Guides | Conshy Roofers

What moves the price of a roof replacement

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A roof replacement quote has two parts you can check separately. Material prices move with national producer prices, which the government publishes every month. The rest of the quote depends on your roof: its size and pitch, how many layers come off, what the crew finds underneath, and the flashing, ventilation and edge details. This guide covers both and gives questions that separate them in a quote.

Material prices

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks what U.S. producers receive for prepared asphalt and tar roofing and siding products in its Producer Price Index, a monthly measure of prices at the factory gate rather than at the store. They are a product line of the industry the Census Bureau calls asphalt shingle and coating materials manufacturing, whose definition lists asphalt shingles, roofing felts, roofing cements and tar paper among its products.

Asphalt roofing prices reached a record in August 2026

Producer Price Index, prepared asphalt and tar roofing and siding products, index 1982=100, not seasonally adjusted

May through August 2026 can still be revised. BLS revises producer price data for up to four months after first publication. Source: fred.stlouisfed.org

The index stood at 374.1 in August 2026, the highest value in a series that starts in 1926. It was 3.9% higher than in August 2025 and 52.7% higher than in August 2019. The launch article on this site looks at the rise from April to August 2026 in detail.

Two cautions apply. The index measures what manufacturers charge, which is not what a roofer pays a distributor and not what you pay for an installed roof. And it is a national figure, with no local breakdown for southeastern Pennsylvania.

What the work costs

Conshohocken’s roof permit addendum asks for the quantities and scope choices that make up the work on a re-roof. Each one should appear as a number or a named product in every quote you compare.

Quote item	What the borough addendum asks
Squares	How many squares will be installed; a square is 10 feet by 10 feet
Pitch	The approximate pitch of the roof
Layers removed	How many layers exist, of what type, and how many will be removed
Sheathing	Minimum sheathing thickness for the rafter spacing, and replacement of decayed sheathing with the owner’s written approval
Flashing	The type of flashing and how it will be installed
Ventilation	Whether the space under the roof is vented to the code’s ratio, and what venting will be added if not
Skylights	Whether skylights are being installed or replaced, and their flashing
Ice and water shield	Whether it will run at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line
Drip edge	Whether it will be installed along every eave
Hot work	Whether a torch-down method will be used, which needs a $75 operational permit and a fire watch

The building permit has its own fee. Conshohocken’s residential building permit fee is $50 for work up to $1,000 plus $10 for each additional $1,000 or part of $1,000, according to the borough’s application.

Questions that separate the two

Ask for the price per square for materials and for labor, and for a line for each item in the table. A single lump sum hides which part changed between two quotes.
Ask how decayed sheathing will be priced, per sheet or per square foot, before tear-off begins. Under Pennsylvania’s Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, any material change to the plans or specifications needs a written change order signed by both of you that states the price change.
Ask how long the price holds. From April to August, the producer index for these products has risen in every year since 2015, as the launch article shows.
If the contract adjusts the price with a published index, read the BLS guide on price adjustment clauses. It says producer price data are revised for up to four months after first publication, and it advises contracts to agree on the index, the base and comparison months, and the date the calculation will be made, using the latest data published as of that date.

What this guide leaves out

This guide gives no average cost for a roof in Conshohocken. A typical price depends on the roof’s size, type and condition, and the public sources this site uses do not publish one for the area. Compare written quotes for your own roof, line by line.

A roof inspection checklist for owners and buyers

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) recommends that homeowners inspect their roofs at least twice a year, preferably in spring and fall, and again after severe weather such as a hailstorm. On a steep roof the inspection can usually be done from the ground or from a ladder at the roof’s edge. NRCA does not recommend that homeowners walk on a roof unless they have the experience and equipment to do it safely, and it recommends hiring an experienced roofing contractor for any repairs the inspection turns up.

From the ground

NRCA describes a maintenance inspection as a careful look at the roof and the surfaces that meet it, such as sidewalls and chimneys, noting anything abnormal or deteriorating. These are the items its guidance and the National Park Service’s slate brief point to:

On an asphalt shingle roof, shingles that curl or split. NRCA calls these evidence of deterioration.
Dislodged or missing shingle tabs, which NRCA says should be repaired to keep the roof weathertight.
On slate, tile, wood or metal roofs, cracked, broken or missing pieces.
Slates sliding out of position. The Park Service brief says this can mean the nails holding them have corroded while the slates themselves are sound.
Leaves and other debris in valleys, gutters and roof drains, where NRCA says debris collects and limits drainage.
Flashing at chimneys, walls, valleys and skylights. The brief calls flashings the weakest point in any roof and says even a small pinhole can let in a large amount of water.

From the attic

The Park Service brief suggests checking rafters and roof sheathing from the attic for moisture stains and pushing an awl into the wood to find rot. It warns that very old slates that have started to delaminate hold moisture and can rot the wood next to them even when there is no visible leak.

Not every wet spot is a leak. The brief says moisture condensing in an attic that is not properly ventilated can produce what it calls false leaks. Conshohocken’s re-roofing addendum sets the borough’s minimum attic ventilation at 1 square foot of net free vent area for every 150 square feet of attic, or 1 for every 300 when at least half the vent area is high in the attic, at least 3 feet above the eave vents, with the rest at the eaves, or when the ceiling has a vapor barrier on its warm side.

After a storm

NRCA suggests an extra inspection after severe weather. The weather guide gives the local record of hail reports and high wind gusts. After a hailstorm, look from the ground for the items on the list above. For insurance after storm damage, see the guide to storm damage claims.

What a home inspection covers

Pennsylvania’s Home Inspection Law, Chapter 75 of Title 68, defines a home inspection as a noninvasive visual examination of a house’s systems and components, designed to find material defects, done for a fee in connection with a sale. The law says an examination of a single system, such as a roof, is not a home inspection under its terms.

