JUSTEN NEWTON
The Blue Collar Scholar
Roofing for Mapleton Hill Victorians, University Hill bungalows and Chautauqua cottages. Boulder and the Front Range, and landmark roofs nationwide, outside Florida and Alabama.
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Serving Boulder·Denver Metro & Front Range
Boulder's older ground splits two ways — Mapleton Hill's Victorians down low, the craftsman bungalows climbing University Hill, with Chautauqua's century cottages sitting off to the side like they've got nowhere to be. Different eras, same roofs: old enough that the hidden work underneath has usually been touched at least once by somebody who shouldn't have.
A craftsman bungalow and a Victorian don't fail the same way, but they fail for the same reason — flashing that got cheaper every time it was replaced, fasteners nobody checked because the tile or slate up top still looked fine. The standard doesn't bend for the hill it's built on.
The Downtown Boulder Historic District and the Norlin Quadrangle Historic District at the University of Colorado are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: National Park Service (opens in a new tab)Boulder requires a roofing permit for any repair, removal, overlay or re-cover of more than one square (100 square feet).
Source: City of BoulderNOAA's Storm Events Database lists seven reports of hail 1 inch or larger within two miles of its Boulder reference point, January 2019 through June 2026. The largest was 1.25-inch hail on July 5, 2019.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 824783 (opens in a new tab)| Date | Hail | Distance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 12, 2023 | 1.00 in | 0.53 mi | NOAA NCEI event 1106931 |
| June 12, 2023 | 1.00 in | 0.69 mi | NOAA NCEI event 1106932 |
| July 5, 2019 | 1.00 in | 1.26 mi | NOAA NCEI event 824786 |
| July 5, 2019 | 1.25 in | 1.26 mi | NOAA NCEI event 824783 |
| July 5, 2019 | 1.00 in | 1.26 mi | NOAA NCEI event 824779 |
| July 5, 2019 | 1.00 in | 0.53 mi | NOAA NCEI event 824777 |
| July 5, 2019 | 1.00 in | 0.87 mi | NOAA NCEI event 824773 |
Showing all 7 reports of 1 inch or larger within two miles, 2019 to 2026.
NOAA NCEI Storm Events database. Reports lag about three months.
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.
Survey the roof and write it down: pitch, headlap, fastener type, valley metal. On a craftsman bungalow or Victorian, that also means noting what earlier repairs changed about the detail, in writing, before any tear-off.
Roofs on the hill open in sections and each section gets temporary cover straight away. Interiors stay dry while salvage, deck repair and staging go on for as long as they need.
Salvage every sound piece that belongs. Specify the Ludowici or slate against what the cottage or Victorian shows today, matching color, profile and thickness, and set up the Boulder roofing permit that anything past one square needs.
Slate on copper, headlap sized to the pitch, valleys flashed once and flashed right. The craftsman detail on top only works if the hidden work underneath gets done properly this time.
A clean manifest, photos, permit record and warranty paperwork where it applies. The notes cover what the last roofer left behind, so the next owner does not have to guess.
University Hill's bungalows and Mapleton Hill's Victorians are old enough to have survived at least one bad decade of roofing work. A slate field up there fails at the same details it fails everywhere — rusted steel nails, headlap shaved thin, a valley patched in something that didn't belong. Fix what's underneath or the stone's hundred years means nothing.
A Chautauqua cottage roofed in clay wants its exact Ludowici profile, not whatever's closest on the truck. The old profiles are still in the catalog; matching them is slower than guessing, and it's the only version that doesn't announce itself as a repair from the street.
Boulder's older bungalows and cottages get judged by their rooflines, but the roofline is the last thing that matters. Decking gets checked, underlayment goes in right, and none of the craftsman detail up top means anything if the hidden work was done cheap the last time somebody touched it.
“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.
Boulder's older roofs make the case: Mapleton Hill Victorians and University Hill bungalows have carried a century of weather. Ludowici clay and quarried slate are built to do that. What goes first is the flashing and fasteners that were swapped for cheaper ones, not the stone.
Yes. Ludowici's catalog and graded salvage drive the match. A Chautauqua cottage roofed in clay wants its original profile, not whatever is closest on the truck. Sound tile goes back where it shows from the street, and new clay is blended into the field.
Repair comes first. A slate field on a Victorian or bungalow rarely fails as stone; it fails at rusted steel nails, shaved headlap and a valley patched in something that did not belong. Correct those details and most roofs stay. Replacement is the last resort.
On older mid-century buildings, often. Transite and older membranes come off under negative air, with certified crews and a clean manifest, before a single new course goes on. Boulder's permit rules apply either way, and that paperwork is part of the scope.
Yes. Boulder's older ground runs from Mapleton Hill to University Hill and Chautauqua, and the Downtown and Norlin Quadrangle historic districts are on the National Register. Boulder wants a permit for any repair, removal, overlay or re-cover past one square, and the job starts with a written scope.
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.
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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.
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