Roof Replacement in Rome, PA

Half of the 581 homes in Rome were built before 1983. The rules below decide how much of the old roof has to come off and what goes under the new one.

New Roofing Costs connects homeowners with independent local roofing contractors. We do not perform roofing work.

Call (833) 781-1806 Replacement and new roofs only · homeowners

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.

A Pennsylvania stone-and-brick house with a new shingle roof

The rules for a reroof in Rome

Permit

Rome’s ordinance decides

Under 34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)(8), alterations to a house that make no structural change are outside the state code. The township code office can say what Rome requires.

Source: 34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)

Layers

No third layer

A new roof may go over one existing layer; with two or more, or over slate, clay or cement tile, everything comes off to the deck (IRC R908.3.1.1). 42% of Rome’s homes were built before 1980, so count the layers before comparing quotes.

Source: IRC 2021, Chapter 9 (Pennsylvania edition, UpCodes)

Ice barrier

Set by the local climate table

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). The contractor or the township code office in Rome will know.

Source: IRC 2021, Chapter 9 (Pennsylvania edition, UpCodes)

Checked against the code text on October 24, 2026. The state’s code edition and the rest of its rules: roof replacement in Pennsylvania.

Homes and roofs in Rome

Of 434 occupied homes in Rome, 371 (86%) are owner-occupied. Counting by decade, 14% before 1940, 22% before 1960, 42% before 1980 of the housing was in place, and 14% dates from 2000 on. (ACS 2020–2024.)

The housing is 76% detached houses, 23% manufactured homes.

23% of homes in Rome are manufactured homes (136). A roof on a manufactured home is its own kind of job; tell the person on the line that it is one.

16% of the homes in Rome are seasonal or occasional-use homes (ACS 2020–2024). If yours is one of them and you live elsewhere, the call still has to come from you as the owner.

Of the 23 Bradford County municipalities on this site, Rome has the 22nd largest share of homes built before 1980: 42%, against a county range of 40% to 94%.

Rome and the towns around it

Place	Median built	Before 1980	Owners	Row, twin	Hail days
Rome	1983	42%	86%	0%	8
Wysox	1981	49%	78%	1%	9
Orwell	1980	51%	78%	0%	4
Sheshequin	1977	55%	86%	2%	13
Litchfield	1985	40%	91%	0%	9
Towanda Borough	1938	85%	53%	6%	9

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.

Hail and storms near Rome

NOAA’s storm reports show 8 days since 2006 with hail of at least 1 inch inside a 10-mile circle around Rome, topping out at 1.75 in on July 30, 2020.

At the county level, Rome shares Bradford County’s record of 4 storm disaster declarations since 2006, the newest DR-4408 (Severe Storms and Flooding, November 2018). (OpenFEMA.)

Storm reports are what observers logged, not a measure of damage to any roof. When wind or hail damage means a new roof.

What goes on the roof next

Useful life is HUD’s planning figure, not a warranty. 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; 76% 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 houses; 14% here predate 1940	Never a base for a new layer (R908.3.1.1); heavy
Flat roof: EPDM or TPO	15 years	Additions and porch roofs	Coating is not a replacement

Checking a contractor in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s home improvement law (HICPA § 3, § 6) requires registration with the Attorney General from $5,000 a year of such work and puts the number on every estimate; ask for it in Rome and look it up.

Contracts, deposits and the right to cancel: checking a roofing contractor. What moves the price: new roof cost in Pennsylvania.

Questions about a new roof in Rome

Does a roof replacement in Rome need a permit?

Rome’s ordinance decides. Under 34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)(8), alterations to a house that make no structural change are outside the state code. The township code office can say what Rome requires.

Is a roof-over allowed in Rome, or is it a tear-off?

When were most homes in Rome built?

By the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2020–2024), the median home in Rome was built in 1983, 42% of homes were built before 1980, 86% are owner-occupied.

Does Rome get hail that damages roofs?

Hail of 1 inch or larger was reported on 8 days within 10 miles of Rome from 2006 through 2025 (NOAA Storm Prediction Center). A report means hail fell nearby, not that a roof was damaged.

What license or registration should a roofer in Rome have?

What they will ask on the phone

Where the house is: the Rome address or ZIP
One story or two (or more), detached or attached
Whether it is a manufactured home
The roof you have today, shingle, metal, slate, tile or flat, and its rough age
Whether there is one layer or more, if you know
That the job is a full replacement or a new roof, and your timing
Whether the house is in a historic district or an HOA
That you own the home and decide on the roof

The full list: before you call.