Our work in Newington
We have completed 4 roofs in Newington. That figure comes from our own job records rather than an estimate, and it moves as we work. The town is 40 miles from Bethel.
The town runs to 13.1 square miles, in Hartford County.
Neighborhoods and villages here include Elm Hill and Newington Junction. What is on the roofs differs across them, and so does what should go back on.
Design criteria for a Newington roof
The state assigns Newington an ultimate design wind speed of 120 mph — 93 mph nominal — in Appendix AY of the 2022 Connecticut building code. Statewide, 147 municipalities carry an equal or higher rating. As in every Connecticut town, a tear-off here triggers the sealed roof deck rule.
Ground snow load in Newington is 30 psf. Baseline loading for the state, which puts the emphasis on eave detailing rather than on structure.
Connecticut amendments that apply here
The state changes the model code in two places worth knowing about. R905.1.2 requires ice barrier everywhere in Connecticut, extending at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line as measured up the slope. And R905.1.1, the sealed roof deck amendment, does not apply over narrow lumber sheathing — under 3 feet nominal — which is exactly what many pre-1950 houses in this state have.
It matters here because 75.3% of Newington homes predate 1980 - the median was built around 1967 - so plank decking and older fastening turn up regularly on tear-offs in this town.
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.
Newington weather, measured
Roofs are worn out by weather, not by time. The measured picture for Newington comes from the long-record station about 13 miles from the center of town at Burlington, over the thirty years behind NOAA's 1991-2020 normals.
Snow: that station averages 39 inches a year, which is about average for this part of the state. 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: the station records about 142 nights a year 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 there, 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 (13 miles from Newington).
The storms Newington has had since 2015
Every severe-weather report a National Weather Service office confirms goes into NOAA's Storm Events Database. Here is what it holds for the ten miles around Newington over 2015-2026.
65 damaging-wind reports, the strongest put at 75 mph. Wind is the everyday roof risk in this part of Connecticut. It lifts shingle tabs along the rakes and ridge, strips the oldest courses first, and leaves a roof that looks fine from the street.
13 hail reports, the largest 1.5 inches across - about the size of a ping-pong ball. At that size stones start to split the mat rather than just bruise it. Cracked tabs, exposed asphalt and bare spots where the granules have been knocked clean off are what to look for.
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.
If any of that went over your house, the roof deserves a look before the next one arrives. Inspections in Newington are free, you get the photographs either way, and our storm damage report collects what an insurer will ask for.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, reports within 10 miles of the center of Newington, 2015-2026.
Permits and inspections in Newington
Permits for roof work in Newington go through the town building department. The building official on record is Douglas Jourdan. Full-time staffing means inspections here rarely become the bottleneck. The published number is 860-665-8580. Written questions go to djourdan@newingtonct.gov. 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.
Newington homes by age: little prewar, a great deal from 1940 to 1979
Newington has very little prewar housing. Only 7 percent of its homes were built before 1940, by the Census Bureau's 2019-2023 estimates, compared with 20.4 percent across Connecticut and 18.2 percent in the Capitol Planning Region. Its peak came later. Houses from 1960 to 1979 make up 38.7 percent of the stock, the largest of the town's age brackets and well above the statewide 26.7 percent, with another 29.6 percent from 1940 to 1959. Only 6.2 percent have gone up since 2000. The median year built, 1967, matches the state exactly, and a Newington house at that median is about 59 years old in 2026.
That 1960 to 1979 bracket straddles an important federal line. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to target housing, meaning housing built before 1978 with some exceptions, so the construction year of a particular house decides whether paid work disturbing its painted fascia, soffits or trim is covered. Homes built before 1980 are 75.3 percent of Newington's stock, against 67.7 percent statewide, so the rule is likely to matter on most streets. For a covered house, exterior jobs that disturb 20 square feet of paint or less count as minor repairs outside the rule, though window replacement and demolition of painted surfaces do not qualify for that treatment.
On the roof itself, a house of median age here has likely had two or three coverings over its life, given the 20 to 30 years that InterNACHI expects from asphalt shingles, with weather, design, materials and upkeep pushing actual service in either direction. The next full replacement starts at the deck: IRC R908.3 treats replacing a roof as removing its existing layers of covering all the way down, so earlier coverings are not left hidden under the new shingles.
Attached housing is also common by Connecticut standards. Townhouse-style single-family attached units are 16.2 percent of Newington's 13,334 housing units, against 6.2 percent statewide, and buildings of five or more units hold another 15.2 percent. Owners occupy 78.1 percent of occupied homes. The table below has the complete comparison.
| Housing (ACS 2019–2023) | Newington | Connecticut |
|---|---|---|
| Housing units | 13,334 | 1,536,049 |
| Owner-occupied homes | 9,960 | 939,912 |
| Share owner-occupied | 78.1% | 66.2% |
| Single-family detached | 61.2% | 58.7% |
| Median year built | 1967 | 1967 |
| Built before 1940 | 7.0% | 20.4% |
| Built 1940–1979 | 68.3% | 47.4% |
| Built 1980–1999 | 18.4% | 20.5% |
| Built 2000 or later | 6.2% | 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 Newington compares with the towns around it
Newington 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. Newington | Ground snow | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
| Farmington | 120 mph | same | 35 psf | Hartford |
| Hartford | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
| New Britain | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
| Rocky Hill | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
| West Hartford | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
| Wethersfield | 120 mph | same | 30 psf | Hartford |
Get a straight answer on your roof
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Common questions about roofing in Newington
How many nails per shingle should be used in Newington?
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.
Is ice barrier required on a Newington 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 Newington, that detail is doing real work.
Have you worked in Newington before?
Yes. Our records show 4 completed roofs in Newington. That count comes from our own job history.
Who is the building official in Newington?
Douglas Jourdan is the building official on record for Newington, per the State of Connecticut list of municipal building officials. Staffing changes — confirm with the town before relying on it.
What wind speed does a roof in Newington have to be designed for?
The 2022 Connecticut State Building Code assigns Newington 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 Newington?
Yes. A roof replacement in Newington requires a building permit, and we pull it as part of the job. The building department's published number is 860-665-8580 if you want to confirm anything independently.
Does Newington get hail?
Yes, and it is worth taking seriously. NOAA has 13 confirmed hail reports within ten miles of Newington since 2015, the largest 1.5 inches across. Stones that size crack the mat under the granules rather than just bruising it, so the damage is real even when the roof looks sound from the driveway.
Are ice dams a problem in Newington?
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.