Our work in Franklin
Our records show 2 roofs finished in Franklin. It is 67 miles from Bethel.
Franklin is a 19.7-square-mile municipality in New London County.
Within Franklin we work in North Franklin and Smith Corner. 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 Franklin roof
Roofs in Franklin are designed to an ultimate wind speed of 125 mph, which the code expresses as 97 mph nominal. The source is Appendix AY of the 2022 Connecticut State Building Code. That places Franklin mid-range for the state, with 51 municipalities at or above it. Connecticut's amended R905.1.1 applies statewide, so the sealed roof deck requirement is triggered on a full tear-off here.
The code assigns Franklin a ground snow load of 30 psf. The state's floor figure. Ice at the eaves does more damage in towns like this one than weight ever does.
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.
It matters here because 59.9% of Franklin homes predate 1980 - the median was built around 1973 - so plank decking and older fastening turn up regularly on tear-offs in this town.
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 Franklin roof lives with
Roofs are worn out by weather, not by time. The measured picture for Franklin comes from the long-record station about 8 miles from the center of town at Norwich Public Utility Plt, over the thirty years behind NOAA's 1991-2020 normals.
Snow: 28 inches in an average year, which is on the lighter side for Connecticut. It falls across roughly 8 days that leave an inch or more, and 4 that leave three inches or more. None of it matters on a roof that is vented with its eaves protected. On one that is not, the thaw is what gets inside - water backing up under the courses from a dam of ice at the gutter line.
Freeze-thaw: about 124 nights a year drop below freezing, and 19 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: 52 inches a year, including about 14 days when an inch or more falls in a single day and 4 that top two inches. That much water finds every shortcut: valleys that were never properly lined, gutters too small for the roof above them, and the missing kick-out flashing where a roof edge meets a wall.
Source: NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals, station Norwich Public Utility Plt (8 miles from Franklin).
What has actually hit Franklin since 2015
There is a public record of severe weather, town by town. For the ten miles around Franklin, this is what NOAA confirmed across 2015-2026.
51 damaging-wind reports, the strongest put at 81 mph. Wind damage is cumulative. Each gust that lifts a tab breaks a little more of the seal underneath, and the roof that survives five storms can fail in the sixth.
3 hail reports, the largest 1 inch across - about the size of a quarter. Stones in that range knock granules loose and bruise the mat below. Nothing looks broken, but the clock on the roof speeds up.
Also on the record: 1 confirmed tornado touched down inside the same circle and the National Weather Service logged 30 winter-storm, heavy-snow or ice-storm events for New London County over the same years.
None of that means a roof is damaged. It means it is worth looking. An inspection in Franklin costs nothing, you get the photographs whatever we find, and the storm damage report collects the evidence in one document if you need it.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, reports within 10 miles of the center of Franklin, 2015-2026.
Permits and inspections in Franklin
Roofing work in Franklin is permitted through the town's building department. The building official on record is Doug Colter. Full-time staffing means inspections here rarely become the bottleneck. The published number is 860-642-4338 x14. Written questions go to dcolter@seccog.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.
What the Census can say about Franklin's houses
Franklin is small, and that shapes how its numbers should be read. The Census Bureau's 2019-2023 American Community Survey estimates 754 housing units here, 725 of them occupied, and at that size the margins of error are wide. The broad outline is still plain. Single-family detached houses make up 88.5 percent of the stock, against 58.7 percent statewide, and 85.7 percent of occupied homes, 621 of them, are lived in by their owners. Across the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region the owner share is 65.4 percent.
Franklin's houses are middle-aged rather than old. The median year built is 1973, so the typical home is about 53 years old, and the two largest brackets are 1960 to 1979, at 33.6 percent, and 1980 to 1999, at 26.8 percent. Only 11.5 percent predate 1940. By the InterNACHI figures, 20 years for 3-tab asphalt shingles and 30 for architectural, a house from either of those two big brackets is likely past its original roof.
That makes roof history the thing to establish before pricing a job. A house from the 1980-to-1999 bracket may have been re-roofed once, and if that re-roof went on over the original shingles, the roof has two layers. R908.3.1.1 prohibits adding another covering over two or more existing applications, and it also rules out a layover where the existing roof is water soaked or too deteriorated to serve as a base. In either case the new roof starts from the deck, not from the old shingles.
Some Franklin roofs will need much less than that. Connecticut's amended R105.2 exempts from permits roof and siding repairs limited to 25 percent within one calendar year; anything beyond that, full replacement included, needs a permit. The 13.3 percent of homes built in 2000 or later are the ones most likely to still be on their first roof. For owners facing the larger job, Stallion Ridge offers financing through Service Finance Company and Hearth, with approved credit. The table below shows each age bracket as the survey estimates it.
| Housing (ACS 2019–2023) | Franklin | Connecticut |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 754 | 1,536,049 |
| Owner-occupied homes | 621 | 939,912 |
| Share owner-occupied | 85.7% | 66.2% |
| Single-family detached | 88.5% | 58.7% |
| Median year built | 1973 | 1967 |
| Built before 1940 | 11.5% | 20.4% |
| Built 1940–1979 | 48.5% | 47.4% |
| Built 1980–1999 | 26.8% | 20.5% |
| Built 2000 or later | 13.3% | 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 Franklin compares with the towns around it
Franklin shares its design wind figure with all 6 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. Franklin | Ground snow | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bozrah | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | New London |
| Lebanon | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | New London |
| Norwich | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | New London |
| Scotland | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | Windham |
| Sprague | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | New London |
| Windham | 125 mph | same | 30 psf | Windham |
Get a straight answer on your roof
Free inspection, a written scope, and a 25-year workmanship warranty.
Common questions about roofing in Franklin
Do I need a permit to replace a roof in Franklin?
Yes. A roof replacement in Franklin requires a building permit, and we pull it as part of the job. The building department's published number is 860-642-4338 x14 if you want to confirm anything independently.
Who is the building official in Franklin?
Doug Colter is the building official on record for Franklin, 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 Franklin 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 30 psf ground snow load in Franklin, that detail is doing real work.
Have you worked in Franklin before?
Yes. Our records show 2 completed roofs in Franklin. That count comes from our own job history.
What wind speed does a roof in Franklin have to be designed for?
The 2022 Connecticut State Building Code assigns Franklin an ultimate design wind speed of 125 mph. That figure sets the fastener schedule and the manufacturer wind rating we specify.
How many nails per shingle should be used in Franklin?
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 Franklin get hail?
Yes, though it is not the main risk here. NOAA has 3 confirmed hail reports within ten miles of Franklin 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 Franklin?
They are the winter problem worth planning for. The nearest long-record station averages 28 inches of snow a year across about 8 days that leave an inch or more, and roughly 124 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.