Home » Service Areas » Greater Philadelphia » Chester County » Birmingham
Open high ground above the Brandywine battlefield, with older stone houses carrying slate, cedar and standing-seam porch roofs.
Birmingham is one of the quieter townships in the county, mostly open land on the ridges south of West Chester with the Brandywine battlefield ground preserved at Sandy Hollow. The housing is a mix of eighteenth and nineteenth century stone houses, a smaller number of mid-century places, and large custom homes on generous lots. A lot of those older roofs are still slate, cedar shake, or standing-seam metal over porches and bays.
Those materials each fail differently, so we start by identifying what is actually on the roof and whether it can be repaired. Slate with sound stone and failed nails is a repair. Cedar that has curled through is not. When replacement is right, we spec a system that suits the building rather than the easiest one to install. Permits go through Birmingham Township.
The full Maze Roofing range, residential and commercial, from the local team.
Shingle, tile, metal and flat roofing for homes and townhomes across the area.
Shingle, tile, metal, flat and TPO. Managed from tear-off to cleanup.
Flat, TPO and metal systems, with maintenance programs that protect the asset.
Storm damage, active leaks and fallen trees, with 24/7 phone response.
Slate, cedar, metal and asphalt each fail in their own way, and on exposed ridges here wind finds whichever fastening was weakest.
Most old slate roofs fail at the fasteners and the flashing, not the stone.
Shakes that have curled and split will not hold water however many are replaced.
Standing-seam over porches and bays needs its seams and terminations checked, not covered.
Birmingham Township issues the roofing permit under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code.
Same office, same crews, a short drive away.
No, but you should decide with the facts in front of you. If the slate is sound and the leaks trace to flashing and fasteners, repair is usually cheaper and better. If whole slopes are delaminating, you can go back to slate, to a synthetic, or to a heavy architectural asphalt.
Birmingham Township, under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code. A West Chester mailing address does not move it to the borough, and the county does not handle residential permits. We file the application, keep the posted copy on site and meet the inspector when the work is done.
Often yes. Metal porch roofs usually leak where they terminate against the house rather than across the field, so the repair is at the counterflashing and the wall detail. We check the seams and the fastening at the same time before recommending anything more than that.
It changes the installation more than the product. On the open ridges in Birmingham we increase the nailing pattern, pay attention to starter courses at the rakes, and use a ridge cap rated for the exposure. A correctly nailed shingle beats a premium one nailed badly.
Send the form and the correct local office follows up, or call your market directly.
Fill out the form and we’ll route it to the right person and location.