia to finish the roofline correctly. The homeowner didn’t set out to replace a roof with plenty of life left in it. The roof was only 12 years old at the time, but fixing the eaves meant the shingles had to come off regardless, and that changed the scope of the project entirely. Here’s how the work came together, from the first phone call to the finished roofline.
The Challenge
Homes built in the 1940s often skipped design details that are standard practice today, and this house was missing its eaves entirely. Without that overhang, the gutters had nowhere to sit except flush against the siding, or in some spots, even slightly behind it. Every time those gutters filled, water had nowhere to drain but backward, straight behind the siding and into the wall assembly below. That pattern repeated for years until it finally showed up as leaking inside the home.
The homeowner tried addressing it from the attic side first, cutting down on heat loss in hopes it would ease the issue. When that wasn’t enough, it became clear the eaves themselves were the root cause. A straightforward roof replacement wouldn’t have touched the real problem. The fix had to start with rebuilding the eave structure, and everything else on the project followed from that decision.
Our Solution
Bryan responded to the homeowner’s initial request quickly and set up a time to walk the property in person. Getting the eave problem right meant bringing in the right partner from day one, so Rob from Guardian Seamless Gutters & Carpentry joined that first visit. Together, they mapped out a plan that treated the eaves, gutters, and roof as one connected project instead of three separate jobs stacked on top of each other.
The plan came in within the range the homeowner had budgeted, with no back-and-forth needed to make it work. From there, both teams coordinated a shared timeline so the eave rebuild, gutter installation, and roof replacement could move together without gaps between trades. That coordination mattered as much as the materials, since a mismatched schedule would have left the house exposed longer than it needed to be.
Materials Used
The new roof went on with GAF HDZ shingles in Patriot Red, a dimensional shingle built for both looks and durability. Underneath, GAF’s synthetic roof deck protection and a leak barrier were installed at the eaves and valleys, the spots most prone to water intrusion on any roof. On the gutter side, the team installed 5″ commercial-grade .032 gauge seamless gutters, which run thicker than standard residential gutters and hold up better over time. Baffles were added on top of the insulation in the attic to help with proper airflow and ventilation through the soffits. New white vinyl vented soffit and fascia finished off the roofline, which the eaves had been missing for decades.
Process
Two crews worked side by side over three days to keep the project moving as one job instead of two. The roofing team handled tear-off, deck repair, and the shingle installation, while Guardian’s team rebuilt the eave structure and installed the gutters, soffit, and fascia. Roofs by Bryan keeps a project manager on site for jobs like this, and having one person coordinating both crews meant nothing fell through the cracks where the two scopes of work met.
Highlights
- Full eave rebuild that corrected a structural gap left over from the home’s original 1940s construction
- New GAF HDZ shingle roof installed in step with the eave and gutter work, not as a separate project
- Two specialized crews, Roofs by Bryan and Guardian Seamless Gutters & Carpentry, coordinated on a single job site over three days
- Our project manager was on site the entire time, keeping both crews aligned and the homeowner informedÂ
- Clear, consistent communication throughout, with the homeowner treated as the primary point of contact from the first visit to the last
Results & Benefits
The finished home keeps the same character it always had. As the homeowner put it, the crews “did a wonderful job of making sure the house looks as though it should have always just been that way,” even though the work underneath was extensive. The leaking that started the whole project is resolved, the gutters now direct water away from the house instead of behind the siding, and the new roof adds years of protection on top of the structural fix.
Beyond the physical repair, the homeowner pointed to how the project felt from start to finish. She was the primary point of contact throughout and said she was treated like any other client at every step, with questions answered and decisions made together rather than around her. That kind of communication is part of what Roofs by Bryan aims for on every job, not just the ones that come with a testimonial. As the homeowner summed it up: “We would certainly hire them again in a heartbeat if the need ever arose in the future.”
Project Gallery
Before: The original roofline and gutter setup, showing the flush-mounted gutters that sat behind the siding instead of below the eaves.
During: Tear-off in progress, crews rebuilding the eave structure, and the new GAF synthetic underlayment and leak barrier going down ahead of the shingles.
After: The completed roof in GAF HDZ Patriot Red shingles, new seamless gutters, and white vinyl soffit and fascia finishing off the roofline.
