Our work in Farmington
5 completed roofs in Farmington to date, counted from our own records. Farmington sits 38 miles from our Bethel base.
Farmington covers 27.9 square miles in Hartford County.
Farmington takes in Bensted Corner, East Farmington Heights, Farmington Station, Oakland Gardens, River Glen, Unionville and West District. Age and construction of the housing changes between them, which is why we look before quoting.
Design criteria for a Farmington roof
Roofs in Farmington are designed to an ultimate wind speed of 120 mph, which the code expresses as 93 mph nominal. The source is Appendix AY of the 2022 Connecticut State Building Code. That places Farmington mid-range for the state, with 147 municipalities at or above it. Connecticut's amendment to R905.1.1 applies statewide, so a full tear-off here brings the sealed roof deck requirement with it.
Ground snow load in Farmington is 35 psf. It is a middle figure for Connecticut, and the practical effect is concentrated at the details rather than the field.
Connecticut amendments that apply here
Two Connecticut amendments matter on almost every job. The first is statewide ice barrier, R905.1.2: from the lowest edge of the roof to a point 24 inches or more inside the exterior wall line, measured on the slope. On a shallow pitch that is a surprising amount of membrane. The second is R905.1.1, the sealed roof deck rule, which has an exception for lumber sheathing of less than 3 feet nominal width — common on older housing stock here.
Farmington is newer than most of Connecticut: only 49.9% of its homes predate 1980 and the median was built around 1980, so plywood or OSB decking is what we usually find, and the plank exception rarely comes up.
Four is code, six is warranty. Connecticut's minimum is four nails per shingle; the shingle manufacturers want six before they will stand behind a wind claim. We use six. What we will not do is tell you the state requires it, because it does not.
The weather a Farmington roof lives with
Weather is what wears a roof out, so the local numbers are worth knowing. NOAA's 1991-2020 normals, taken about 6 miles from the center of town at Burlington, are the closest measured picture there is.
Snow: 39 inches in an average year, which is about average for Connecticut. It falls across roughly 10 days that leave an inch or more, and 5 that leave three inches or more. Weight is seldom the issue on a roof that is sound. Meltwater is: it runs to the cold overhang, freezes there, and the next thaw has nowhere to go but sideways, under the shingles.
Freeze-thaw: about 142 nights a year drop below freezing, and 27 days never climb above it. Freezing water expands with enough force to widen any gap it is sitting in. Do that on most nights of the winter and the sealant around a chimney or a vent pipe gives up years before the shingles do.
Rain: 54 inches a year, including about 15 days when an inch or more falls in a single day and 3 that top two inches. Rain in that volume is a better roof inspector than most people are. It finds the badly closed valley and the overwhelmed gutter long before anyone on the ground notices.
Source: NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, station Burlington (6 miles from Farmington).
What has actually hit Farmington since 2015
Storm talk is cheap, so here is the record instead: every severe-weather report NOAA confirmed within ten miles of Farmington from 2015-2026.
74 damaging-wind reports, the strongest put at 69 mph. That is the number that matters most here. Wind damage starts at the edges and the ridge, and it rarely shows itself from the driveway.
8 hail reports, the largest 1 inch across - about the size of a quarter. That is bruising hail rather than shattering hail. It knocks the protective granules loose in patches, the asphalt underneath bakes, and the roof gives up early without ever looking damaged.
Also on the record: the National Weather Service logged 27 winter-storm, heavy-snow or ice-storm events for Hartford 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 Farmington, 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 Farmington, 2015-2026.
Permits and inspections in Farmington
Farmington issues roofing permits through its building department. That office is headed by Seth Ellsworth. The office is staffed full-time, so inspections here are generally easy to schedule. The published number is 860-675-2315. Written questions go to ellsworths@farmington-ct.org. We pull the permit ourselves. If a roofer asks you to pull it in your own name, that is a reason to stop and ask why.
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.
