Roofing in Palatka, FL, from a Putnam County Roofer

Most of our work is inside Putnam County, and Palatka sits in the middle of it. A leak call on Reid Street or out Crill Avenue is a short drive from Pomona Park, and Juan does the inspection himself rather than sending a salesman. We know the town: which South Historic District streets are still brick, how the East Palatka bank behaves when the river comes up, where the live oak canopy in Palatka Heights drops the most limbs.

The St. Johns is the reason Palatka exists, and the Memorial Bridge, opened in 1976, carries US 17 and SR 100 a little over four thousand feet across it to East Palatka. It is the only permanent vehicle crossing between Green Cove Springs and Astor. Houses on both banks take their weather off open water: wind-driven rain from the northeast in a nor'easter, algae streaks on the shaded north slopes, moss and oak litter from the canopy. During Hurricane Irma in September 2017 the St. Johns went into major flood stage, and a nursing home in Palatka had to be evacuated as the water rose.

Metal has always been the waterfront roof here, on fish camps, river houses and the cottages out toward Dunns Creek and Crescent Lake, and it still is. On a riverfront roof replacement we detail the eaves and hips for wind off the water, run a sealed secondary water barrier under the panels, and use hidden-fastener standing seam where the pitch is low enough for driven rain to work under an exposed screw head. After a storm, storm damage restoration in Palatka starts with photographs and a tarp, and we meet the adjuster on the roof to explain the scope.

Palatka carries two National Register districts, both listed in November 1983. The North Historic District, between the river and the streets north of downtown, holds 76 historic buildings, among them the Bronson-Mulholland House and St. Mark's Episcopal Church. The South Historic District is 23 blocks and 243 buildings, Queen Annes, Colonial Revivals and frame Victorians, running toward Ravine Gardens State Park, the 59-acre park that Depression-era work crews built in 1933 around two steep ravines. Houses this old have steep pitches, heart pine decking, brick chimneys, dormers and porch roofs with too little slope.

The right job on one of these is a full tear-off, deck repair with matching lumber where the pine has rotted, new step and counter flashing cut into the brick, and a roof that suits the house. On a Queen Anne that is often a 5V panel or a standing seam in a traditional color; when the owner wants shingles, our asphalt shingle roofing work uses an architectural shingle and a proper ridge vent. Buyers of historic district houses also call us for roof inspections before closing.

Metal roofing is the flagship of what JM Roofing does, and in Palatka it goes on everything: block houses in town, river houses, manufactured homes on acreage out toward Interlachen, and the pole barns and sheds behind them. The St. Johns at Palatka is fresh water, so steel is the right panel here rather than the aluminum we use on the coast. Tri County Metals, the Florida manufacturer we install for as a factory trained installer, rolls the profiles we use most: 5V for the traditional crimp look, Ultra Rib for barns and budgets, and TCM-LOK or SL-LOK standing seam for the main house. Each of those profiles holds a Florida Product Approval in the FL 36904 family per Tri County Metals' published approvals, and the finishes carry Tri County Metals' limited paint and finish warranty.

Colors people pick in Putnam County run to Copper Penny, Galvalume, charcoal and a bright red, all of which are on roofs we have installed. Palatka is the center of our service area. From here we also reach St. Augustine up SR 207, Palm Coast out SR 100, and DeLand down US 17 past Crescent City. For a full replacement, the Regions Bank plans on our financing page are the same ones we offer everywhere.