How Old Is Your Roof? Sterling-Area Homes by Build Era

Why build year is a useful starting point

Asphalt shingle roofs commonly last 20 to 30 years. That range is wide because ventilation, shingle quality, tree cover, sun exposure and how well the roof was installed all matter. Still, if you know roughly when your house was built and whether the roof has been replaced, you can make a decent guess at where it stands, and you will know what questions to ask when a roofer comes out. The build eras below come from published histories of each community; individual houses vary, so check your own records or the county's property records for your home's year built.

Sterling Park: the 1960s

Sterling Park was one of Loudoun County's first planned communities. According to the History of Loudoun County by historian Eugene Scheel, the developers bought the land in 1961, filed the plat in 1962, and sold the first houses in February 1963. A house from the 1960s that still has asphalt shingles has almost certainly been re-roofed at least once and quite possibly twice.

• Ask whether there is more than one layer of shingles on the roof. Older re-roofs were sometimes laid over the existing roof instead of tearing it off.
• Expect the decking to get a close look after tear-off. Decking that has been through several roofs and decades of nail holes may need sections replaced.
• Look at ventilation and exhaust. Bath fans and attic vents may have been added piecemeal over the years.

Sugarland Run: the 1970s and 1980s

Sugarland Run was incorporated in 1971, and its homes were built in the 1970s and 1980s, many in a California contemporary style with vaulted ceilings, alongside townhouses. Houses from that period are typically on their second roof, and some of those second roofs are now reaching the end of their own lifespan. Vaulted ceilings matter for roofing: where the ceiling follows the roof line, there may be little or no attic above it, which changes how that section is ventilated and how a leak shows up inside.

Countryside: 1981 to 1991

Home construction in Countryside began in 1981 and continued through 1991, mostly colonials built by Pulte Homes. An original roof from those years would now be 35 to 45 years old, well past the usual asphalt shingle lifespan, so most Countryside houses have already had at least one replacement. The key question for a Countryside homeowner is how old the current roof is. If it went on in the early 2000s, it may be entering the same 20 to 30 year window the original roof reached.

Cascades: 1990 onward

Cascades is a planned community of about 6,500 homes on roughly 2,500 acres. Its homeowners association was incorporated in November 1990, and before that the land was mostly farms. That makes Cascades the part of Sterling where many homes are still on their first roof or have only recently replaced it. A house built in the early or mid-1990s is now 30-something years old, squarely in first-replacement territory. Our guide to a first roof replacement on a 25 to 35 year old home covers what that job usually involves.

How to find out how old your roof actually is

1. Check your purchase paperwork. Home inspection reports and seller disclosures often note roof age.
2. Look for a sticker or note in the attic, garage or utility room. Some roofers leave one.
3. Ask your association. Some keep records of exterior applications, which may show when a roof was approved.
4. Look in the county's issued building permit reports if a permit was pulled for the work.
5. Have a roofer look. Shingle style and wear tell an experienced eye a lot, even without paperwork.

Age is a clue, not a verdict

A well-ventilated 25-year-old roof can be in better shape than a poorly vented 15-year-old one. Signs that matter more than the calendar: granules collecting in gutters, shingles curling or cracking, bare or dark patches, repeated leaks, and damp or stained decking in the attic. If your roof is in the age range where those start to show, an inspection gives you a real answer instead of a guess.

The photo at the top of this page is from one of Roofing Roughnecks' Sterling roof replacements, a two-story colonial mid-replacement.