Our work in Brooklyn
No completed jobs in Brooklyn yet — said plainly, because the alternative is implying something that is not true. It is 80 miles from Bethel, comfortably within where we work.
Brooklyn is a 29.1-square-mile municipality in Windham County.
Within Brooklyn we work in East Brooklyn, Quebec, Stetson Corner and West Wauregan. Housing stock varies enough inside one Connecticut town that the right roof in one neighborhood is not automatically right three miles away.
Design criteria for a Brooklyn roof
The state assigns Brooklyn an ultimate design wind speed of 125 mph — 97 mph nominal — in Appendix AY of the 2022 Connecticut building code. That places Brooklyn mid-range for the state, with 51 municipalities at or above it. As in every Connecticut town, a tear-off here triggers the sealed roof deck rule.
Ground snow load in Brooklyn is 35 psf. Above the state baseline, which matters most where snow collects — valleys, dormer sides, and anywhere a roof steps down.
Connecticut amendments that apply here
Connecticut amends the international code on two points that touch nearly every roof we do. Ice barrier is required statewide under R905.1.2, running from the lowest roof edge to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line — measured along the slope, so a low-pitch roof needs more membrane than people expect. The sealed roof deck amendment, R905.1.1, carries an exception: it does not apply over lumber sheathing under 3 feet nominal width, which is what sits under the shingles on a great many pre-1950 Connecticut houses.
Brooklyn is newer than most of Connecticut: only 53.3% of its homes predate 1980 and the median was built around 1978, so plywood or OSB decking is what we usually find, and the plank exception rarely comes up.
The six-nail question comes up constantly. Code minimum in Connecticut is four nails per shingle. Manufacturers require six to honor their wind warranty. We install six. Both facts are true at the same time, and anyone presenting six as a code requirement has it wrong.
The weather a Brooklyn roof lives with
The nearest weather station with a thirty-year record sits about 11 miles from the center of town at W Thompson Lake. Its readings - NOAA's 1991-2020 normals - say what a roof in Brooklyn actually has to put up with.
Snow: that station averages 38 inches a year, which is about average for this part of the state. It falls across roughly 12 days that leave an inch or more, and 5 that leave three inches or more. Snow itself rarely hurts a sound roof. What hurts is meltwater running down to a cold eave, freezing, and backing up under the shingles - an ice dam. That is why the ice barrier at the eaves is the detail worth paying attention to on any re-roof here.
Freeze-thaw: the station records about 156 nights a year below freezing, and 29 days never climb above it. Each of those nights works on whatever is already loose - a lifted tab, a tired boot around a pipe, a nail that has backed out. Winter finds the weak spot and makes it bigger.
Rain: 50 inches a year there, including about 13 days when an inch or more falls in a single day and 2 that top two inches. That is a lot of water to move off a roof, and it finds the same three places every time: valleys, gutters that cannot keep up, and wall junctions with no kick-out flashing.
Source: NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, station W Thompson Lake (11 miles from Brooklyn).
What has actually hit Brooklyn since 2015
There is a public record of severe weather, town by town. For the ten miles around Brooklyn, this is what NOAA confirmed across 2015-2026.
63 damaging-wind reports, the strongest put at 81 mph. Wind, not hail, is what takes roofs apart here. It works on the edges - rake, ridge, eave - and the damage is usually invisible from the ground.
9 hail reports, the largest 1.75 inches across - about the size of a golf ball. Hail that big is not a cosmetic problem. It fractures the mat, punches through older shingles and dents everything soft on the roof, including vents, flashing and gutters.
Also on the record: 2 confirmed tornadoes touched down inside the same circle and the National Weather Service logged 24 winter-storm, heavy-snow or ice-storm events for Windham County over the same years.
After a storm like those, the sensible move is a look at the roof before anything leaks - we do that for free in Brooklyn, and you get the photographs either way. If there is damage, our storm damage report puts the photos, measurements and a written estimate in one place for your insurer.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, reports within 10 miles of the center of Brooklyn, 2015-2026.
Permits and inspections in Brooklyn
Permits for roof work in Brooklyn go through the town building department. That office is headed by John Berard. It is a part-time office. That is not a criticism, it is a scheduling fact: we confirm inspection availability before we open a roof here. The published number is 860-779-3411. Written questions go to buildinglanduse@brooklynschools.org. Permitting is on us, not on you. A contractor asking a homeowner to pull the roofing permit is shifting liability, and you should treat it that way.
A roof replacement permit in Connecticut is generally issued over the counter or online once the scope is submitted, with an inspection at completion. Where a house sits in a local historic district, or where zoning or health review applies, that approval comes first and can add real time. If your property is affected, we will tell you before the contract is signed rather than after the dumpster arrives.
