Bristol Borough · 19007
Roofing contractor in Bristol, PA
Pennsylvania's third-oldest borough: a 1681 river town of row houses, twins, Harriman's shipyard housing and big Radcliffe Street homes, with four historic districts and its own HARB.
- 5.0 on Google
- PA HIC #201201
- NJ HIC #13VH14078100
Roofing in Bristol
Bristol’s houses and their roofs.
Settled in 1681, chartered in 1720 and county seat until 1725, this town grew as a port, then as the end of the Delaware Canal, then as a mill town turning out textiles, carpet and wallpaper. Radcliffe and Mill Streets still carry many of its historic houses.
Harriman, the neighborhood built around the World War I shipyards and annexed in 1922, is still mostly lived in. Across the borough, 53 percent of the 4,279 homes predate 1940, and nearly half are single-family attached: twins and row houses that share walls and roof lines.
Four National Register districts, Bristol, Bristol Industrial, Harriman and Jefferson Land, sit under a borough HARB. Outside the borough, the township's homes are mostly 1950s singles. We cover both from our Newtown office.
Know the house
Roofs you’ll find around Bristol.
Row houses and twins
Nearly half the borough's housing. Every party wall and every step down between neighbors is a flashing detail, and a new section has to tie into older roofs on both sides.
Radcliffe Street houses
Federal, Georgian, Italianate, Second Empire and Gothic Revival homes facing the river. Historic roofs here were wood shingle, slate or standing-seam metal, and HARB weighs how visible each roof is from the street.
Harriman
Shipyard-era housing from around 1918, some of it still under original slate. Where slate is sound, it is worth keeping; where it is not, we'll tell you plainly and talk through what the guidelines favor.
Township 1950s singles
Close to half the township's homes went up in the 1950s. Straightforward roofs, re-covered several times by now, where layer count and deck condition decide the price.
Riverfront exposure and the 2021 wharf tornado
On September 1, 2021, an EF1 tornado with 90 mph winds crossed the Delaware along the line of the Burlington-Bristol Bridge and lifted just before reaching downtown, snapping several trees along the Bristol Wharf. Downtown was spared, but it was a close call for a waterfront of old roofs.
The river also brings the main-stem floods of 2004, 2005 and 2006, and open water lets nor'easter wind reach the first row of houses at full strength. On a 19th-century house, wind finds the cornice, the chimney and the ridge first.
Services in Bristol
What we do for Bristol homes.
Free Roof Inspection in Bristol
Free, with photos of every elevation. For a district house, that record shows the HARB exactly what you have and how visible it is from the street.
Roof Repair in Bristol
Party-wall flashing, chimney leaks and slipped pieces on older roofs, repaired with a written warranty on the area and photos of the before and after.
Roof Replacement in Bristol
Where asphalt is the right call, heavyweight dimensional shingles in a color close to the historic material, which is what the borough's guidelines recommend.
Commercial Roofing in Bristol
Storefronts, churches and the borough's old industrial buildings, quoted with a written scope. Flat roofs don't need a Certificate of Appropriateness to be replaced.
Also available in Bristol: Storm Damage & Insurance Claims · Siding
Google reviews · 5.0★
From our Google reviews
“Not only did Dave go around to 5 stores trying to find an exact color match but matched the shingles perfectly. Kind, reasonable price and efficient and stands behind his work. Thank you Dave”
Bristol questions
Roofing in Bristol, answered.
Something else? Call or text (484) 647-7466, or read the full questions & answers.
Can I use asphalt shingles on a house in Bristol's historic district?
Yes; the borough's design guidelines say asphalt is not prohibited. They recommend heavyweight dimensional shingles that resemble the color of the historic material and discourage asphalt on small buildings, low eaves or highly visible roofs. A pitched roof you can see from the street still needs a Certificate of Appropriateness before work starts.
Does replacing a flat roof in the district need HARB approval?
No. The guidelines say no Certificate of Appropriateness is required to get a building permit for replacing a flat roof. The building permit itself is still needed, and we pull it.
My Harriman house still has its slate. Should I replace it?
Not automatically. The borough encourages keeping original roofing that is visible from the street, and slate that is mostly sound can outlast a new asphalt roof. We don't repair slate, but we'll photograph broken and slipped pieces, tell you honestly whether it is past saving, and talk through what the HARB will likely want to see in a replacement.
I share a roofline with the row houses on both sides. How does that work?
We replace your section and build a watertight transition at each party wall, then photograph both sides. If a neighbor is re-roofing at the same time, doing the run together gives one continuous roof and fewer seams to maintain.
Near Bristol
See every town we serve.
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Free roof inspection
Let’s take a look at your roof.
Anywhere in Bristol and the towns around it. Pick a time online, call, or send us the basics here and we’ll get back to you to set it up. No pressure, and the quote is good for 30 days.
(484) 647-7466That’s (484) MISSION · team@mission-roof.org
- Hours
- Mon–Sat 8 am – 4 pm
- Office
- 41 University Dr, Suite 400
Newtown, PA 18940