Trueline Roofers re-roofs and repairs houses in New Cumberland, the 1.7-square-mile borough on the Susquehanna's west bank, where more homes went up in the 1950s than in any other decade.
New Cumberland has about 1.7 square miles of land and roughly 7,580 people. It sits about 2 miles south of downtown Harrisburg-Carlisle. We cover ZIP code 17070.
No completed roof in New Cumberland is logged in our job records yet.
New Cumberland grew from a river and creek lumber harbor into an industrial town, and later into a suburban borough, so its roofs belong to several different eras. Census counts put 805 of its 3536 homes at 1939 or earlier, 718 in the 1940s, 858 in the 1950s and 634 in the 1960s. A roof over 1940s boards is a different job from one over 1980s sheathing, and the older houses are the ones most likely to hide an earlier layer of shingles or soft spots in the decking. Tell us the year your house went up, and we will know which layers to expect before we climb the ladder.
The borough covers 1.7 square miles on the Susquehanna's western bank, about 364 feet above sea level, with Yellow Breeches Creek forming its southern edge. Humid summers feed mildew, moss and roof algae, and winters bring snow that piles on the roof and ice dams at the eaves. Freeze and thaw cycles then work on every gap in the flashing. About 68% of the housing units are single-family detached, but 486 are attached homes and 192 are two-unit buildings, where a roof edge may end at a neighbor's wall.
Permits here start at the Borough Office. Plan review and inspection go to a third-party agency, Approved Code Services, chosen on the application, and its fees are paid to that agency directly. The application asks for the estimated cost including labor and a workers' compensation insurance form. Work may not start until the borough has issued the permit, so allow for that wait before a tear-off date is set.
Postwar houses in New Cumberland are plain to roof, which is exactly why so many get roofed carelessly. Expect 1x6 board decking or early plywood: usually sound, but it should be walked, not assumed. The weak spots are the shallow pitches — a porch roof, the join to a carport, the flat section over an addition — where shingles went on below their rated slope and have leaked slowly for years. Attics from this era rarely have the ventilation today's shingle warranties ask for, and a hot, under-vented attic ages a roof from below, so intake and exhaust get measured before the quote.
New Cumberland has 3,536 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1953. 805 of them (23%) went up before 1940 — 23rd of 37 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 79 (2%) in 2000 or later. The 1950s were the busiest decade, adding 858 of today's homes (24%). On the pre-1940 share, New Cumberland sits above Cumberland County's 15%.
About 20 years is the service life that HUD's Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide gives for a roof's first layer. By that measure, 98% of New Cumberland's homes — the 3,457 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and the 3,015 built before 1970 (85%) are usually on a third covering or later. The 52 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements come up now, while the 27 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with. At that age it pays to know whether the last roof was torn off or laid over the one before it, because a second layer hides the deck.
68% of homes in New Cumberland are single-family detached houses (2,401) and 14% attached ones such as townhouses (486). 538 homes (15%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 111 (3%) in buildings of ten units or more, where a resident rarely gets to choose the roofer. 70% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 30% rented. When we look at houses like these, our work can include full tear-offs on houses past two roof lives, deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing and flat and low-slope sections, which turn up more on attached and multi-unit buildings.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 805 | 23% | |
| 1940s | 718 | 20% | |
| 1950s | 858 | 24% | |
| 1960s | 634 | 18% | |
| 1970s | 208 | 6% | |
| 1980s | 175 | 5% | |
| 1990s | 59 | 2% | |
| 2000s | 52 | 1% | |
| 2010s | 27 | 1% | |
| 2020 or later | 0 | 0% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 3,536 homes, 3,411 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged 4 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of New Cumberland’s center from 2016 through 2025, on 2 different days. 1 of them was 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 1.75 inches, came on June 3, 2023, about 2.2 miles north of the center. Counts follow people as much as storms, since every report is a spotter’s or a resident’s.
| Latest reports | Size | From center |
|---|---|---|
| June 3, 2023 | 1 inch | 3 mi N |
| June 3, 2023 | 1.75 inches | 2.2 mi N |
| June 3, 2023 | 1.25 inches | 3.6 mi N |
| June 16, 2022 | 1 inch | 4.9 mi SE |
Hail damage rarely shows from the ground; a storm inspection photographs each slope so you know either way.
The borough's codes page lists Roof Replacement among the projects for which a building permit may be required. It says all permits start in the Borough Office, which checks whether a project can move forward. The building permit application asks for the estimated cost including labor, a workers' compensation insurance form, and sets of plans. Work may not start until the borough has issued the building permit.
New Cumberland does not publish the code edition it currently enforces. We confirm the edition with the building department before we write the scope.
We reach the permit desk at 717-506-0464. The borough lists Approved Codes as its Building Code Official. We check the department’s own page for its current permit rules before a job.
The design wind speed a roof in New Cumberland is built to depends on where the house stands: across the Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania metro, we build to the design wind speed set for the address; Township of Upper Allen’s published table gives 90 mph. The building department can confirm the figure, and the code guide explains what it governs.
New Cumberland borders Lower Allen, Lemoyne and Harrisburg. Our pages for them:
Also in Cumberland County:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Cumberland | Yes | Not published | 1953 |
| Lower Allen | Not published | UCC (2021 IRC) | 1968 |
| Lemoyne | Not published | Not published | 1949 |
| Harrisburg | Yes | Not published | 1947 |
| Boiling Springs | Not published | UCC (2021 IRC) | 1986 |
| Camp Hill | Not published | Not published | 1953 |
| Carlisle | Not published | Not published | 1953 |
Every Cumberland County city we cover, side by side →
Heat escaping from the living space melts snow on the roof, and the meltwater refreezes at the cold eave. The borough's median home was built in 1953, so leaky ceilings and thin attic insulation are the usual cause, and fixing those matters more than new shingles.
Census counts 486 attached homes and 192 two-unit buildings in the borough. Where the roof ends at a neighbor's wall, the flashing along that wall needs its own attention, and that edge is measured apart from the open slopes.
The borough's codes page lists Roof Replacement among the projects for which a building permit may be required. It says all permits start in the Borough Office, which checks whether a project can move forward. The building permit application asks for the estimated cost including labor, a workers' compensation insurance form, and sets of plans. Work may not start until the borough has issued the building permit.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built at 1953: 23% of New Cumberland's 3,536 homes predate 1940 and 2% were built in 2000 or later. At the usual 20-year roof life, the 98% built before 2000 are past at least one full roof life.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of New Cumberland's center was 1 inch on June 3, 2023, one of 4 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
Not yet: no completed roof in New Cumberland is in our job records, so this page shows no job count.
Researched 2026-11-09; housing, Census ACS 2020–2024; hail, NOAA SPC. Sources: newcumberlandborough.com · newcumberlandborough.com · newcumberlandborough.com · data.census.gov · data.census.gov · data.census.gov · www2.census.gov · www2.census.gov · data.census.gov · data.census.gov · en.wikipedia.org · www2.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.