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Roofing in Gaston County, NC

Gaston County's owner-occupied homes have a median build year in the 1980s (90% interval 1984 to 1988), about a decade earlier than next door in Mecklenburg County (1995 to 1997).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024, table B25037, Gaston County and Mecklenburg County, checked .

Page updated .

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Housing

How old the homes are in Gaston County

No single decade dominates Gaston County's owner-occupied housing: each from the 1950s through the 2000s accounts for between 9.2% and 17.5% of it, and 42.7% predates 1980.

Belmont mixes some of the county's oldest housing with its newest: 12.2% of the city's owner-occupied homes date from 1939 or earlier, and 11.3% were built in 2020 or later.

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Projects

Roofs we have photographed in Gaston County

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Permits

Permits for a reroof in Gaston County

Since August 29, 2022, construction permits for work in Gastonia have come from Gaston County rather than from the city.

Gaston County's Building Inspections Department enforces the state building codes in the county's unincorporated areas and in the incorporated areas its page lists: Belmont, Bessemer City, Cherryville, Cramerton, Dallas, Dellview, Gastonia, High Shoals, Lowell, McAdenville, Mount Holly, Ranlo, Spencer Mountain and Stanley.

Permit questions go to Gaston County Building & Development Services at 128 W Main Avenue in Gastonia, 704-866-3155.

North Carolina rule

Under G.S. 160D-1110(c), work on a single-family home that costs $40,000 or less and follows the current edition of the North Carolina State Building Code needs no building permit, unless it falls into one of six listed categories. One category is "the addition of roofing, excluding replacement": that work needs a permit at any cost, while a roof replacement is not on the list. Work costing more than $40,000 falls outside the exemption. The statute speaks to building permits only, not to any other approval a property may need.

The $40,000 figure comes from Session Law 2023-108 (House Bill 488), which raised it from $20,000 for permit applications submitted on or after October 1, 2023.

The Office of State Fire Marshal reads the exemption as covering the replacement of roofing plus up to 15% of the total existing roof deck, on projects costing $40,000 or less. The paper states that its guidance is not legal advice.

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Storms

Recorded storm damage in Gaston County

The EF2 tornado of May 9, 2008 touched down just southeast of Gastonia in the early morning and continued well into Mecklenburg County. Near the start of its path, the National Weather Service survey found minor to moderate roof damage on numerous homes and businesses. Farther along, in the Catawba Heights and Belmont area, much of a large warehouse's metal roof was peeled off, and NOAA ties its $7 million damage figure to that building.

On July 12, 2003, an F1 tornado, or possibly a series of weak ones, crossed northern Gaston County. NOAA's record puts its worst damage around Mount Holly and the far north of Belmont, where trees and power lines fell onto homes and vehicles and several buildings took significant roof damage.

In NOAA's narrative of the ice storm of December 4 and 5, 2002, freezing rain started over the extreme southern mountains early on the afternoon of the 4th and spread into the southwest piedmont by mid-afternoon. For its Gaston County zone, NOAA records $18 million in property damage.

NOAA's Gaston County record for Helene, a tropical storm here on September 27, 2024, counts the trees it blew down in the thousands and notes frequent gusts up to 60 mph. It lists $1.5 million in property damage.

  1. Ice Storm

    , $18M in recorded property damage. NOAA event 5326493

  2. Tornado, EF2

    , near GASTONIA, $7M in recorded property damage. NOAA event 102656

  3. Tornado, F1

    , near CHERRYVILLE, $2M in recorded property damage. NOAA event 5329529

  4. Tropical Storm

    , $1.5M in recorded property damage. NOAA event 1218172

  5. Tornado, EF1

    , near BELMONT SOUTH, $1.1M in recorded property damage. NOAA event 219533

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Hail

Recorded hail in Gaston County

April 9, 2011 stands apart in Gaston County's hail record. In under two hours that day, NOAA logged five reports of hail 1.75 inches or larger, three of them baseball size at 2.75 inches. The county has 12 such reports since 2000, spread over seven days.

On May 15, 2003, hail tore large holes in the fiberglass roof of a business in Belmont. NOAA lists $300,000 in property damage for that report, the only one of the county's 1.75-inch-or-larger reports since 2000 with a damage figure.

