Upper Allen has 9,141 homes, and half of them were standing by 1988. Below: what the code asks of a replacement here, the permit, and the town’s own records.
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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
Pennsylvania’s code leaves residential alterations without structural change to local ordinance (34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)(8)). Whether Upper Allen 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). 36% of Upper Allen’s homes were built before 1980; many have been reroofed before.
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). The contractor or the township code office in Upper Allen will know.
Checked against the code text on October 24, 2026. Code edition, permit and contract rules for the whole state: roof replacement in Pennsylvania.
Owners live in 6,542 of Upper Allen’s occupied homes, or 74%. Counting by decade, 6% before 1940, 11% before 1960, 36% before 1980 of the housing was in place, and 34% dates from 2000 on. (ACS 2020–2024.)
The housing is 54% detached houses, 28% attached single-family houses (rowhouses, twins and townhouses).
34% 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 31 Cumberland County municipalities on this site, Upper Allen has the 28th largest share of homes built before 1980: 36%, against a county range of 24% to 93%.
ZIP codes: 17027 · 17055
| Place | Median built | Before 1980 | Owners | Row, twin | Hail days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Allen | 1988 | 36% | 74% | 28% | 12 |
| Mechanicsburg | 1959 | 79% | 70% | 11% | 14 |
| Monaghan | 1983 | 45% | 92% | 1% | 13 |
| Shiremanstown | 1956 | 92% | 66% | 25% | 13 |
| Lower Allen | 1976 | 54% | 60% | 11% | 13 |
| Monroe Township, Cumberland County | 1979 | 53% | 93% | 4% | 12 |
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.
Since 2006 the National Weather Service has logged hail of 1 inch or larger on 12 separate days within 10 miles of Upper Allen; the largest was 1.75 in on June 3, 2023. The most recent was August 3, 2024.
At the county level, Upper Allen shares Cumberland County’s record of 2 storm disaster declarations since 2006, the newest 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; 54% 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 | Low pitches and long runs | A complete standing-seam system may go over the old roof (R908.3.1) |
| Slate | 75 years | Older houses; 6% here predate 1940 | Sound slate can be reused (R908.5); broken slate cannot |
| Flat roof: EPDM or TPO | 15 years | Low-slope roofs and rear sections (28% of homes here are attached) | Where the roof meets a wall or parapet |
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 Upper Allen, and search it.
Contracts, deposits and the right to cancel: checking a roofing contractor. What moves the price: new roof cost in Pennsylvania.
Local ordinance, not the state. Pennsylvania’s code leaves residential alterations without structural change to local ordinance (34 Pa. Code § 403.1(b)(8)). Whether Upper Allen 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). 36% of Upper Allen’s homes were built before 1980; many have been reroofed before.
By the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2020–2024), the median home in Upper Allen was built in 1988, 36% of homes were built before 1980, 74% are owner-occupied.
Hail of 1 inch or larger was reported on 12 days within 10 miles of Upper Allen 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 Upper Allen, 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.