The law sets several protections for buyers:

When a sales agreement gives the buyer the right to an inspection, the inspection has to be done by a full member in good standing of a national home inspection association, or by a licensed engineer or architect, or under the supervision of a full member who signs the report.
The written report must describe any material defects and include any recommendation to bring in experts to judge the extent of a defect and what should be done about it.
An inspector, or the inspector’s employer, may not charge to repair a house it has inspected within the previous 12 months, with exceptions for radon and wood-destroying insects.
An inspector must carry errors and omissions and general liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $500,000 in total.
A lawsuit over a home inspection report must be filed within one year after the report is delivered.

The law also says courts judging an inspector’s care should consider the standards of practice of national home inspector associations. InterNACHI, the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, publishes standards of practice for its members. For the roof, its standard says the inspector shall inspect from ground level or from the eaves:

the roof covering;
the gutters and downspouts;
vents, flashing, skylights, the chimney and other penetrations; and
the general structure of the roof, from readily accessible panels, doors or stairs.

The inspector must describe the type of roof covering and report any observed signs of active leaks as needing correction. InterNACHI’s standard says the inspector is not required to walk on the roof, predict how long it will last, remove snow or debris that blocks the view, run a water test, warrant the roof or confirm that the roofing was fastened and installed properly. It also says a component near or past the end of its normal life is not, by itself, a material defect.

What to settle before you buy or replace

An inspection report that flags the roof leaves several points for a roofer to answer. Conshohocken’s re-roofing addendum asks about most of them, and its form works as a checklist for any house in the area:

Item	Why it matters
Number of existing roofing layers	The borough allows no more than two asphalt, fiberglass or low-slope roofing systems.
Existing roofing material	The borough does not allow a new roof over slate, wood shake, asbestos or clay tile.
Whether the existing roof is a sound base for another layer	If it is not, the old roofing has to come off.
Sheathing thickness and rafter spacing	The borough requires at least 1/2-inch sheathing over rafters 16 inches apart, and 5/8-inch with H clips when rafters are farther apart.
Flashing material and method	The borough requires flashing rebuilt to the manufacturer’s installation instructions.
Attic ventilation	The addendum notes that poor ventilation may void the manufacturer’s warranty.
Ice and water shield	The borough requires it to reach at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line.
Drip edge	The addendum asks whether it will run along every eave.

The guide to roofing materials gives service-life estimates to compare against the roof’s age, and the guide to the housing stock covers how to look for a past re-roofing permit in Conshohocken.

Storm damage and roof insurance claims in Pennsylvania

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

After a storm damages your roof, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s advice is to call your insurer as soon as you can, photograph the damage before you clean up, make only the repairs needed to stop more damage, and keep every receipt. State regulations then set the clock for the insurer: it must acknowledge your claim within 10 working days and finish its investigation within 30 days, or explain the delay in writing.

This page covers the general process. What your policy pays for depends on its wording, so read the policy and ask your agent or insurer about your coverage.

The first days

The Insurance Department’s natural disaster guide lists these steps after a storm:

Contact your insurance company and follow its instructions. Write down the name and title of everyone you talk to, with the date.
Take pictures or video of the damage before you clean up or make repairs.
After documenting it, make the immediate repairs needed to prevent further damage. Do not make permanent repairs until your insurer approves them.
Keep receipts for everything you spend because of the damage.
Find out the total cost of repairs before you agree to a settlement. The department notes that you can negotiate an offer you disagree with.
If the claim is denied, check what the policy covers. You can appeal to the insurer’s claim manager, and the department’s Consumer Help Center takes questions and complaints.

Deadlines the insurer has to meet

Pennsylvania’s unfair claims settlement practices regulations, in Chapter 146 of Title 31 of the Pennsylvania Code, set these standards:

What the insurer must do	Deadline	Rule
Acknowledge receipt of your claim, unless it pays within that time	10 working days	31 Pa. Code § 146.5(a)
Send the claim forms, instructions and reasonable help you need to meet the policy’s conditions	10 working days	31 Pa. Code § 146.5(d)
Reply to other communications from you that reasonably call for a response	10 working days	31 Pa. Code § 146.5(c)
Complete its investigation	30 days after notice of the claim	31 Pa. Code § 146.6
If it cannot finish in 30 days, give you a written explanation and say when to expect a decision	At 30 days and every 45 days after	31 Pa. Code § 146.6

Notice to the insurer’s agent counts as notice to the insurer, starting from the time the insurer receives it.

Public adjusters

A public adjuster is a claims handler you can hire to work on your side of the claim. The Insurance Department says public adjusters are licensed and regulated by the state, and it tells homeowners to ask anyone presenting as a public adjuster for licensing information and to check it with the state’s online license lookup. Report anyone you suspect of posing as one to the department’s Consumer Help Center.

Contractors who show up after a storm

The department warns that natural disasters draw dishonest solicitors, including contractors and people posing as public adjusters who knock on doors. Its guide says to verify the contractor’s home improvement registration with the Attorney General, get everything in writing, never sign paperwork with blank sections, and hold back full payment until the work is complete. It names company vehicles with no identifying information and out-of-state license plates as warning signs.

State law treats several storm-season tactics as crimes. Under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, a person commits home improvement fraud if, with intent to defraud, they damage someone’s property to get them to sign up for home improvement work, or pose as an employee of a government or a public utility to get someone to agree to work. The act grades these offenses as a felony of the third degree when more than $2,000 is involved and a misdemeanor of the first degree at $2,000 or less, and raises the grade by one level when the victim is 60 or older.

See how to check a roofer’s registration and what the contract has to include before you sign with anyone.

Weather records for your file

The NOAA Storm Events Database, kept by the National Centers for Environmental Information, is a public record of National Weather Service storm data. It covers significant weather with enough intensity to cause injuries, significant property damage or disruption, and you can search it by state and county for hail and thunderstorm wind reports. As of October 3, 2026, its page said it held data from January 1950 to June 2026, so the most recent storms take a few months to appear.

