Full asphalt shingle re-roofs on pitched twins, postwar brick homes and suburban detached houses across the region.
Fastest: call (833) 751-2102. Or send this and we call you back.
Shingle roof replacement strips a pitched roof back to the deck, repairs what is found underneath, and rebuilds the covering with new underlayment, flashing and shingles. Around Philadelphia it is the usual job on twins and postwar homes rather than on flat rowhouse roofs. Call (833) 751-2102 to arrange a quote visit.
Not every roof in this region is flat. Twins and detached houses in West and Northwest Philadelphia, the mid-century brick twins of the Northeast, and the postwar housing of the Delaware, Montgomery and Camden County suburbs are pitched, and most of them are shingled.
A replacement is the point at which you stop paying for repairs on a covering that has run out. The decision rests on what the roof shows: the state of the shingles, the condition of the deck beneath them, and how many times the same slope has already been patched.
No material lifespan figures appear on this site, because the sources found for them were not ones we publish. Philadelphia Roofing sends a local roofer to tell you what your deck and covering are actually doing, which is a better basis for the decision than an average.
A pitched roof is a fall risk even on a dry day, and a slope with worn shingles loses grip without warning. Do not climb up to count damage, pull at a lifted shingle or walk a roof to take photographs for an insurer; the view from a window or from the ground with a zoom lens is enough to start a claim. Keep clear of the working area during tear-off, because debris and nails come off a roof faster than they can be aimed, and move cars and garden furniture before the crew arrives. Call (833) 751-2102 and have the inspection done from a ladder by someone with fall protection.
The roofer measures the slopes, counts the layers and looks for movement in the structure, then checks inside from the attic where there is access. Stains on the underside of the boards and daylight at the eaves tell you more than the view from the drive.
Most roof replacements need a permit, filed by the contractor. Inside the city that goes through Licenses and Inspections, which operates an EZ permit with no plans and says most applications are processed in five business days; in the townships and boroughs it comes from the local office. Where the dumpster and the staging go is agreed at the same time.
Old covering and underlayment come off so the boards or sheathing can be seen. For a minor permit in the city the L&I inspection is scheduled for this stage, after the old roofing is removed and the new material is on site, and the new covering is not laid until it passes.
Soft, split or missing boards are replaced, then underlayment, drip edge, valley and step flashing go on. The details around chimneys, dormers, vents and sidewalls are where a re-roof earns its money, and they are rebuilt rather than reused.
Courses go on from the eaves up with the ridge finished last, and ventilation is set according to what the roof and attic actually have. The ground is cleared and swept for nails, and the roofer walks the finished job with you.
Count the problems and look at the deck. Isolated damage on a covering that is otherwise intact is a repair. Wear spread over whole slopes, several separate leaks, a wavy deck or a roof that has already been patched repeatedly points to replacement, because each new patch is fixed to failing material.
The attic is the most honest witness. Water staining along the boards, rusty nail points and soft sheathing show how long water has been getting in, and none of that is visible from outside. A roofer who will not look inside is working with half the information.
If it turns out to be a repair, that is a smaller job and a different page: shingle roof repair covers slope repairs, replacement courses and flashing work on a roof that has life left in it.
On older suburban and city twins, usually plank sheathing with gaps between the boards; on later houses, plywood or OSB sheets. Either can be sound or soft depending on what has been running over it. Nail-holding ability matters as much as appearance, because the new covering has to stay on in wind.
Leaks tend to have followed the same paths for years, so the damage is rarely spread evenly. Valleys, the low side of chimneys, sidewalls at a dormer and the eaves are where soft boards turn up, and those are the areas the quote should carry an allowance for.
Old penetrations are the other common find: a redundant vent, a filled-in flue, a bracket from a removed aerial. Each is an opening that was sealed over rather than closed properly, and a tear-off is the opportunity to deal with them permanently.
It argues for getting the edges and the fixings right. The National Weather Service recorded eight confirmed tornadoes in the region during Tropical Storm Isaias on 4 August 2020, with widespread tropical-storm-force gusts, and separately a line of microbursts gusting 60 to 70 mph. Covering fails at its edges first.
