Whether your roof is ready for replacement, what a full tear-off and new roof includes, what Pennsylvania's code and your town's permit office ask for, and how we run the job from the first look to the last magnet sweep.
Most roofs in Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties are not new. The Census Bureau's 2020-2024 estimates put the share of homes built before 1980 at 62% in Dauphin County, 53% in Cumberland County and 56% in Perry County, so many houses here are already on a second or third roof.
This page helps you decide whether to replace, what a full replacement includes, and what the state and your town ask for. We look at the roof and the attic first, measure, and photograph what we find. The free assessment at your house ends with a written estimate that lists the work line by line.
Age is the first clue. HUD's Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide gives a first roof layer about 20 years of service, and a roof that old deserves a close look. Age alone does not settle it. In the attic and on the roof we look for:
One failed spot is a job for roof repair. A roof worn across every slope costs less to replace than to patch again. Our roof inspection sorts the two, and you keep the photographs.
Estimates differ because "replacement" means different things to different roofers. Ours lists each line in writing:
If an estimate you hold leaves out any of these lines, ask why. Gutters are priced apart; see gutters.
A roof is a stack, and each layer has its own job.
Upper Allen Township's design table lists a 90 mph wind speed and a 30 psf ground snow load, and it says an ice barrier is required. We fasten to the shingle maker's printed pattern for your slope, never to a number picked in advance.
This metro sits in IECC climate zone 4A. A year brings about 101.5 nights at or below 32F and 17 days when the high stays below freezing. Harrisburg's snowfall averages about 30 inches and can pass 40 in some winters, Shippensburg gets about 34 inches, and Hummelstown took a record 21-inch blizzard in 2010.
Snow piles on the roof, melts, and refreezes at the eaves. Ice dams form when heat leaks into the attic, so a replacement is the time to fix air sealing, insulation and ventilation along with the covering. Our roof ventilation page goes through it.
Summer brings the other problem: humid air and shade. Moss and dark algae streaks grow on north slopes and under trees. We point out algae-resistant products when we price the job.
Pennsylvania sets one residential code for the whole state. The Uniform Construction Code adopts the 2021 International Residential Code with Pennsylvania's changes, and that version took effect January 1, 2026 (34 Pa. Code § 403.21). The state's changes touch roof ventilation (Sections R806.1 and R806.3) and ridge framing (Section R802.3). A town may adopt standards that equal or exceed the code, but § 403.102 keeps it from adopting a lower or different edition. Our Pennsylvania roofing code guide goes deeper.
Permit steps still differ town by town. Here is what each office's own records say:
| Town | What the record says |
|---|---|
| Harrisburg | Roofing is listed on the building permit application. Contractors named on it must hold a valid Mercantile License. The permit goes void if no inspection happens within 6 months. |
| Mechanicsburg | Replacing a residential roof covering needs no building permit unless structural roof members are involved. Work missing a required permit can draw fines of up to $1,000.00 per day. |
| New Cumberland | Roof replacement is listed among projects that may need a permit, and work may not start until it is issued. |
| Camp Hill | The fee is $90.00 plus 1.2% of the estimated project value. Third-party review takes 14 to 30 days, and inspections need 24 hours' notice. |
| Steelton | Residential applications must be approved within 15 business days, and the form asks for the contractor's registration number. |
In Mechanicsburg the property owner answers for any permit the work requires. We pull the permit where the town asks for one.
Pennsylvania requires home improvement contractors to register with the Attorney General. Registration is not a license, and your permit office may not check it for you. Carlisle does not check contractor registration for one- and two-family homes, while Steelton's residential form and Lemoyne's building permit application both ask for the number. Ask any roofer for the registration number in writing before you sign.
Applications in several towns also ask for workers' compensation information, and Lemoyne and Mechanicsburg ask for a certificate of liability insurance. Read the contract for the work, the materials and the price.
If a storm caused the damage, the claim, the policy and the deductible stay yours. We inspect, photograph and give you a written scope you can send your insurer. See storm damage.
The maker of the shingles or metal prints a warranty on the product. Ask for the printed terms before you choose, read what it excludes, and keep the paperwork. Terms for the labor belong in the contract, so ask any roofer to write them there. Our estimate lists the work and the products line by line, and we install to the code and to the maker's instructions.
A warranty describes what the maker will do about a defect. It does not replace a dry attic, sound flashing and a look at the roof after a hard winter.
Replacing before you sell depends on the roof. If it is sound, repair what is worn and keep the photographs. If it is worn across the slopes, a buyer's inspector will find that, and you can replace first or negotiate. We tell you which case yours is at the free assessment.
We do not print a price here, because no two roofs match. What moves it:
Our free roof estimate puts measured figures and each line of the work in writing.
A full replacement removes the old covering and underlayment to the deck, checks the deck and replaces bad boards, then adds ice barrier where the design table calls for it, underlayment, drip edge, flashing, the new covering, ridge and vents. Cleanup and the permit, where your town asks for one, are on our written scope too.
It depends on the roof. If it is sound, repairs and a set of photographs may be enough. If it is worn across the slopes, a buyer's inspector will find it, and you can replace first or negotiate the price. Our free assessment tells you which case yours is.
Look at the signs: curling or cracked shingles, bare patches, granules in the gutters, stains or daylight in the attic, and leaks that return after repairs. One bad spot calls for a repair. Wear on every slope points to replacement, and our inspection photographs show you which you have.
The product should. The maker prints a warranty on shingles or metal, and you should get the paperwork and read the terms. Ask the roofer to write labor terms into the contract. Our estimate lists the work and products line by line, and we install to the code and the maker's instructions.
A roof is a large purchase, so have the maker's printed terms in hand. Know that a warranty only describes what the maker does about a defect. It does not replace sound installation, flashing that stays tight and an attic that vents, so read what the warranty excludes before you rely on it.
It depends on the town. Harrisburg lists roofing on its permit application, New Cumberland lists roof replacement among projects that may need one, and Mechanicsburg needs none unless structural roof members are involved. We check your town's rule at the estimate and pull the permit where one is needed.
Roof replacement across the Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania metro. Each city has its own page with the permit rule and code edition that apply there:
Sources: Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, 2021 IRC adoption (34 Pa. Code § 403.21) · Municipal standards under the Uniform Construction Code (34 Pa. Code § 403.102) · Upper Allen Township design table: wind, snow load, ice barrier · HUD Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide, roof service life · Harrisburg building permit application and notes · Mechanicsburg codes and zoning, roof-covering permit rule · New Cumberland codes enforcement and permits · Camp Hill building permit fees and review · Steelton permits · Carlisle building permits. Codes, programs and prices change; confirm the current rule with your city before you rely on it.
Free inspection, a written scope, and photos you keep either way.
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