The Insurance Department’s guide asks for your own photos and video of the damage. A county entry in the database can add a record that hail or damaging wind was reported in the area on that date.

After the claim is settled

A roof replacement paid by insurance is still a home improvement contract between you and the roofer, with the same registration, contract and permit requirements as any other job. In Conshohocken that means a building permit and the borough’s roofing addendum, which the permits guide describes.

Rooftop solar and net metering with PECO

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

If PECO delivers your electricity, a solar system on your house can be net metered as long as it is no larger than 50 kilowatts (kW), the measure of a system’s size. Under Pennsylvania’s rules, PECO credits each kilowatt-hour, the unit of energy on an electric bill, that the panels produce at the full retail rate, up to what you use in the billing period, and carries any extra forward. Your installer usually files the connection application. PECO’s fee for a certified inverter-based system of 10 kW or less is $100.

How net metering works in Pennsylvania

Net metering means the utility bills you for the difference between the electricity it delivers and the electricity your system sends back. The rules are in Chapter 75 of Title 52 of the Pennsylvania Code, which the Public Utility Commission enforces.

Section 75.13 requires electric distribution companies such as PECO to offer net metering to customers who generate power on their side of the meter from qualifying alternative energy sources, solar among them. A system at a home qualifies up to 50 kW of nameplate capacity. The credit is at the full retail rate, which the rule says includes generation, transmission and distribution charges, for every kilowatt-hour produced up to the customer’s use in that billing period.

When the system produces more than you use in a month, the extra kilowatt-hours carry forward at the full retail rate and keep accumulating until the end of the year. The rules define the year as June 1 through May 31. At the end of that year, the default service provider pays for any kilowatt-hours still left over at its price to compare, the default supply rate. The utility may not charge a net-metered customer a fee that other customers do not pay unless the rules or a Commission order authorize it.

If you buy electricity from a competitive supplier instead of PECO, the supplier’s own agreement sets what it pays for your extra power. In that case the rule has PECO credit you only at its distribution rate, and unused distribution credits drop to zero at the end of the year. PECO’s page says suppliers are not obligated to honor excess kilowatt-hours and tells shopping customers to ask their supplier.

PECO’s limits

PECO’s net metering page repeats the 50 kW cap for homes. It adds a limit for leased systems, which may not be sized to produce more than 110% of the customer’s expected annual use. The 110% limit does not apply to a system the customer owns. PECO’s net metering terms are in its Rate RS-2 tariff, linked from that page.

Under the state rule, a net-metered homeowner owns the alternative energy credits the system earns unless a contract assigns them to someone else. PECO says these credits, often called SRECs, are created for each 1,000 kilowatt-hours a qualified system produces, and their price rises and falls with supply and demand. To earn them, PECO says, a customer must apply to the Public Utility Commission’s Alternative Energy Credit Administrator to be qualified as an alternative energy facility and register with the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System.

The rules also allow virtual meter aggregation, where one owner’s solar credits apply to other accounts. The accounts must belong to the same owner, sit within 2 miles of the property with the panels and be served by the same utility.

Applying to connect

PECO lists the steps on its solar getting-started page. You or your contractor check the property’s solar potential and PECO’s interconnection viability map, the contractor submits an interconnection application, and the system is installed. Once PECO approves the application, it issues a Permission to Operate and sets up net metering where it applies.

PECO takes applications through its online tool, Connect-The-Grid, and says it no longer accepts them by email. Contractors usually file, though a customer can apply directly. PECO’s fees depend on the review level.

Level	What it covers	Base fee	Per-kW fee
1	Certified inverter-based systems of 10 kW or less	$100	None
2	Certified inverter-based systems of 2,000 kW or less	$250	$1.00 per kW
3	Non-certified, non-inverter systems of 2,000 kW or less	$350	$2.00 per kW
4	Systems of 2,000 kW or less with reverse power relays, or that do not meet Level 1 or 2	$350	$2.00 per kW

PECO’s fee table adds engineering charges of up to $100 an hour for additional review at Levels 2 and 3. For systems of 50 kW or less, PECO’s technical requirements are in its “Yellow Book,” linked from its smaller generators page. PECO lists 1-833-732-6334 for interconnection questions. Fees and requirements checked October 3, 2026.

The roof under the panels

InterNACHI, the home inspectors’ association, estimates that solar panels last 20 to 30 years. Its estimates for asphalt shingles are 20 years for 3-tab and 30 years for architectural shingles. If the roof has fewer years left than the panels, the panels will have to come off and go back on when the roof is replaced. The guide to roofing materials covers the other estimates, and replacing a roof in Conshohocken takes a borough building permit, which the roofing permits guide explains.

A buyer should know what a home inspection leaves out. InterNACHI’s standards of practice say an inspector is not required to inspect solar systems or photovoltaic collectors.

The federal tax credit for home solar has ended for new systems. The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit covered 30% of qualified costs for property installed from 2022 through December 31, 2025, and is not available for property placed in service after that date. The IRS also says roof trusses and ordinary shingles that support panels generally do not qualify, while solar shingles do. For a system installed in 2025 or earlier, ask a tax professional how the credit applies.

Where the numbers on local solar come from

Each utility reports its number of net-metered customers and their total generating capacity to the Public Utility Commission by July 30 each year, under section 75.13. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory publishes project-level data on distributed solar systems across the country. Its latest update covers about 5.3 million systems installed through the end of 2025, with system size, installed price and permitting timelines.

When Conshohocken's houses were built

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Of Conshohocken’s 4,847 housing units, 1,738, or 36%, are in buildings put up in 1939 or earlier, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates for 2020 through 2024. In West Conshohocken the share is 46%, or 353 of 765 units. Across Montgomery County it is 16%. Conshohocken also has a large group of new housing: 36% of its units were built in 2000 or later.

What the survey measures

The American Community Survey (ACS) is the Census Bureau’s continuing survey of a sample of households. The 5-year estimates pool five years of responses, which lets the Bureau publish figures for places as small as these two boroughs. The survey counts housing units, so each apartment, rowhouse or single house counts once, whether it is occupied or vacant.