That means the drip edge, the starter course, the rake and the ridge get particular attention, because those are the places wind gets underneath a shingle and begins to peel. It also means fixings are placed where the manufacturer's pattern puts them rather than where the gun happens to reach.
Hail is not part of the local story. No county hail record for Philadelphia was found in the sources used for this site, so wind and heavy rain are what the specification is aimed at. The full picture of that storm is in our Tropical Storm Isaias roof damage guide.
The slopes and area measured, the number of layers coming off, an allowance for deck repair, every flashing detail named, the ventilation arrangement, the permit, the skip and site clearance, and who talks to the neighbours. Pennsylvania's home improvement law requires a written contract and limits deposits on larger jobs.
The Attorney General's office holds the current rules on contracts and deposits, so that is where to check the detail rather than taking any contractor's word for it. One piece of state insurance regulator advice applies here too: do not pay in full or sign a completion certificate before the work is finished.
No prices appear on this site and no figure is quoted over the phone, because what moves the price is the roof: area and pitch, layers to remove, deck condition, the number of chimneys and dormers, access for staging and the skip, and the permit. Our guide to what a new roof costs in Philadelphia explains each of those.
The default, and the only option that lets anyone see the structure. It is also what city guidance describes for a covering-only replacement on a one- or two-family house: the old covering off, the deck inspected, the new one laid on a clean surface.
Common on older twins where a slope has taken water for years. Boards in the affected bays are renewed before the covering goes back, which is why a quote given before tear-off carries an allowance for what might be found.
Plenty of houses here are hybrids: a pitched front slope with a low-slope rear extension, or a mansard over a flat deck. The junction between the two is a detail in its own right, and the flat section may need its own membrane work at the same time.
The pitched-roof map of this region runs outward from the city. Postwar brick twins through the Northeast along Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue, Victorian twins in West Philadelphia and Mount Airy, and mid-century houses in Haverford, Springfield, Cherry Hill and Pennsauken are the usual shingle re-roof addresses.
Which office issues the permit depends on where the house is. Inside the city it is Licenses and Inspections; Delaware and Montgomery County townships and boroughs administer their own permits locally; and in Camden, Pennsauken, Collingswood and Cherry Hill it is the New Jersey municipality.
A slate roof is not a shingle roof, even when it has been covered with one. Older houses in Chestnut Hill, Germantown and the Main Line may have slate under or beside asphalt, and national park service guidance is that historic slate should be repaired rather than replaced where possible. That is handled as slate roof repair instead.
Most shingle roof replacement calls are scheduled the same day when a technician is free, and you approve the price before any work starts.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Slope repairs, replacement courses and flashing work on pitched asphalt roofs across the suburbs and the twin-house neighbourhoods.
Intake and exhaust ventilation on pitched twins and suburban homes, including blocked soffits and moisture in the attic.
Hung gutters, lined box gutters and downspouts on rowhouses, twins and suburban homes across the service area.
A documented look at the roof, its drainage and its details before you buy, after a storm, or before you commit to work.
Pennsylvania has no separate roofing credential.
Most roof replacements in Philadelphia need a permit, which the contractor usually files through L&I.
New Jersey issues no roofing-specific credential.
It is sometimes physically possible and it hides the deck, which is the part that matters most. City guidance for a covering-only replacement on a one- or two-family house describes a full tear-off, and that is what is recommended here.
Most single houses are a short job measured in days rather than weeks, subject to weather and to what the deck turns out to need. Permit timing is separate: the city says most EZ permit applications are processed in five business days.
Not throughout, but it helps to be there at the start to agree access and staging, and at the end to walk the job. If the city inspection falls mid-job, someone should be reachable for the roofer.
They are in the way of the eaves detail and often come off or get adjusted, so their condition should be settled in the quote. If they are at the end of their life, doing them at the same time saves handling the edge twice.
A replacement is the right time to look at that, because the ventilation path can be set while the roof is open. What is appropriate depends on the roof and the attic, and it is assessed on site rather than fitted as standard.
Township and borough building departments in Delaware and Montgomery County administer the building code locally and issue their own permits, and New Jersey municipalities do the same. Confirm the requirement with the local office for the address.