How to tell whether hail, wind or snow hurt your roof, what to do in the first days, what the state code and your borough ask for, and how our crew repairs and documents the damage.
A storm can leave a roof looking fine from the driveway and failing a season later. Hail bruises shingles without punching holes, wind creases tabs that still lie flat, and a falling limb can crack the deck under shingles that look whole. Here the damage then meets freeze-thaw cycles, and a small break turns into a leak by spring.
Many houses in this area are older: 62% of the homes in Dauphin County, 53% in Cumberland County and 56% in Perry County were built before 1980. Those roofs have been through a lot of weather. We inspect the roof, photograph every slope and write a scope that lists the repair line by line.
Start on the ground. Look at the gutters, downspouts, vents, flashing and any soft metal on the roof. Dents there show that hail fell hard enough to matter. Then look at the shingles, from a ladder only if you are steady, or with a camera zoomed in from the yard.
Blisters, curling and streaks from age look different. They follow the sunny side of the house and tend to spread evenly over whole areas. Telling the two apart takes close photographs and a trained eye, which is what our free assessment is for. Stay off a wet or steep roof.
No single stone size separates safe from damaged. The age of the roof, its covering, the hardness of the stones and the wind behind them all change the result. Small, hard stones driven sideways can mark a worn shingle that a larger, softer stone would only bounce off.
Age matters most with asphalt. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's rehabilitation inspection guide gives the service life of a roof's first layer as about 20 years, so an older roof has less margin before a hit becomes a leak. Newer asphalt shingles shrug off more.
A metal roof may dent and still shed water, so the question there is often whether the dents are cosmetic or have opened a seam. Slate cracks. Either way, if you can, photograph the stones on the ground next to something for scale before they melt, and write down the time the storm passed. We use those notes when we compare what fell with what we find.
Hail does not need to make a hole to do harm. The damage is in what it takes away.
This is why a roof that looked fine after the storm can need work a year later, and why we photograph early. A repair now is smaller than a repair after the deck has soaked. See our roof repair page for the smaller fixes.
Thunderstorm wind works on a roof in three ways: it lifts shingle tabs and breaks their seal, it creases them where they bend, and it throws branches and debris onto the surface. A creased tab often lies flat again, so the damage hides until the next gust.
Upper Allen Township's own ordinance table prints a design wind speed of 90 mph for new roofs. That is the figure a new roof is designed around, and gusts below it still strip tabs from roofs whose sealant has aged. We check along the eaves, rakes and ridge first, because wind gets under the roof from those edges.
A big limb can crack a rafter or the deck without breaking a single shingle. If a tree hit the house, we look inside before we look at the surface.
Not every storm here is hail or wind. Harrisburg's winter snowfall averages about 30 inches and can pass 40 inches in some winters. A record 21-inch blizzard hit Hummelstown in 2010. The ground snow load printed in Upper Allen Township's design table is 30 psf, and that is the weight a roof here is built to carry.
Heavy snow tests old framing, and then the thaw brings ice dams. Heat leaking from the house melts the snow on the upper roof. The water runs down and freezes at the cold eaves, backs up under the shingles and finds its way into the walls and ceilings.
Upper Allen's table also answers yes to an ice barrier, and we install one at the eaves where the town's table or the maker's instructions call for it. If heat loss under the roof is feeding the dams, our roof ventilation page covers the airflow side, and the gutters page covers the edge.
Nobody here will offer to pay, cover or waive your deductible, and we do not deal with your insurer for you. Our part is the inspection, the photographs, the scope and the repair.
Pennsylvania sets one building code for the whole state. It adopts the 2021 International Residential Code with the state's own changes, and that version took effect January 1, 2026 (34 Pa. Code § 403.21). A municipality may add standards that equal or exceed it, but under 34 Pa. Code § 403.102 it may not adopt a lower or different edition. The permit steps still come from your local office. Our Pennsylvania roofing code guide has the detail.
| Borough | What its own records say about roof work |
|---|---|
| Harrisburg | The permit application lists roofing. The contractor must hold a Mercantile License, and the permit is void if no inspections happen within 6 months. |
| Mechanicsburg | Replacing a roof covering needs no building permit unless the structure is involved. An emergency leak repair may go ahead, with the permit filed the next day the office is open. Work without a required permit can bring 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 the borough issues it. |
| Camp Hill | The fee is $90.00 plus 1.2% of the estimated project value. A third-party agency reviews the plans in 14 to 30 days, and working without a permit is citable. |
Where the town asks for a permit, we pull it.
We start with a free assessment at the house. We look at the slopes, the flashing and the gutters, then check the attic for wet insulation and daylight. You keep the photographs either way.
Several things set the price: how many slopes are damaged, the pitch and height of the roof, the condition of the deck, how many layers are on it, and whether matching older shingles is possible. If the damage is spread across most of the roof, repair stops making sense and a roof replacement may cost less over time. A routine check before the next storm season is covered on our roof inspection page. To start, use the free estimate page.
Check the gutters, vents and flashing for dents, then look for dark round spots where granules are gone, soft spots under light pressure and random marks across a slope. Age wear looks different. If you are unsure, we inspect and photograph every slope, and you keep the pictures.
There is no one size. Roof age, the covering, how hard the stones are and how hard the wind drives them all matter. A worn asphalt shingle bruises more easily than a newer one, and metal may dent without leaking. We judge by what we find on the roof, not by stone size alone.
Hail knocks off the granules that protect asphalt from the sun and can crack the mat inside the shingle. The roof may not leak at once, but the spot ages faster. Then winter freezing widens small cracks, and water reaches the deck and insulation unseen.
Yes, if you see dents in soft metal, granules in the gutters, missing tabs or a new stain inside. Small damage is cheaper to fix early. Our assessment is free, and if the roof is sound we tell you so and leave you the photographs.
It depends on the borough and the work. Mechanicsburg says replacing a roof covering needs no building permit unless the structure is involved, while Harrisburg's application lists roofing. Where your town asks for a permit, we pull it, and we say which applies on the written scope.
Your policy sets it, and it stays with you. You take the claim up with your insurer. We inspect the roof, photograph the damage and give you a written scope to send them. Nobody here will offer to pay, cover or waive a deductible.
Storm damage roof repair across the Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania metro. Each city has its own page with the permit rule and code edition that apply there:
Sources: Pennsylvania's adoption of the 2021 International Residential Code, effective January 1, 2026 · Local standards may not be lower or a different edition, 34 Pa. Code § 403.102 · Upper Allen Township design table: wind speed, ground snow load and ice barrier · Harrisburg building permit application and roofing scope · Mechanicsburg codes and zoning enforcement, roof-covering permit rule · New Cumberland codes enforcement and permit page · Camp Hill building permit fee and review period · HUD Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide, roof service life. 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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