Every figure comes with a margin of error, the range around the estimate that the Census Bureau gives a 90% chance of containing the true number. For small boroughs the margins are wide. Conshohocken’s count of units built in 1939 or earlier is 1,738, plus or minus 294. West Conshohocken’s is 353, plus or minus 93.

Year built

Share of housing units by the year the building was built, 2020-2024 ACS 5-year estimates. Totals: 4,847 units in Conshohocken, 765 in West Conshohocken, 350,351 in Montgomery County.
Year built	Conshohocken	West Conshohocken	Montgomery County
2020 or later	2.8%	0.1%	1.5%
2010 to 2019	19.1%	8.5%	6.6%
2000 to 2009	13.8%	14.5%	8.6%
1990 to 1999	2.7%	12.5%	10.8%
1980 to 1989	3.2%	1.6%	11.4%
1970 to 1979	6.5%	1.6%	12.1%
1960 to 1969	3.3%	6.1%	11.7%
1950 to 1959	7.2%	4.7%	15.9%
1940 to 1949	5.7%	4.2%	5.4%
1939 or earlier	35.9%	46.1%	16.0%

Source: data.census.gov

The median year built, the year that splits each area’s housing units in half, is 1971 for Montgomery County. It is 1964 for Conshohocken, plus or minus 14 years, and 1949 for West Conshohocken, plus or minus 17 years.

Conshohocken’s stock comes in two large groups. The units from 1939 or earlier make up 35.9% of the total, and the units from 2000 or later make up 35.7%. The decades in between account for less than a third. Recent permits add to the newer group. In the Census Bureau’s Building Permits Survey for 2025, Conshohocken issued permits for three single-family houses and one building with 168 units, and West Conshohocken issued a permit for one single-family house.

Kinds of buildings

Share of housing units by the number of units in the building, 2020-2024 ACS 5-year estimates.
Units in building	Conshohocken	West Conshohocken
1, detached	12.0%	39.9%
1, attached	43.7%	53.6%
2	4.1%	4.1%
3 or 4	6.5%	2.1%
5 to 9	4.9%	0.0%
10 to 19	2.3%	0.4%
20 to 49	2.3%	0.0%
50 or more	24.3%	0.0%

Source: data.census.gov

The Census Bureau’s “1, attached” category covers single-family houses that share a wall with a neighbor, such as twins and rowhouses. They are the largest group in both boroughs: 2,117 of Conshohocken’s units, or 43.7%, and 410 of West Conshohocken’s, or 53.6%. Detached houses make up 12.0% of Conshohocken’s units and 39.9% of West Conshohocken’s. Conshohocken has 1,176 units in buildings with 50 or more apartments, 24.3% of its total. The estimate for West Conshohocken in that category is zero.

What a house’s age says about its roof

The year a house was built is the oldest its roof could be. On InterNACHI’s estimates of 20 years for 3-tab asphalt shingles and 30 years for architectural shingles, an asphalt roof on a house from before 1940 is unlikely to be the first one the house has had.

Slate roofs last longer. The National Park Service’s slate roof brief gives Pennsylvania soft-vein slate more than 60 years and Pennsylvania hard-vein slate roughly 100. A slate roof put on in the 1920s or 1930s can be near the end of those ranges. For a roof of that age, the brief suggests weighing its age and condition against the expected life of the slate it is made of. The guide to roofing materials lists the estimates for each type.

Attached houses bring a rule of their own at the borough level. Conshohocken’s re-roofing addendum says that where roof surfaces next to a wall are at the same elevation, approved fire-retardant-treated wood must be used for 4 feet on each side. Ask the borough’s Licenses and Inspections office how it applies to a particular roof.

Finding the age of a particular roof

Conshohocken requires a building permit and a re-roofing addendum to replace a roof, so the borough may have a record of earlier re-roofing work at an address. The borough posts a Right to Know request form on its applications and forms page for requesting public records.

A home inspection will not settle the question. InterNACHI’s standards of practice say an inspector is not required to determine the age of a component or to predict how long it will last. The roof inspection checklist covers what an inspection does include.

Limits of these figures

The margins of error are large enough that small categories, such as Conshohocken’s 137 units built in 2020 or later (plus or minus 103), say little on their own. The survey also counts housing units, not roofs. Conshohocken’s 1,176 units in buildings of 50 or more apartments sit under far fewer roofs than its 2,117 attached houses, so counts by unit give large buildings more weight than their share of the borough’s roofs.

Roofing permits in Conshohocken and nearby townships

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In Conshohocken Borough, replacing a roof takes a building permit and a one-page roofing addendum, both filed with Licenses and Inspections at Borough Hall before work starts. The borough’s form says the permit has to be issued and posted on the job site before work begins. Each neighboring municipality runs its own permit office with its own rules, so the answer depends on which side of the borough line the house sits.

Conshohocken Borough

Licenses and Inspections, part of the borough’s Operations Department, issues permits for roofs among other work. The office is at Borough Hall, 400 Fayette Street, Suite 200, and the borough’s main number is 610-828-1092. Borough Hall is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

What to file

The building permit application, with “Roof” checked as the type of work. The application asks whether there is a written contract between the owner and the contractor, and says a copy must be attached if there is one.
The roof permit application addendum, which the borough uses for re-roofing only. It must be completed and submitted with the building permit, and it is signed by the owner.

What the addendum asks

The addendum asks for the number and type of existing layers, whether the existing roof is a sound base for another layer, how many layers will be removed, the new roofing product and its warranty, the approximate pitch, the number of squares (a square is 10 feet by 10 feet), the flashing and how it will be installed, the attic ventilation, whether skylights are going in, whether ice and water shield will run at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line, and whether drip edge will go along every eave.

Those questions also make a good checklist for comparing quotes. A quote that does not answer them leaves out something the borough will ask about.