How old Brooklyn's houses are, era by era
No one period dominates Brooklyn's housing. Of the town's 3,184 units, Census estimates put 24.8 percent in buildings from 1960 to 1979, 24.6 percent from 1980 to 1999 and 22 percent from 2000 on, with 14.8 percent older than 1940 and 13.7 percent from the two decades after. That last-built share stands out: Connecticut as a whole has 11.8 percent of its housing from 2000 or later, and the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region 15.7 percent. Brooklyn's median year built lands at 1978, later than the state's 1967 and the region's 1973, for a typical house of about 48 years.
An even spread like this means the roof question changes from one driveway to the next. Take the three biggest groups in turn.
- Built 2000 or later. InterNACHI's chart gives 3-tab asphalt about 20 years and architectural shingles 30. Many of these houses are probably still on the roof they were built with, and the earliest of them are into that range now. When the first replacement is due, the original comes off entirely: R908.3 defines replacement as removal down to the deck.
- Built 1980 to 1999. A 3-tab roof put on at construction would be well past its 20-year estimate, so most of these homes have likely been re-roofed at least once. Where that job went over the old shingles instead of replacing them, two layers are already in place, and R908.3.1.1 forbids adding another.
- Built 1960 to 1979. These houses have most likely been through more than one roof cycle. The covering is only part of it; R908.5 requires existing flashings, edgings, vents and similar parts of the roof assembly to be replaced when they are rusted, damaged or deteriorated, so a re-roof on an older house can carry more metal work than the shingles alone suggest.
Brooklyn is mostly owner-occupied (78.6 percent) and 74.9 percent detached single-family, almost exactly the regional 74.1 percent, with 11.3 percent of units in buildings of two to four. In total, 53.3 percent of units predate 1980, well under the state's 67.7 percent. The table below lays the brackets side by side with Connecticut's.
| Housing (ACS 2019–2023) | Brooklyn | Connecticut |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 3,184 | 1,536,049 |
| Owner-occupied homes | 2,270 | 939,912 |
| Share owner-occupied | 78.6% | 66.2% |
| Single-family detached | 74.9% | 58.7% |
| Median year built | 1978 | 1967 |
| Built before 1940 | 14.8% | 20.4% |
| Built 1940–1979 | 38.5% | 47.4% |
| Built 1980–1999 | 24.6% | 20.5% |
| Built 2000 or later | 22.0% | 11.8% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates, tables B25001, B25003, B25024, B25034, B25035. Estimates carry a margin of error, which is wider in smaller towns.
How Brooklyn compares with the towns around it
Brooklyn shares its design wind figure with all 5 of its neighbors, so specifications carry across these town lines cleanly. The permit process does not — each town runs its own.
| Bordering town | Design wind | vs. Brooklyn | Ground snow | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | Windham |
| Hampton | 125 mph | same | 35 psf | Windham |
| Killingly | 125 mph | same | 35 psf | Windham |
| Plainfield | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | Windham |
| Pomfret | 125 mph | same | 40 psf | Windham |
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Common questions about roofing in Brooklyn
Who is the building official in Brooklyn?
John Berard is the building official on record for Brooklyn, per the State of Connecticut list of municipal building officials. Staffing changes — confirm with the town before relying on it.
How many nails per shingle should be used in Brooklyn?
Connecticut's code minimum is four. Shingle manufacturers require six to keep their wind warranty in force, and six is what we install. Six nails is a manufacturer requirement, not a code requirement.
Do I need a permit to replace a roof in Brooklyn?
Yes. A roof replacement in Brooklyn requires a building permit, and we pull it as part of the job. The building department's published number is 860-779-3411 if you want to confirm anything independently.
Is ice barrier required on a Brooklyn roof?
Yes — Connecticut requires it statewide under code section R905.1.2, running from the lowest roof edge to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line. With a 35 psf ground snow load in Brooklyn, that detail is doing real work.
What wind speed does a roof in Brooklyn have to be designed for?
The 2022 Connecticut State Building Code assigns Brooklyn an ultimate design wind speed of 125 mph. That figure sets the fastener schedule and the manufacturer wind rating we specify.
Does Brooklyn get hail?
Yes, and it is worth taking seriously. NOAA has 9 confirmed hail reports within ten miles of Brooklyn since 2015, the largest 1.75 inches across. That is destructive hail - it splits shingles and punctures the mat, and a roof caught by it usually needs replacing rather than patching.
Are ice dams a problem in Brooklyn?
They are the winter problem worth planning for. The nearest long-record station averages 38 inches of snow a year across about 12 days that leave an inch or more, and roughly 156 nights below freezing. That is the exact recipe for melt at the warm middle of a roof refreezing at the cold eave. Connecticut's code answer is an ice barrier at the eaves; the practical answer is that plus attic insulation and ventilation that keep the roof deck cold.
Design criteria are taken from Appendix AY of the 2022 Connecticut State Building Code. Building department details come from the State of Connecticut list of municipal building officials, updated 04-06-2026. Municipal staffing and personnel change — confirm current details with the town. Stallion Ridge Exteriors is a service-area business based in Bethel, Connecticut.