Roofing Contractor in Elkridge, MD

Elkridge is one of the faster-growing corners of Howard County, set on the Patapsco where the land drops toward the river. That mix shows on the rooflines: historic homes up on Lawyers Hill and a lot of newer construction filling in around them.

River-valley humidity and the tree cover along the Patapsco keep north-facing slopes damp, while the newer builds bring steeper, more complex rooflines. We inspect for the algae streaking and worn valleys that damp, shaded exposure brings on first.

Elkridge is the oldest settlement in Howard County, dating to a time when Howard was still part of Anne Arundel, and its position on the Patapsco was the key to its growth. In the 18th century Elk Ridge Landing was the uppermost navigable point of the river, where planters with private wharves brought tobacco to be loaded onto English trading ships. In 1733 the Maryland General Assembly passed an act to erect a 30-acre, forty-lot town here called Jansen Town, at a time when Baltimore Town consisted of only 25 dwellings.

The iron and milling years left older brick and stone buildings behind, and on those the flashing into the masonry fails before the field shingles do. The Elkridge Furnace was founded in 1755 and its iron works operated into the 1860s, and the Hockley Forge and Mill followed upstream in 1760. Lafayette camped light infantry at Elkridge Landing in 1781.

Jansen Town burned in 1825, and the fire took out the oldest buildings at the Landing and nine of every ten houses in the village. The Thomas Viaduct, which Benjamin Latrobe Jr. completed in 1833, is the oldest multiple-arched curved stone railroad bridge in the world and still stands at the entrance to Patapsco Valley State Park. Homes near it sit on wooded valley slopes, so we plan for shaded roofs, heavy leaf load, and awkward equipment access.

Lawyers Hill is where the older Elkridge roofs need the most care. It grew as a community of summer estates built by figures such as Caleb Dorsey at Belmont and Judge George Washington Dobbin at the Lawn, and it is now one of Howard County's two historic districts. The work there means steep older rooflines and masonry connections that have to respect what is already there.

Elkridge sits on a three-county edge, so a storm can land differently here than it did in the next county. It is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the eastern corner of Howard County, bordered to the north by Ilchester, northwest by Columbia, southwest by Jessup, southeast by Anne Arundel County, and northeast across the Patapsco by Halethorpe in Baltimore County. Columbia is where we are based, so Elkridge is right next door for our crews.

Roof or siding work in Elkridge? Call (667) 200-6656 or book a free inspection.