The borough’s re-roofing rules

The addendum says all work must conform to the 2021 International Residential Code or International Building Code, and it sets out these rules:

A new roof covering cannot go on over the old one when the existing roof is not an adequate base, when the existing covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile, or when the roof already has two or more layers.
A maximum of two asphalt, fiberglass or low-slope roofing systems are permitted, and a new roof may not be installed over slate, wood shake, asbestos or clay tile.
Roof sheathing must be at least 1/2 inch over rafters 16 inches on center. Rafters more than 16 inches apart need at least 5/8 inch sheathing with H clips.
Flashing must be rebuilt following the manufacturer’s installation instructions.
Ventilation must meet a net free area of at least 1 to 150 of the space ventilated, or 1 to 300 when the vents are split between high and low positions or a vapor barrier is installed, as the form describes. The form asks whether the owner was told that inadequate ventilation may void the manufacturer’s warranty.
A low-slope roof under a 4/12 pitch needs special flashing around a skylight.

Torch-down roofs

The addendum has a separate section for torch-down roofing. It says all hot work and torch-down roofing needs an operational permit with a $75 fee, and tells the applicant to contact the Conshohocken Fire Marshal’s Office at 610-828-1092 before any work is done. It requires a two-hour fire watch after the day’s work ends, two 20-pound ABC fire extinguishers in the work area, and propane tanks removed from the roof at the end of each work day.

Fees

The building permit application lists the residential building permit fee as a minimum of $50 for work up to $1,000, plus $10 for each additional $1,000 or part of $1,000. As a worked example from that schedule, a $15,000 re-roof would carry a building permit fee of $50 plus 14 times $10, or $190. Confirm the total with the borough when you apply, since the application lists other charges as well.

Plymouth Township

Plymouth Township’s residential code package, last revised in April 2022, lists the work it treats as ordinary repair that needs no permit from the township. Replacing existing roof material is on that list when it covers no more than 25% of the total roof area within any 12-month period. Larger roof replacements fall outside the list, and the package says any work not listed requires the appropriate permit.

Plymouth bases residential permit fees on the contract price and requires a copy of the signed contract with every application. Its fee table adds a 20% administrative charge and a $4.50 state Uniform Construction Code fee to the plan review and inspection fee. For a job between $10,001 and $25,000, the review and inspection fee is $220 for the first $10,000 plus $13.08 for each additional $1,000 or part of $1,000. The township building is at 700 Belvoir Road in Plymouth Meeting, and the package lists 610-277-4100. Check the current schedule with the township, since the package is dated 2022.

West Conshohocken Borough

West Conshohocken posts a building permit form, a contractor registration form and a fee schedule on its forms and permits page. Ask the borough office whether your roof job needs a permit before the roofer starts.

Whitemarsh Township

Whitemarsh Township’s building permits page says that anyone who intends to repair or alter a building, or to have that work done, must first apply to the building official and obtain the required permit. Call the township’s building department to confirm what a roof replacement needs.

Who pulls the permit

The Conshohocken application can be signed by the owner or by someone the owner has authorized to act as agent, and the signer takes full responsibility for the work. Whoever files it, the permit is issued for your property. Ask to see it posted before the tear-off starts, and keep a copy with the contract and the insurance certificate.

What a roofing contract has to include in Pennsylvania

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pennsylvania’s Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act covers home improvement work at a private residence when the total price is more than $500, and it names roofs in its definition. A contract for that work is not valid or enforceable against the homeowner unless it is written, legible, signed by both sides and contains every item in the list below. The act also limits deposits, gives you three business days to cancel, and requires a signed change order before the work changes.

This page describes what the statute says. It is general information. For a contract you have already signed or a dispute over one, talk to a lawyer.

The 13 required items

Required in the contract	Section of the act
The contractor’s registration number, in a written, legible contract	517.7(a)(1)
Signatures of the owner and of the contractor or its salesperson	517.7(a)(2)
The entire agreement, with copies of all required notices attached	517.7(a)(3)
The date of the transaction	517.7(a)(4)
The contractor’s name, address and phone number; a post office box alone is not an address	517.7(a)(5)
The approximate start date and completion date	517.7(a)(6)
A description of the work, the materials and a set of specifications that cannot change without a written change order signed by both sides	517.7(a)(7)
The total sales price, or a time-and-materials provision that meets the act’s rules	517.7(a)(8)
The down payment and any amount advanced for special-order materials, listed separately	517.7(a)(9)
Names, addresses and phone numbers of all subcontractors known at signing	517.7(a)(10)
A promise to keep liability insurance of at least $50,000 for personal injury and $50,000 for property damage, and the amount in force at signing	517.7(a)(11)
The Attorney General’s toll-free number for checking registrations	517.7(a)(12)
A notice of your right to cancel	517.7(a)(13)

The contractor has to give you a completed copy of the contract, with the notices, at no charge when it is signed.

Specifications for a roof

The specifications line matters most on a roof, because it is what a later change order is measured against. A roofing contract that meets it would name the shingle or membrane by manufacturer and product line, the underlayment, the flashing, the ventilation, how many existing layers come off and how damaged sheathing will be handled. Conshohocken’s roof permit addendum asks for most of the same items, which makes it a useful checklist for the contract too.

Deposits

The act bars a contractor from taking any payment before the contract is signed.

For a contract over $5,000, the deposit can be no more than one-third of the contract price. If the contract designates special-order materials, the cap is one-third of the price plus the cost of those materials. The act defines special-order materials as products that are not stock items, are made or processed for that specific job, and cannot be returned for a refund or credit. Misrepresenting an item as special-order, or misrepresenting its cost, is one of the acts the statute defines as home improvement fraud when it is done with intent to defraud.

The deposit cap does not apply to a home improvement retailer that posts an irrevocable letter of credit with the Attorney General and meets the act’s other conditions.

