What does a roofer find on an old farmhouse roof?
Older farmhouse roofs often carry several layers of roofing, plus valleys and chimneys. That is a general pattern, not something measured on every house here. Each valley and chimney is a place where flashing has been patched or replaced over the years, and layers add weight that the roofer will want to account for.
At replacement time, the checks that matter are the decking under the old layers and the flashing at every chimney and valley. A roofer sees them only once the old material comes off, so a quote may state what happens if bad boards turn up. Read chimney flashing and repair if the chimney is stone or brick.
Which township is your Harleysville address in?
Because most of Harleysville is in Lower Salford Township and part is in Franconia Township, a Harleysville mailing address does not tell you who handles roof permits. Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code covers the work, and the township office can say what your job needs.
Look at your tax bill for the municipality name, and have it ready when you call the township. We cannot say what either township asks for. The roofer should confirm the permit before the tear-off date, not after it.
How do the old and new parts of Harleysville differ for roofers?
The old properties, a farmhouse, a barn, a summer kitchen, can mean several roofs of different ages on one lot. Newer subdivisions usually mean a single roof of one age, and any trouble is more likely from storm wind or a vent boot than from decades of wear. The roofer's first question about age is useful in both cases.
If you own an older property, ask whether each building gets its own price. That makes it possible to repair the worst roof first and plan the next for later. See roof repair for what a visit covers.
How does winter treat a stone or brick chimney on an old roof?
Older stone and brick chimneys lose mortar and flashing over many freeze-thaw cycles. Souderton's weather data, from a third-party source, shows about 50 inches of precipitation and about 20 inches of snow a year, and Harleysville's ZIP centroid is 4.3 km from the Souderton anchor point. Water gets into small cracks in mortar, freezes, and opens them wider.
The first sign is often a stain on the ceiling around the chimney breast or a damp smell in the attic after a thaw. A roofer will check the flashing where the chimney meets the roof, the mortar joints above it and the crown. We cannot tell you from here which of those is failing on your house.
What does a decking check at replacement time mean in practice?
The decking is the layer of boards or sheets under the shingles. On old roofs with several layers, it is only visible once the old material comes off. A roofer who finds soft or stained boards will say so, and the quote usually states how that is handled.
Ask in advance whether the quote names a price per board or per sheet for replacing damaged decking, and who decides when to replace it. This is a question about the contract, not about the weather, and it is easier to settle before the crew arrives. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's registration for home improvement contractors is the starting point if you are checking who you are hiring.
