JUSTEN NEWTON
The Blue Collar Scholar
Roofing for the older housing stock around Aurora's original townsite, and for landmark buildings of every kind. Denver metro, and landmark roofs nationwide, outside Florida and Alabama.
Request a free inspection See the work
Free inspections·239‑791‑0646
Serving Aurora·Denver Metro & Front Range
Aurora reads newer at a glance — mid-century blocks that grew up around old Fitzsimons, subdivisions that don't look like restoration country. Look closer at the original townsite and the housing stock gets older fast, old enough that a roof up there has already outlived one owner's idea of a quick fix.
Mid-century construction wasn't built for landmark treatment, but the older pockets near the original townsite carry the same roofing problems as anywhere else in the metro: fasteners that were never meant to last a century, flashing detailed for a twenty-year roof instead of a hundred-year one. The standard doesn't change because the neighborhood is younger.
Aurora's Historic Preservation Commission keeps a program of historic landmarks and districts that trace the city from a 19th century trolley town.
Source: City of Aurora (opens in a new tab)Aurora's Building Division publishes reroofing and deck sheathing requirements for roof replacements.
Source: City of Aurora Building Division (opens in a new tab)Custom Ludowici clay, hand-slushed with battered butts — 128 squares in a three-color blend, full restoration in Denver. Completed with Precision Construction and Roofing.
Full tear-off and re-deck — 2,500 squares of Boral Tejas España tile, battens and field reinstalled across the complex. Completed with Precision Construction and Roofing.
DaVinci slate in a black-and-grey blend — 396 squares total, custom copper-and-lead turret work on a full replacement. Completed with Precision Construction and Roofing.
Free inspections·A written scope·No pressure on the porch
One standard, whether it is a courthouse, a church or a house. Documented, preserved, and put back better than the archives remember it.
Fired clay that outlives its warranty by a century. Matched, milled, and hung by hands that know every profile in the catalog.
Stone laid to shed water for a hundred years. Cut, hung, and headlapped like it has to prove it every day.
The dangerous work nobody photographs. Brought down under negative air by certified crews — contained, cleared, and manifested — so the beautiful work can begin.
Walk the roof and the deck together, since mid-century framing around the original townsite often tells more than the shingles do. Pitch, headlap, fastener type, valley metal, and the places water already won go on paper before any tear-off.
The moment the old roof opens, the house gets covered. Temporary dry-in keeps weather out while salvage, abatement and deck repair take the time they need, whether the home is from 1907 or 1947.
Keep what is sound and still belongs. On older Aurora stock that means graded salvage first, then Ludowici clay or slate specified to the original color, profile and thickness, never a near match off a shelf.
Slate hung on copper, headlap sized to the pitch, deck sheathing and fasteners to the city's published reroofing requirements. Valleys and hips are set once, and nobody stands on the finished field.
A clean manifest, photos, and notes the next owner can use, plus warranty paperwork where it applies. The file shows what was found under the old roof and what now sits on that deck.
A mid-century roof rarely gets slate, but the older stock near Aurora's original townsite sometimes did — and it fails exactly like every other slate field: a rusted fastener here, a headlap shaved thin there, a valley re-flashed in whatever was cheap that decade. The fix is the same whether the house is from 1907 or 1947 — hang it on copper, size the headlap to the pitch, and don't let anyone walk the finished field.
Clay tile is rarer out this way, but where it exists — usually on the older housing stock near the original townsite — it still deserves its exact Ludowici match, not a close approximation ordered off a shelf. A mismatched profile ages a roof by fifty years the moment you notice it.
Fitzsimons-era construction and the neighborhoods that grew up around it weren't built expecting a hundred-year roof, which makes the hidden work matter more, not less. Decking gets checked before anything else goes back on; underlayment doesn't get skipped because the house is younger than the courthouse downtown. The roof doesn't know how old the neighborhood is.
“The archives remember what the roof looked like. My job is to make the roof agree.”
— Justen Newton
The pretty part is the clay. The century is everything underneath it. Walk the layers.
Longer than the house around it. Slate and Ludowici clay are rated in centuries, which is why the older pockets near Aurora's original townsite are worth the care. What gives out first is the hidden layer: fasteners and flashing built for a twenty-year roof, not a hundred-year one.
Yes, and it matters most where the field is older than the neighborhood's reputation. Ludowici's catalog and graded salvage drive the match. Where clay survives near the original townsite, the profile gets matched exactly, and new fired clay is blended into the salvaged field so the repair does not announce itself.
Repair first. Slate on Aurora's older stock rarely fails as stone; it fails at the rusted nail, the shaved headlap, the cheap valley. Correct those and most of these roofs keep going. Replacement is the last resort, and the Building Division's reroofing and deck sheathing requirements apply when it comes to that.
Possibly. Fitzsimons-era and mid-century construction is the age range where transite and older membranes show up, and those come off under negative air, with certified crews and a clean manifest before any new course goes on. It gets scoped at the survey, not guessed at from the street.
Yes. Aurora's older pockets trace back to a 19th century trolley town, and the city's Historic Preservation Commission keeps a landmark and district program for them. The Building Division publishes the reroofing rules; the work here follows both, with a site visit and a written scope first.
Steep-slope craftsman. Historic clay and slate. One standard, whether it is a courthouse, a church or a house.
Seventeen years on landmark roofs. Roofing work nationwide, outside Florida and Alabama. Ludowici clay, premium slate, and asbestos abatement handled by the book. When the roof carries the building’s story, the work travels.
Pick the closest match. The inquiry form fills in the roof for you.
Selected: . Go to the form
Tell Justen what you are seeing. He usually calls back within one business day. The inspection is free. Next comes a site visit, then a written scope. No pressure on the porch.
Justen sells and personally runs high-end roofing jobs, usually through Precision Construction and Roofing, and consults independently.
31 points, 6 sections. Print it before the site visit, or take it to the board.
Get the checklist