Three business days to cancel

You can cancel a home improvement contract without penalty within three business days of signing it, wherever you signed it. The contract must include a notice of that right. The exception is emergency work under section 7 of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

Change orders

The act prohibits a contractor from departing from the plans or specifications in any material way without a written change order, dated and signed by both the contractor and the owner, that states the price change for each deviation. On a re-roof, the common case is decayed sheathing found during tear-off. The signature on Conshohocken’s roof permit addendum certifies that decayed sheathing found when the old roof comes off will be replaced with the owner’s written approval.

Time-and-materials contracts

A 2014 amendment added rules for contracts priced on time and materials. The contractor must give you an initial written cost estimate before work starts. The contract must state the estimate in dollars, say that the cost may not exceed 10% above it, give the total potential cost including that 10% in dollars, and say that the cost will not rise above the estimate plus 10% without a written change order signed by both sides.

As an example in round numbers, a time-and-materials repair with a $4,000 initial estimate would have to state a total potential cost of $4,400.

Refunds when work never starts

If no substantial part of the work has been done and more than 45 days have passed since the start date in the contract, you can ask for a refund in writing by certified mail with a return receipt. The act requires the contractor to refund the amount paid within ten days after it accepts the letter, or after it refuses the certified mail sent to its last known address.

Clauses you can void

If a home improvement contract contains any of these clauses, the act makes the contract voidable by the owner:

A hold harmless clause.
A waiver of federal, state or local health, life, safety or building code requirements.
A confession of judgment clause.
A waiver of the right to a jury trial in a suit by or against the owner.
An assignment of wages.
A provision under which the owner agrees not to assert any claim or defense arising from the contract.
A provision awarding the contractor attorney fees and costs.
A clause relieving the contractor of liability for its conduct while collecting payment or repossessing goods.
A waiver of any right under the act.
An automatic renewal provision, unless the contract gives the owner a way to decline by mail and the contractor sends a notice before each renewal, as the act describes.

An arbitration clause is allowed, but it must be printed in capital letters in 12-point bold type on a separate page, have its own signature line for each side, say whether the decision is binding and say whether the dispute and the decision are confidential. A clause that falls short can be declared void by a court if either side asks before arbitration begins.

Before you sign

Compare the contract against the table above. Check the registration number in the Attorney General’s contractor search, as the guide on checking a roofer’s registration describes, and keep your copy with the permit and the insurance certificate.

How the weather here wears a roof

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A roof near Conshohocken goes through about 64 freeze-thaw days in a typical winter and takes about 44 inches of precipitation a year, on NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 records for Philadelphia International Airport. From 1996 through 2025 the airport also logged about four days a year with wind gusts of 50 mph or more. Hail is less frequent. NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 116 hail reports across all of Montgomery County from 1996 through 2025.

Where the numbers come from

The longest daily weather record near Conshohocken comes from Philadelphia International Airport, NOAA station USW00013739, which goes back to 1940. The station sits at an elevation of 7 feet, about 15 miles southeast of Conshohocken by the station coordinates in ACIS. NOAA’s Cooperative Network station in Norristown, USC00366370, is under 3 miles from Conshohocken and has kept daily temperatures since 1951. Its record has gaps, including no complete winters from 1985-86 through 2000-01. This guide uses the airport for long-run figures and Norristown as a check on how the area closer to Conshohocken compares.

The daily temperature and rain figures come from the Applied Climate Information System (ACIS), and the wind gusts from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Hail and wind reports come from NCEI’s Storm Events Database, which NCEI describes as the National Weather Service’s record of weather intense enough to cause deaths, injuries, significant property damage or disruption to commerce. The database runs through June 2026.

Freeze-thaw days

Water expands when it freezes. The Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments program (GLISA) at the University of Michigan says repeated freezing, thawing and refreezing can damage roads, sidewalks and other outdoor surfaces. Researchers count freeze-thaw cycles in more than one way, and GLISA lists a common definition as a day when the high is above 32°F and the low is below it. This guide counts a freeze-thaw day as one where the low reached 32°F or colder and the high rose above 32°F. A winter runs from July through June.

At the airport, freeze-thaw days have become less common over the 86 winters on record.

Winters	Average freeze-thaw days	Fewest	Most
1941-42 to 1970-71	80.1	62	100
1971-72 to 2000-01	70.1	51	92
1990-91 to 2019-20	64.4	39	81
2016-17 to 2025-26	61.1	50	74

The fewest in the whole record came in 2015-16, with 39. Last winter, 2025-26, had 70, the most since 2018-19, and its December brought 28, the most of any month in the record. The article on December’s record has the details.

The airport likely undercounts what a house near Conshohocken goes through. In the 32 winters since 1952-53 when Norristown is missing no more than three days between October and April, the Norristown station averaged 84.0 freeze-thaw days against 71.3 at the airport in the same winters. In 2022-23, the most recent of those winters, Norristown counted 88 and the airport 50. Norristown’s readings are taken in the morning, so its days end at a different hour than the airport’s, which run from midnight to midnight.

The National Park Service’s guide to slate roofs says slate weathers mainly when impurities in the stone react during wet and dry, hot and cold cycles, and that slate’s low porosity limits the damage frost does to the stone itself. The Metal Roofing Alliance says concrete tile roofs can crack and warp in the freeze-thaw cycle of northern climates. Conshohocken’s re-roofing addendum requires ice and water shield, a waterproof underlayment, to run at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line.

Rain

Precipitation, which counts rain and the water in melted snow, averaged 44.1 inches a year at the airport from 1991 through 2020. From 1941 through 1970 it averaged 40.1 inches. Days with an inch or more averaged 11.0 a year in the later period and 9.8 in the earlier one. Days with 2 inches or more went from 1.6 a year to 2.2. The wettest single day in the airport’s record since 1941 brought 8.02 inches, in 2013.

NRCA, the National Roofing Contractors Association, tells owners to pay attention to valleys, gutters and roof drains, since debris collects there and slows drainage. The Park Service brief tells owners of leaking slate roofs to check gutters, valleys and flashings before assuming the slates are the source.

