Looking for a roofing company in Herndon, VA? Sterling Roofers repairs and replaces roofs on Herndon houses, townhomes and small commercial buildings. Herndon is a town with its own building office, and a Herndon mailing address can also mean Fairfax County. This page sorts out which one applies to you.
What we do here
Herndon calls tend to come from two kinds of owners. One has a roof that still mostly works but leaks at a chimney, a wall joint or a plumbing vent. That is a job for roof repair near Herndon, where the aim is to trace the water to its entry point instead of painting over a ceiling stain.
The other owner has a roof that has simply worn out across the board. Curled tabs, bare patches and flashing that keeps failing point toward roof replacement, written up as one scope covering tear-off, deck, flashing, ventilation and clean-up. If you are unsure which group you are in, a roof inspection records the condition before you decide.
Apartment and condominium buildings, which make up a large share of Herndon, usually have a building owner or board making the roofing decision. Flat and low-slope sections are covered on our commercial roofing page, and every option is listed under roofing services.
Permits and approvals
It depends on where the parcel sits, not on the name in your mailing address.
The Town of Herndon was incorporated in 1879 and covers about 4.29 square miles. It runs its own Building Inspections office in the Municipal Center at 777 Lynn Street, reachable at 703-435-6850, and permits inside Town limits go through it.
Herndon ZIP codes 20170 and 20171 reach beyond the Town. Oak Hill, Floris, Franklin Farm and McNair are unincorporated Fairfax County, where Land Development Services at 703-222-0801 handles permits.
The Town’s re-roof application asks for a permit application, a Re-Roof Form and contractor or owner paperwork. The form asks which covering is going on, whether the whole roof is being redone, how many layers are there now and whether flashing needs replacing. We do not assume a small job is exempt, so confirm your scope with Building Inspections before work starts. County rules are different, and we do not apply them to a Town address.
| Where the house is | Who to call first |
|---|---|
| Inside Town limits | Town of Herndon Building Inspections, 703-435-6850 |
| In the Historic District Overlay | Town Community Development, 703-787-7380, before the permit application |
| Oak Hill, Floris, Franklin Farm or McNair | Fairfax County Land Development Services, 703-222-0801 |
| Not sure which applies | Ask us on the phone consultation and we will help you check |
Read how other places compare on service areas by jurisdiction.
Historic district
The old town center around the railroad depot is a historic district, listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1990 and the National Register in 1991. It holds modest houses from 1890 to 1920 and a downtown rebuilt after a fire in 1917. The listing alone does not restrict owners. The Town’s own Historic District Overlay does, and its Historic District Review Board issues Certificates of Appropriateness for exterior changes.
The Town’s re-roof checklist asks for proof of zoning approval when a property is in the district, so a roof there starts with the Town’s historic district staff at historicdistrict@herndon-va.gov, not with the permit counter. Changing color, material or style is the part to raise early. The Town’s overlay map, not the National Register outline, decides whether your address is inside, and a few newer townhomes were drawn into it. See our roofing materials compared guide before you choose a replacement look, and ask your own HOA whether it has an approval step too.
The housing stock
Census estimates for the Town, 2020 to 2024. They describe the buildings, not the roofs.
The median home was built in 1983, and 56.1% were built between 1970 and 1989.
About 3,532 single-family houses, with 27.2% attached townhomes at roughly 2,196 units.
Buildings of five or more units hold about 2,202 homes, so many roofs belong to an owner or an association.
About 42.7% of units pre-date 1980. Roof age and material are not in these figures, but with so many homes from the 1970s and 1980s, most original roofs have probably been replaced at least once. Townhomes need extra care when decking is involved, because plywood that was required to be fire rated can change what paperwork a job needs. Ask for the deck and flashing items to be spelled out in the written scope.
How a job runs
Four steps, with a document you can ask for at each one.
A free 15-minute call to describe the leak or worn area, and to work out whether your address is in the Town.
We visit at a time you set, record what can be seen from the roof and note areas hidden beneath the covering.
It names the covering, tear-off, deck allowance, flashing, venting and clean-up, plus how unexpected rot is priced and approved.
Town or County questions and any historic district approval are settled before the work begins.
Storm questions? See storm damage roofing.
Weather and trees
On April 6, 2017, an EF0 tornado formed just west of Herndon Parkway and moved northeast for 3.3 miles into Loudoun County. The National Weather Service survey put peak winds at 70 mph, and the damage was mostly to trees and fences, with no injuries. In the derecho of June 29, 2012, Dulles Airport, the nearest weather station, gusted to 71 mph.
Dulles also holds the record snow season of 73.2 inches in 2009-10, though the weather service marks that table preliminary. Herndon’s tree canopy is about 26%, on the low side, and the Town trimmed, removed and planted trees in the past year. Limbs over a roof are still worth checking after wind. If something comes down, our roof insurance claim help explains the next steps.
Reviews
Word for word from the Google profile, rated 5.0 across 28 reviews.
“When some parts of my roof was damaged last winter, I had called another company. They said they would come by and email an estimate to me within a week. I waited for two weeks and never heard back.”
FAQ
Not always. Oak Hill, Floris, Franklin Farm and McNair use Herndon mailing addresses but are unincorporated Fairfax County. The Town covers about 4.29 square miles. We confirm which side of the line your parcel is on before we talk about permits.
Town Building Inspections at the Municipal Center, 777 Lynn Street, second floor, phone 703-435-6850. Hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call ahead to confirm the office location before you visit.
It asks which covering is going on, whether the entire existing roof is being redone, the number and condition of existing layers and whether flashing needs replacing. It also asks whether work is an overlay. We gather these details in the written scope so the application matches the job.
It can. Where the plywood was required to be fire rated, the usual small-area decking exemption in the state building code does not apply. Check with the Town, or with the County for unincorporated addresses, before ordering materials.
Town staff first decide whether a change is exempt, needs staff review or goes to the Board. Whether a matching replacement needs a Certificate of Appropriateness is a question for Town historic district staff, so call 703-787-7380 with your address and the shingle you have in mind.
No. About 44% of Town homes are detached houses and 27% are townhomes, while another 27% sit in buildings of five or more units. Those larger buildings often have flat or low-slope sections, handled on our commercial roofing page.
Wind is part of the picture. The weather service recorded a 71 mph gust at Dulles in the 2012 derecho, and a 2017 tornado with 70 mph peak winds crossed Herndon. Ask your written scope to name the fastening and underlayment, and see our guide to asphalt shingle roofing.
Nearby and our office
The office is at 8466 Tyco Road, Suite B, Vienna, VA 22182, with calls on (703) 436-4445. Ring before visiting, since roof visits are scheduled. Learn more about Sterling Roofers.
Neighbors of Herndon with their own pages:
Talk through the next step
Share the property address, the condition you are seeing and the decision you need to make.