Key Specifications
|
Detail |
Description |
|
Location |
Village of Hamburg, NY |
|
Property Type |
Residential, built 1940s |
|
Shingles |
GAF HDZ, Patriot Red |
|
Gutters |
5″ commercial .032 gauge, with baffles |
|
Soffit & Fascia |
White vinyl, vented |
|
Project Length |
3 days |
|
Crews |
Roofs by Bryan (roofing) + Guardian Seamless Gutters & Carpentry (eaves, gutters, soffit, fascia) |
Special Features:
This project called for two trades working side by side rather than one after the other, since the eave rebuild and gutter installation depended on each other to work correctly. Jobs like this take more planning than a standard roof replacement, since the sequencing between crews has to be right or the whole timeline falls apart. Roofs by Bryan kept a project manager on site the entire time to keep both crews aligned and to make sure the homeowner always knew what was happening and why.
The result held onto the house’s original character on the outside while solving a leak problem that had been building for years on the inside. It’s a good example of what happens when a roofing project starts with the right diagnosis instead of a quick fix: the roof, the gutters, and the eaves all had to work together, and now they do.
Homeowner Testimonial
“This is a long one, bear with me!
I first contacted Bryan in the winter of 2024 after some leaking we were experiencing due in large part to the fact that our 1940’s home in the Village of Hamburg was built essentially without eaves. In our particular situation, our gutters were set flush, if not behind, the siding of our home, causing the water in the gutters (in snow or heavy rain) to back up behind the siding, eventually causing leaking in part of our house. After doing what we could do in the attic to mitigate heat loss in the winter, our last solution was to see if we could fix the eave situation and get the gutters off of the house. We didn’t “need” a new roof per se (it was 12 years old at the time) but needing new eaves nullified that fact, and I contacted Bryan with my request. To my initial surprise, Bryan got back to me extremely quickly, and set up an appointment to come out and look at the house and what I was requesting. He, along with Rob from Guardian Seamless Gutters & Carpentry, came up with a plan on how to address our issues as best they could, and gave us a quote that was within the range we had budgeted. We of course didn’t hesitate!
To say we are thrilled with the work that was done between both teams would be an understatement- they have given us such peace of mind and they were so communicative throughout the entire process that there weren’t any questions or doubts we were left with. It ended up being a 3 day job with 2 teams having to work in tandem, during the HOTTEST week we’ve had in Buffalo so far this summer, and they honestly were amazing. Their teams worked so hard in the brutal heat, and I felt so bad that the only thing I could seem to do was give them a restroom to use and cold bottled water waiting in coolers everyday! We are so thankful to them for the work they did, and would highly recommend Roofs by Bryan as well as Guardian Seamless Gutters & Carpentry. As you can see by the pictures, they did a wonderful job of making sure the house looks as though it should have always just been that way; it truly doesn’t look like much changed, even though they did quite extensive work! And in the world of updating old houses, that’s a huge deal!
On a personal note, I am a woman who facilitated and was the point person for every step of this project. Many times over the years I have been met with contractors who would either talk down to me as if I couldn’t possibly understand what they were talking about, or who would rather defer decision making to my husband and would just wait to talk to him altogether. In our house, that’s just not how our dynamic works. And so I was pleasantly surprised that when I met with Bryan (and his project manager Dave, as well as Rob from Guardian) that there was never a moment when they talked down to me, or asked to talk with my husband, or anything of the sort. They just treated me like they would any other client. And I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. It might seem like a small thing to many, but it spoke volumes to me, and I am so appreciative for the way they worked with me and overall for how I felt every time we interacted, whether that was via email sorting out details or in person when they were asking for my input on something. They kept me apprised every step of the way and I absolutely felt seen and heard every time I approached them with a question or request. We would certainly hire them again in a heartbeat if the need ever arose in the future, and will absolutely be recommending them to anyone who will listen ;)”
Ready to Fix a Problem at the Source?
If your home has a leak, a drafty attic, or gutters that never seem to work right, the issue might not be the roof at all. Reach out to Roofs by Bryan for a free roof inspection, and let’s find out what’s really going on before we talk about a