Wind

The airport has recorded each day’s fastest 5-second wind speed since January 1996, and this guide calls those readings gusts. From 1996 through 2025 it averaged 22.7 days a year with a gust of 40 mph or more and 3.7 days with a gust of 50 mph or more. The strongest gust in those 30 years was 74.9 mph, in 2010. 2025 had the most days at both thresholds in those 30 years, with 47 days at 40 mph or more and 12 at 50 mph or more.

Year	Days with a gust of 40 mph or more	Days with a gust of 50 mph or more
2016	30	3
2017	26	3
2018	19	2
2019	28	8
2020	32	8
2021	26	4
2022	21	5
2023	20	3
2024	29	5
2025	47	12
2026, through September 29	29	8

The Storm Events Database lists 516 thunderstorm wind reports in Montgomery County on 207 days from 1996 through 2025. Of those, 351 reports on 91 days came from 2016 through 2025.

Hail

The database lists 116 hail reports in Montgomery County from 1996 through 2025, on 65 separate days. Sixty of those reports fell on 23 days from 2016 through 2025. The reports closest to Conshohocken in the list include 0.88-inch hail at Plymouth Meeting on June 11, 2007 and 1.75-inch hail at Bala Cynwyd on June 19, 2002.

These are counts of reports, so they depend on someone seeing the hail or the wind damage and reporting it. A change from one decade to the next can come from more people reporting as well as from more storms.

After a storm

NRCA recommends inspecting a roof after severe weather such as a hailstorm, in addition to its twice-yearly spring and fall inspections. It does not recommend that homeowners walk on a roof unless they have the experience and equipment to do it safely. The roof inspection checklist lists what to look for from the ground. For insurance after storm damage, see the guide to storm damage claims.

How to check a roofer's Pennsylvania registration and insurance

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pennsylvania requires a contractor who does at least $5,000 of home improvement work a year to register with the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and the state law that sets the rule names roofs in its definition of home improvement. Before you sign anything, look the roofer up by name or registration number in the Attorney General’s contractor search, or call the office’s toll-free line at 1-888-520-6680.

What the registration number is

A registered contractor receives a Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor number, which the Attorney General’s office calls the PA number. The law requires the number on every advertisement, contract, estimate and proposal the contractor gives to a Pennsylvania homeowner. If an estimate or an ad leaves it off, ask why.

Registration renews every two years. The Attorney General’s office says the fee is $100 for each new registration and each renewal.

What registration checks

The application asks for the owners’ identities, the home improvement businesses they have run in the past ten years, any criminal convictions related to home improvement, fraud or theft, any bankruptcy filing, civil judgments related to home improvement from the last ten years, and proof of insurance. The statute does not call for a trade exam. Registration puts the contractor’s identity and proof of insurance on file with the state, and it does not test roofing skill.

The Attorney General’s office says the online registration system that returned to service on April 24, 2026 includes a component for automated checks of criminal court dockets.

Insurance

To register, a contractor must show liability insurance of at least $50,000 for personal injury and at least $50,000 for property damage caused by the work. The contract itself has to promise to keep that coverage and state the amount in force when it is signed.

Ask for a certificate of insurance that names the insurer, the policy number and the expiration date, and check that the dates cover the weeks the roofer will be on your house. If the company has employees, ask for its workers’ compensation certificate too.

The borough’s own registration

Conshohocken Borough keeps a separate registration for contractors doing residential work. Its form lists a $90 fee and says the fee is waived for contractors registered with the Attorney General. That matches state law, which bars a municipality from charging a registered home improvement contractor a registration or licensing fee while still letting it require building permits.

The borough form asks for more insurance than the state minimum: $100,000 to $300,000 for bodily injury, at least $100,000 for property damage, public liability and products liability, and at least $50,000 for completed operations, with the borough named as certificate holder. It also says a contractor may not have employees do the work unless it has given the borough proof of workers’ compensation insurance. The borough’s building permit application asks for the contractor’s borough license number, with a box to check if the contractor is applying for one that day.

West Conshohocken, Plymouth and Whitemarsh run their own permit offices. See roofing permits in Conshohocken and nearby townships for what each one posts.

Questions to ask before you sign

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s guide for homeowners after a storm lists these checks, and they apply to any roofing job:

Get more than one estimate, and check each firm’s references.
Confirm the registration and the insurance yourself, using the steps above.
Get the total cost, the work to be done, the schedule and any guarantee in writing.
Never sign a form with blank sections.
Do not pay in full, or sign that the work is complete, until it is done.

The department also warns about trucks with no company name on them and out-of-state license plates after a storm.

If something goes wrong

Under the state law, a home improvement contract that leaves out the registration number is not valid or enforceable against the homeowner. Failing to register is a violation of the act, and every violation of the act also counts as a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Complaints go to the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. For a dispute over money, talk to a lawyer about your contract.

The next guide covers what the contract itself has to say.

How long roofing materials last

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

InterNACHI, the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, estimates that an architectural asphalt shingle roof lasts about 30 years, a metal roof 40 to 80 years and a slate roof 60 to 150 years. For low-slope roofs it gives 15 to 25 years for EPDM rubber and 7 to 20 years for TPO. The trade groups for metal and EPDM roofing publish longer figures for their own products. InterNACHI says its numbers assume regular maintenance and normal wear, and it tells readers to use them only as guidelines.

