Roof Replacement
A full tear-off and a new roof system, installed by a crew led by an Amish craftsman and priced with a written estimate.
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- Swarthmore, PA
Roofing Contractor in Swarthmore, PA: Served From Chester
Swarthmore is served by our Chester roofing office at 506 Kerlin St #A, Chester, PA 19013, about 11 minutes away.
Swarthmore is a borough of about 6,550 people in east-central Delaware County, bordered on the west by Crum Creek and built up around the college founded in 1864. Census figures count roughly 2,163 housing units in the borough, most of them dating to the decades when rail service from Philadelphia turned the area into a commuter town. Hoff The Roof Contractor works in Swarthmore from our Chester office at 506 Kerlin St #A, about 5 miles and roughly 11 minutes away by road according to OpenStreetMap routing. We are family owned and operated, residential and commercial, with free written estimates.
Serving office for Swarthmore
What Swarthmore's Victorian-Through-1920s Housing Stock Means for a Roof
The American Community Survey 2020-2024 estimates put the median year built in Swarthmore at 1949, with about 46 percent of housing units standing before 1940 and roughly 67 percent before 1960. That matches the borough's own account of a housing stock running from the Victorian period through the 1920s. Houses that old have usually carried more than one roof, so a tear-off can turn up a second layer, older sheathing boards, and flashing at walls, valleys and dormers that has been patched more than once. Older framing also tends to produce complicated rooflines with several intersecting slopes. A roof inspection before work starts tells you what is actually under the shingles, and our written estimate reflects that rather than guessing at it.
Freezing Nights, 23 Inches of Snow, and Rain Testing Swarthmore Valleys
The NOAA weather station at Marcus Hook, about 11 kilometers from the borough, records roughly 42 inches of precipitation a year and around 65 days at or below freezing. The Philadelphia International Airport station averages about 23 inches of snow annually. That mix of thaw and refreeze is what creates ice dams at the eaves, which is why ice and water shield along the lower courses matters on steep-slope roofs here. Marcus Hook also records about 10 days a year with an inch or more of rain. Downpours like that push water sideways into valleys and up under step flashing on the older, multi-gabled houses common in Swarthmore. Those are the spots we check first during roof leak detection after a storm.
Apartment Buildings and Low-Slope Roofs in the Swarthmore Borough Center
Swarthmore is not a rowhome town. Census estimates show about 56 percent single-family detached houses and only around 5 percent attached rowhomes or twins. What stands out instead is multi-unit property: roughly 26 percent of housing units sit in buildings with five or more units and about 10 percent in buildings with two to four, much of it near the station and the center of the borough. Buildings like that often carry flat or low-slope sections, along with porch and addition roofs on the older single-family houses. We install and repair EPDM rubber, TPO and modified bitumen on those surfaces, and we handle commercial roofing for owners and managers of the borough's business and apartment properties, including emergency roof tarping after storm damage.
Roofing services for Swarthmore
Roof Repair
Leaks, missing shingles, failed flashing and storm damage fixed properly, so the repair lasts as long as the roof around it.
Flat Roofing
EPDM, TPO and modified bitumen roofs installed and repaired on rowhomes, additions, porches and commercial buildings.
Nearby towns served by the same office: roofing in Brookhaven, roofing in Aston, roofing in Ridley Park.
Roofing in Swarthmore: common questions
Which Hoff office covers Swarthmore, and how far is it?
Swarthmore is served from our Chester office at 506 Kerlin St #A in the City of Chester, also in Delaware County. OpenStreetMap routing puts the trip at about 5 miles and roughly 11 minutes. That same office covers neighboring communities including Wallingford, Ridley Park and Brookhaven, so we are on roads in this part of the county regularly for inspections, repairs and replacements.
My Swarthmore house was built before 1940. What should I expect during a replacement?
About 46 percent of Swarthmore housing units predate 1940 according to Census estimates, so a house that age has likely been roofed more than once. Expect the possibility of multiple layers to tear off, older board sheathing that needs attention once it is exposed, and aging flashing at valleys, walls and dormers. We inspect first and put the findings in a free written estimate before anything comes off.
Do ice dams happen in Swarthmore?
They can. The Marcus Hook NOAA station records roughly 65 days a year at or below freezing, and the Philadelphia International Airport station averages about 23 inches of snow. Snow melting over a warm roof and refreezing at a cold eave is how ice dams form. Ice and water shield installed along the eaves during a shingle replacement is the practical defense on steep-slope roofs in the borough.
Do you work on apartment and commercial buildings in Swarthmore?
Yes. Census estimates show roughly 26 percent of Swarthmore housing units are in buildings with five or more units, and the borough center has commercial property as well. We handle commercial roofing and low-slope work in EPDM rubber, TPO and modified bitumen, plus roof repair, leak detection, storm damage repair and emergency tarping. Free written estimates apply to commercial jobs too.
Sources for the local figures on this page
Need a roofer in Swarthmore?
Tell us what is going on and we will come out, look at it and give you a written estimate. No pressure.