  1. 2.75 in hail

    , near BESSEMER CITY. NOAA event 299237

  2. 2.75 in hail

    , near GASTONIA ARPT. NOAA event 299153

  3. 2.75 in hail

    , near BESSEMER CITY. NOAA event 299136

  4. 2.00 in hail

    , near BELMONT SOUTH. NOAA event 753176

  5. 1.75 in hail

    , near ALEXIS. NOAA event 649677

NOAA record through June 2026.

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Towns

Town by town in Gaston County

  • Gastonia

    On April 9, 2011, hail up to baseball size, 2.75 inches, damaged airplanes at the Gastonia airport, according to NOAA's record.

  • Belmont

    Near Belmont on April 15, 2018, the public made multiple reports of hail up to about 2 inches in diameter, the latest hail that large in Gaston County's NOAA record.

  • Mount Holly

    Mount Holly's housing is mostly recent: 58.9% of the city's owner-occupied homes went up in 2000 or later, and 24.2% in the 2010s alone.

  • Cramerton

    A short F1 tornado path near Cramerton on November 15, 2006 removed several shingles from a church, knocked off its steeple and blew off its front door, the National Weather Service survey found.

  • Dallas

    Golf-ball-size hail fell around Dallas and Gastonia on April 20, 2015, according to spotter reports in NOAA's record, logged at 1.75 inches.

  • Cherryville

    On May 16, 2023, straight-line winds the National Weather Service estimated at 65 to 85 mph cut a broad swath of damage through Cherryville, uprooting trees and ripping part of the roof off a house.

  • Kings Mountain

    Kings Mountain runs its own Inspections and Codes Department, which enforces the North Carolina building code in the city and takes building permit applications online.

    Kings Mountain spans Gaston County and Cleveland County.

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Common problems

Common roof problems on homes like these

InterNACHI, the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, publishes estimated life spans of about 30 years for architectural asphalt shingles and 20 for 3-tab, figures it bases on regular recommended maintenance and normal wear and tear rather than extreme weather.

Homes built in the 1980s and 1990s make up 25.7% of Gaston County's owner-occupied housing and are 27 to 46 years old in 2026. On any of them still wearing its original architectural shingles, the roof would be near or past InterNACHI's 30-year estimate.

Several of Gaston County's NOAA tornado records describe wind working on roofs directly: minor to moderate roof damage across homes and businesses in the 2008 EF2, significant roof damage on several buildings in the 2003 F1 around Mount Holly, and metal sheet roofing peeled back from a mill near Belmont in the 2010 EF1, which let some interior walls collapse.

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FAQ

Roofing questions in Gaston County

Since when has Gaston County handled building permits in Gastonia?

Since August 29, 2022. Under an agreement with Gaston County, the City of Gastonia stopped accepting applications for construction-related building permits on August 19, 2022, and the county has issued construction permits for work in Gastonia since the changeover.

Does Gaston County inspect building work in Belmont?

Yes. The City of Belmont's permitting page puts it this way: "Gaston County conducts all building code reviews and does all building code inspections in Belmont." Belmont is also on the county Building Inspections Department's own list of the incorporated areas it covers.

How big was the hail in Gaston County on April 9, 2011?

Three reports that afternoon reached 2.75 inches, the size of baseballs: two at Bessemer City and one at the Gastonia airport. NOAA logged two more at 1.75 inches, golf-ball size, near Cherryville and Hardins, and all five came within less than two hours.

Which tornado did the most recorded damage in Gaston County since 2000?

The EF2 of May 9, 2008. NOAA records $7 million in property damage from it in Gaston County, more than any other tornado there from 2000 through June 2026, and ties that figure to a large warehouse in the Catawba Heights and Belmont area that lost much of its metal roof. The tornado began just southeast of Gastonia and went on into Mecklenburg County.

How do home ages differ between Cherryville and Belmont?

Cherryville's are older by decades. Its owner-occupied median year built falls between 1961 and 1975, the Census Bureau's 90% interval, and 64.4% of its owner-occupied homes predate 1980. Belmont's median is in the 2000s (2001 to 2007), and 28.1% of its owner-occupied homes were built before 1980.

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Nearby

Neighboring counties

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