Estimates by material

Material	Estimated service life	Source
Asphalt shingles, 3-tab	20 years	InterNACHI
Asphalt shingles, architectural	30 years	InterNACHI
Asphalt roofs in general	12 to 20 years	Metal Roofing Alliance
Slate, all types	60 to 150 years	InterNACHI
Pennsylvania soft-vein slate	More than 60 years	National Park Service
Pennsylvania hard-vein slate	Roughly 100 years	National Park Service
Peach Bottom slate	At least 200 years	National Park Service
Metal	40 to 80 years	InterNACHI
Metal	30 to 50 years or more	Metal Roofing Alliance
Copper	70 years or more	InterNACHI
EPDM membrane	15 to 25 years	InterNACHI
EPDM membrane	38 years	EPDM Roofing Association
TPO membrane	7 to 20 years	InterNACHI
Modified bitumen	20 years	InterNACHI
Built-up roofing	30 years	InterNACHI

The Metal Roofing Alliance speaks for the metal roofing industry, and the EPDM Roofing Association represents the companies that make EPDM membranes and their suppliers. Figures checked October 3, 2026.

Asphalt shingles

Three-tab shingles are single-layer strips cut into three tabs along the bottom edge. Architectural shingles are thicker and laminated. InterNACHI puts the first at 20 years and the second at 30. The Metal Roofing Alliance, which promotes metal as the alternative, says the average asphalt roof lasts 12 to 20 years and that the pitch of the roof and the local climate can shorten that.

InterNACHI lists the conditions that cut asphalt shingle life. It says hot climates drastically reduce it, and roofs in areas with hail and other severe weather may wear out sooner or take isolated damage that needs repair before it spreads to the surrounding shingles. The felt underlayment under the shingles, which the chart calls black paper, carries its own estimate of 15 to 30 years.

The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) says curling or splitting shingles are evidence that an asphalt roof is deteriorating. It says dislodged or missing tabs should be repaired to keep the roof weathertight.

In Conshohocken Borough, a new asphalt roof can go over an old one only in limited cases. The borough’s re-roofing addendum allows no more than two asphalt, fiberglass or low-slope roofing systems, and it requires the old covering to come off when the roof already has two or more layers or is not a sound base. The roofing permits guide covers the permit and the addendum in detail.

Slate

The National Park Service’s Preservation Brief 29, written by architectural conservator Jeffrey S. Levine, ties a slate roof’s life to the quarry the stone came from. It gives Pennsylvania soft-vein slate more than 60 years and Pennsylvania hard-vein slate roughly 100 years. Peach Bottom slate from York County lasts at least 200 years. The brief notes that neither hard-vein nor Peach Bottom slate is still quarried. Vermont and New York slates last about 125 years and Buckingham, Virginia slates 175 years or more. The brief says these spans are a general guide to whether an existing roof is nearing the end of its life.

Slate wears slowly. Paper-thin layers flake off along the stone’s cleavage planes, the natural splitting lines, until the slate turns soft. The brief traces most of this to mineral impurities that react with water through wet and dry, hot and cold cycles to form gypsum. It says slate’s low porosity limits the damage frost does to the stone itself. Pennsylvania ribbon slate, which has bands of impurities, weathers faster than clear slate, according to the brief.

Flashing, the metal that seals joints at valleys, chimneys and walls, often fails first. The brief calls flashings the weakest point in any roof and says metal flashings often wear out before the slate does. It recommends 16-ounce copper as the minimum weight for flashing and heavier copper for gutters and valleys. It also advises using one metal throughout, since mixing metals leads to galvanic corrosion, where one metal corrodes faster when it touches another.

On the choice between repair and replacement, the brief suggests evaluating a roof for repair when fewer than about 20% of the slates are damaged or missing and the roof is otherwise in good shape. Slates sliding out of position can mean the iron nails have corroded while the slates are still sound. The brief says those slates can be salvaged and laid again. Conshohocken’s addendum does not allow a new roof to be installed over slate.

Metal

InterNACHI gives metal roofs 40 to 80 years and copper roofs 70 years or more. The Metal Roofing Alliance tells homeowners to count on 30 to 50 years or more, partly because a metal roof can often be repainted instead of replaced. It says most metal roofs come with a 30 to 50 year warranty. The alliance also says there is little difference between metal and other roofing materials in the noise from rain or hail.

The Park Service’s advice on flashing applies to metal roofs as well. The brief says to use one type of metal for flashings, gutters, downspouts and metal roofs, to avoid galvanic corrosion.

Low-slope roofs

Low-slope roofs, often called flat roofs, are covered with a membrane instead of shingles. EPDM is a synthetic rubber membrane. TPO, short for thermoplastic polyolefin, is a single-ply plastic membrane. InterNACHI gives EPDM 15 to 25 years, TPO 7 to 20 years, modified bitumen 20 years and built-up roofing 30 years.

The EPDM Roofing Association has announced an expected service life of 38 years for EPDM membranes that are properly designed, installed and maintained. It based that on field studies, lab testing and a 2025 survey of 569 roofing professionals, who reported expected lives from about 25 years to more than 40, depending on the thickness of the membrane and how it is attached. For TPO, InterNACHI’s chart is the only service-life figure among this guide’s sources.

Some low-slope roofs are torch-down roofs, where the roofer heats modified bitumen with a flame to bond it. Conshohocken’s addendum requires a separate operational permit for hot work, with a $75 fee, and a call to the borough Fire Marshal’s office before the work starts.

Warranties and service life

A manufacturer’s warranty term is a different number from a service-life estimate. Mark S. Graham, NRCA’s associate executive director of technical services, wrote that long residential warranties do not necessarily ensure a roof performs, because they often limit the manufacturer’s liability and most require the roof to be properly maintained. NRCA recommends inspecting a roof at least twice a year, and this site’s roof inspection checklist follows that advice.

Attic ventilation affects the warranty as well. Conshohocken’s re-roofing addendum asks whether the owner was told that inadequate ventilation may void the manufacturer’s warranty, and it sets the borough’s minimum ventilation ratio.

Matching the roof to what goes on it

InterNACHI rates solar panels at 20 to 30 years, about the same as asphalt shingles. If panels go on a roof with less life left than the panels, they will have to come off when the roof is replaced. The guide to rooftop solar with PECO covers the rules for connecting a system, and the weather guide covers the freeze-thaw days, rain, wind and hail that wear a roof here.