Roofing in Hartford County

Hartford County's mid-century houses and the roofs on them

Most of Hartford County's housing was built in the middle decades of the last century. Across its 29 towns, American Community Survey estimates for 2019-2023 place 51.8 percent of the county's 388,186 housing units in the years 1940 through 1979. With the older stock included, 70.5 percent of units predate 1980, compared with 67.7 percent for Connecticut, while just 9.5 percent were built in 2000 or later, against the state's 11.8. The county is also slightly less owner-occupied than the state, at 64.5 percent of occupied homes against 66.2, and slightly less detached, with single-family detached houses at 54.7 percent of units against 58.7.

Town by town, the medians run from 1953 to 1981. Hartford is the oldest: its median year built of 1953 puts the typical house at about 73 years, and 38.5 percent of its units predate 1940. Owners occupy only 25.7 percent of its occupied homes. West Hartford (1955), New Britain (1956) and Wethersfield (1959) are the other three towns with a median before 1960. Five towns have a median of 1980 or later, and the newest, Avon and Burlington at 1981, still put the typical house at about 45 years. East Windsor has the largest share of recent building, 24.4 percent of its units dating from 2000 or later.

Put those medians against InterNACHI's life expectancy chart, which gives architectural asphalt shingles about 30 years and 3-tab about 20, and the pattern is plain. In every town, the typical house is older than either figure, so on most Hartford County homes the original roof is likely long gone and the next job is a replacement. IRC R908.3, as adopted in Connecticut, defines that as removing the existing layers down to the roof deck. With the deck exposed, a Connecticut amendment applies: amended R905.1.1 calls for self-adhering membrane at least 4 inches wide over all joints in the decking, and underlayment over the entire roof. Lumber sheathing under 3 feet in nominal width is an exception, and which case a house falls into is usually clear only once the old roofing is off.

The same age brings in paint. Housing built before 1978 is target housing under EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, with exceptions, and much of the county's 70.5 percent built before 1980 falls in that range. The rule reaches paid work that disturbs painted surfaces; on a re-roof that tends to mean fascia, soffit or trim rather than the shingles themselves. Small exterior disturbances, 20 square feet of paint or less, fall outside it unless the work is window replacement or demolition of painted surfaces. The tables below show the county beside Connecticut, then all 29 towns from oldest median to newest.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables B25001, B25003, B25024, B25034, B25035) for each town, summed by county. Connecticut's counties are no longer Census reporting areas, so no county-wide median year is given. Town estimates carry a margin of error, which is wider in smaller towns.