Roof Repair and Replacement in Windsor Locks, CT

What did the 1979 tornado and the 2018 microburst change about roofing here?

Neither storm is a repair schedule, but both are why wind sits near the top of the list in Windsor Locks. The 1979 tornado is the town's best-documented roof event, and the streets named in its record, River Road, Hollow Brook Road, Pioneer Drive and Settler Circle, are still ordinary residential addresses today.

The May 15, 2018 microburst was smaller in scale and different in kind. A 60 mph gust was recorded at the Windsor Locks station, and tree and power-line damage followed across Windsor Locks and the nearby towns of Suffield, East Windsor, Enfield, Ellington, Vernon, East Granby, Granby and Hartland. A straight-line gust like that does not need to peel a roof to cause a call. It drops limbs onto ridges, lifts a row of tabs along an edge, or drives rain under a lifted flap.

If you suspect wind damage, describe what you can see from the ground and call. The roofer you reach decides on the roof whether a repair or something larger is needed, and that is not a judgment anyone can make from a phone. The pages on wind damage roof repair and storm damage roof repair explain what is usually looked at.

Why do roof edges matter more than the middle of the roof in a wind town?

Wind rarely begins its work in the middle of a roof. It gets under an edge, a rake, a ridge cap or a corner where one roof meets another, lifts a little, and then peels the next course. Missing or creased shingles near the eaves and gables are the common first sign, and they are easy to spot from the driveway after a blow.

That is also where an old repair tends to fail. A patch that was nailed down once and sealed with cement can loosen the next time the wind finds it. When you call, mention whether the damage is on the windward edge, at the ridge, or beside a chimney or vent, because those details tell the roofer whether the issue is the shingles themselves or the flashing around them.

Many local roofs also hold layers from earlier jobs. Connecticut limits asphalt shingles to two layers, so a roof that already has two is usually torn down to the deck rather than covered again, and the deck underneath gets a look at the same time.

How do snow and ice at the eaves fit in?

Winter is the other half of the year. January averages a high near 36 F and a low near 22 F at Bradley, and ice dams form when heat escaping the attic melts snow that then refreezes at the cold edge. The conditions that favor them are several days in the low 20s with a few inches of snow on the roof.

In practice that means checking the attic before the first cold spell. Attic insulation around R-49 to R-60, sealed air leaks around pull-down stairs, vent fans and recessed lights, and a roof rake for a single-story house are the steps local guidance names. Do not throw salt or calcium chloride on a roof; it can corrode metal. Our ice dam removal and prevention page goes through the sequence, and attic insulation and ventilation covers the part that stops them coming back.

What should I ask before a re-roof?

A full re-roof in Connecticut needs a building permit under the 2022 State Building Code, while replacing a few shingles typically does not. Permit rules differ by town, so confirm with the Windsor Locks building office, and ask the roofer who pulls the permit. Our guide to the reroof permit question in Connecticut lays out what to ask.

Also ask for a written quote. Published price guides for Connecticut differ widely, so a number from the internet will not tell you much about your own roof.