Farmington homes by age
The median Farmington house was built in 1980, which the Census Bureau's 2019-2023 estimates make about 46 years old in 2026. Connecticut's median is 1967 and the Capitol Planning Region's is 1966, so Farmington's stock is younger than the region's by a clear margin. Its largest bracket is 1980-1999, at 35.1 percent of 11,755 housing units, and just 49.9 percent of the town was built before 1980, compared with 68.8 percent across the region.
Houses from those two decades have had time for a roof replacement already, and how that earlier job was done governs the next one. InterNACHI gives architectural asphalt shingles about 30 years and 3-tab about 20, so an original roof from the 1980s would likely have been due some time ago. If the earlier replacement was a layover, with new shingles nailed over the originals, R908.3.1.1 now blocks another: it bars a recover on a roof that already carries two or more applications of covering, or on one that is water-soaked or too deteriorated to act as a base. The job then becomes a full tear-off under R908.3, down to the deck. The 14.9 percent built since 2000, above the state's 11.8, is a younger group again, many of them likely on original roofs, the oldest now moving into the span the chart describes.
Farmington also has more attached housing than the region. Single-family attached units make up 10.4 percent of the stock, against 6.2 percent in both the Capitol Planning Region and the state, with a further 11.7 percent in two-to-four-unit buildings and 12.3 percent in buildings of five or more. Where attached units share one continuous roof, replacement can be a joint decision among several owners rather than a single household's call.
Detached houses still carry most of the town at 65.5 percent, and 75.4 percent of occupied homes are owner-occupied, above the state's 66.2 percent. The older end remains too: 9.6 percent of units predate 1940 and 15.2 percent date from 1940-1959, houses that are likely well past their original covering. The table below sets these against Connecticut.
| Housing (ACS 2019–2023) | Farmington | Connecticut |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 11,755 | 1,536,049 |
| Owner-occupied homes | 8,267 | 939,912 |
| Share owner-occupied | 75.4% | 66.2% |
| Single-family detached | 65.5% | 58.7% |
| Median year built | 1980 | 1967 |
| Built before 1940 | 9.6% | 20.4% |
| Built 1940–1979 | 40.3% | 47.4% |
| Built 1980–1999 | 35.1% | 20.5% |
| Built 2000 or later | 14.9% | 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 Farmington compares with the towns around it
Farmington shares its design wind figure with all 7 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. Farmington | Ground snow | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon | 120 mph | same | 35 psf | Hartford |
| Bristol | 120 mph | same | 35 psf | Hartford |
| Burlington | 120 mph | same | 35 psf | Hartford |
| New Britain | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
| Newington | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
| Plainville | 120 mph | same | 35 psf | Hartford |
| West Hartford | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
Get a straight answer on your roof
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Common questions about roofing in Farmington
What wind speed does a roof in Farmington have to be designed for?
The 2022 Connecticut State Building Code assigns Farmington an ultimate design wind speed of 120 mph. That figure sets the fastener schedule and the manufacturer wind rating we specify.
Do I need a permit to replace a roof in Farmington?
Yes. A roof replacement in Farmington requires a building permit, and we pull it as part of the job. The building department's published number is 860-675-2315 if you want to confirm anything independently.
Who is the building official in Farmington?
Seth Ellsworth is the building official on record for Farmington, per the State of Connecticut list of municipal building officials. Staffing changes — confirm with the town before relying on it.
Is ice barrier required on a Farmington 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 Farmington, that detail is doing real work.
Have you worked in Farmington before?
Yes. Our records show 5 completed roofs in Farmington. That count comes from our own job history.
How many nails per shingle should be used in Farmington?
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.
Does Farmington get hail?
Yes, though it is not the main risk here. NOAA has 8 confirmed hail reports within ten miles of Farmington since 2015, the largest 1 inch across. Hail that size bruises shingles and knocks granules loose rather than punching holes, so the damage is easy to miss from the ground and worth a proper look after a summer storm.
Are ice dams a problem in Farmington?
They are the winter problem worth planning for. The nearest long-record station averages 39 inches of snow a year across about 10 days that leave an inch or more, and roughly 142 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.