Lower Macungie has 12,544 homes, and half of them were standing by 1993. What the code requires when that roof is replaced, and who signs off, is below.
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This number connects homeowners who are planning a new roof or a full roof replacement with independent local roofing contractors. It is not for leak repairs or patch jobs. The call must come from the homeowner who decides on the roof. Calls may be recorded.
Permit
Under 34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)(8), alterations to a house that make no structural change are outside the state code. Whether Lower Macungie wants a permit is in its own ordinance; ask the township code office before the old roof comes off.
Source: 34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)
Layers
On a roof that already carries two layers, or slate or tile, the code allows no recover: it is a tear-off (IRC R908.3.1.1). With 30% of Lower Macungie’s homes were built before 1980, ask what is under the newest layer.
Ice barrier
Whether an eave membrane is a code item depends on the climate table the municipality filled in when it adopted the code (IRC R905.1.2, Table R301.2). Ask the township code office or the contractor what Lower Macungie’s says.
Checked against the code text on October 24, 2026. Code edition, permit and contract rules for the whole state: roof replacement in Pennsylvania.
Of 12,313 occupied homes in Lower Macungie, 10,562 (86%) are owner-occupied. Counting by decade, 9% before 1960, 30% before 1980 of the housing was in place, and 41% dates from 2000 on. (ACS 2020–2024.)
The housing is 62% detached houses, 24% attached single-family houses (rowhouses, twins and townhouses), 4% manufactured homes.
41% of homes here were built in 2000 or later. HUD’s useful-life table gives an asphalt-shingle roof 20 years, so roofs on houses from the early 2000s are reaching that age.
Of the 25 Lehigh County municipalities on this site, Lower Macungie has the 24th largest share of homes built before 1980: 30%, against a county range of 22% to 90%.
ZIP codes: 18046 · 18062 · 18106
| Place | Median built | Before 1980 | Owners | Row, twin | Hail days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Macungie | 1993 | 30% | 86% | 24% | 19 |
| Macungie | 1982 | 44% | 51% | 42% | 15 |
| Alburtis | 1989 | 49% | 76% | 51% | 15 |
| Upper Milford | 1979 | 51% | 88% | 10% | 16 |
| Emmaus | 1955 | 78% | 64% | 25% | 21 |
| Upper Macungie | 2000 | 22% | 79% | 28% | 20 |
Median built: median year the homes were built. Before 1980: share of homes built then. Owners: share of homes that are owner-occupied. Row, twin: share of homes that are rowhouses, twins or townhouses. Census ACS 2020–2024. Hail days: days with hail of 1 inch or larger within 10 miles, 2006–2025, NOAA Storm Prediction Center.
NOAA’s storm reports show 19 days since 2006 with hail of at least 1 inch inside a 10-mile circle around Lower Macungie, topping out at 2.5 in on May 14, 2010. The most recent was May 6, 2025.
That is more hail days than 89% of the places in the state on this site.
Lehigh County has had 2 federal major-disaster declarations for storms since 2006; the latest was DR-4267, Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm (March 2016). (OpenFEMA.)
Storm reports are what observers logged, not a measure of damage to any roof. When wind or hail damage means a new roof.
Lifespans come from HUD’s capital-needs table, not from a brochure. More in the guides to shingles, metal, slate and flat roofs.
| Material | HUD useful life | Fits a house like | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asphalt shingles | 20 years | Most pitched roofs; 62% of homes here are detached | Wind class set by the design wind speed (IRC Table R905.2.4.1) |
| Metal (standing seam, panels) | 50 years | Roofs that will carry solar later | A complete standing-seam system may go over the old roof (R908.3.1) |
| Slate | 75 years | Older and historic houses | Sound slate can be reused (R908.5); broken slate cannot |
| Flat roof: EPDM or TPO | 15 years | Low-slope roofs and rear sections (24% of homes here are attached) | Coating is not a replacement |
A contractor who does $5,000 or more of home improvement work a year must be registered with the Pennsylvania Attorney General, and the number has to be on every contract and estimate (HICPA § 3, § 6). Ask for it before anyone starts on a roof in Lower Macungie, and search it.
Contracts, deposits and the right to cancel: checking a roofing contractor. What moves the price: new roof cost in Pennsylvania.
Ask Lower Macungie first. Under 34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)(8), alterations to a house that make no structural change are outside the state code. Whether Lower Macungie wants a permit is in its own ordinance; ask the township code office before the old roof comes off.
On a roof that already carries two layers, or slate or tile, the code allows no recover: it is a tear-off (IRC R908.3.1.1). With 30% of Lower Macungie’s homes were built before 1980, ask what is under the newest layer.
By the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2020–2024), the median home in Lower Macungie was built in 1993, 30% of homes were built before 1980, 86% are owner-occupied.
Hail of 1 inch or larger was reported on 19 days within 10 miles of Lower Macungie from 2006 through 2025 (NOAA Storm Prediction Center). A report means hail fell nearby, not that a roof was damaged.
A contractor who does $5,000 or more of home improvement work a year must be registered with the Pennsylvania Attorney General, and the number has to be on every contract and estimate (HICPA § 3, § 6). Ask for it before anyone starts on a roof in Lower Macungie, and search it.
The full list: before you call.
Checked October 24, 2026. Laws and code editions change; the date says when these were last read at the source.