Custom Screen Rooms and Screened Porches in Hummelstown, PA

Veteran Deck Builders designs and builds custom screen rooms and screened porches for homeowners in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, South Hanover Township, Swatara Township, Londonderry Township, and nearby South-Central Pennsylvania communities.

Call (717) 779-1782 to plan your screened porch or screen room.

Does a Screen Room in Pennsylvania Require a Building Permit?

Yes, in most cases. An open-air ground-level deck may qualify for lighter review in some Pennsylvania situations. A screen room does not, once it adds a roof, framed screen walls, or electrical service.

A roof adds permanent dead load and snow load. Screen walls create wind resistance. Electrical lines add safety review. Together, those changes affect how force moves through the posts, beams, ledger board, and footings, which puts the project into a structural UCC building permit path regardless of how the room looks from the yard.

We handle the build package from first site check through final inspection.

What the Screen Room Permit Package Covers

We coordinate:

Existing deck review
Footing depth assessment
Roof tie-in planning
Zoning setback checks
UCC permit documents
Stormwater paperwork where required
Floodplain review where applicable
Inspection coordination before the room is enclosed

Screened Porch Footings in Dauphin County: Why 36 Inches Matters

South-Central Pennsylvania’s clay-heavy soils move with freeze-thaw cycles. If a screen room sits on shallow supports, that movement lifts one side of the frame, twists the posts, pulls at the ledger, and stresses the roof connection.

The damage usually shows up where homeowners notice it first:

Screen panels that loosen
Doors that rub
Roof trim that opens at the joint
Floor lines that feel off

Permanent load-bearing footings for screen rooms in Dauphin County need to reach a minimum of 36 inches below grade, placing support below the frost-active soil layer.

Post placement, footing size, beam layout, roof pitch, and ledger attachment all have to work together before the first inspection. We do not treat footing depth as a footnote.

Permit Rules by Municipality

Your permit path depends on your parcel, not your mailing address. A Hummelstown mailing address can fall under Hummelstown Borough, Derry Township, South Hanover Township, or Londonderry Township rules.

Municipality

What Triggers a Permit

Local Rule to Plan Around

Hummelstown Borough

Roofed screen rooms, structural additions, visible changes to older homes

R-SF setbacks: 10-foot side yard, 20-foot rear yard; Historic Overlay for pre-1945 visible facades

South Hanover Township

Permanent structural enclosures, new roof area

SWM minor plan or exemption for new impervious surface; inspections through Approved Code Services

Swatara Township

Additions near Swatara Creek basin

Floodplain Development Permit where mapped conditions apply

Londonderry Township

Decks over 30 inches, roofed coverings, screen enclosures, electrical lines

Full UCC building permit; floodplain review near watercourses

Hummelstown Borough: Setbacks, Lot Coverage, and Historic Homes

Borough lots carry more planning pressure than a large suburban property.

In Single-Family Residential zones, screen rooms must respect a 10-foot side yard setback and a 20-foot rear yard setback. Two-Family Residential zones use an 8-foot side setback and a 20-foot rear setback.

The final footprint also has to account for lot coverage and vegetative cover rules.

Historic Overlay Review for Older Homes

Homes built in 1945 or earlier get another layer of review.

Hummelstown Borough's Historic Demolition Overlay District, § 27-1416, protects principal buildings built before 1945 when the affected portion is visible from a public street.

If a screened porch changes a visible historic facade, the project may need Conditional Use approval from Borough Council.

Screened Porch Design for Downtown Hummelstown Homes

For downtown Hummelstown homes with Victorian or Colonial Revival details, the design should:

Sit at the rear or side of the property
Match the existing roofline pitch
Respect the column spacing
Use trim proportions that read as original to the house

South Hanover Township: Stormwater Review Comes With the Roof

A new roof creates new impervious surface. In South Hanover Township, that means a screened porch may need a Stormwater Management minor plan or an exemption application before work can move forward, separate from the structural permit.

South Hanover routes structural inspections through Approved Code Services.

The paperwork has to align with the roof footprint, drainage assumptions, and inspection sequence before materials arrive on site.

South Hanover Township Support

We handle the township-facing work, including:

Site layout review
SWM minor plan or exemption support
Permit documents
Inspection coordination

Swatara and Londonderry Townships: Floodplain Planning Near Swatara Creek

Properties near the Swatara Creek basin need site-specific review before any roofed enclosure is priced or drawn.

Swatara Creek has flooded repeatedly, including Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972 and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011. For homes inside mapped flood risk areas, a screen room may need a Floodplain Development Permit.

Floodplain Construction Requirements

Floodplain construction is not standard porch framing.

The structure may require:

Detailed site plans
Topographic data
Flood-resistant materials
Anchoring designed to resist flotation, collapse, and lateral movement during high-water conditions

In Londonderry Township, any deck that adds a roof, screen enclosure, or electrical service moves into full UCC building permit territory, with floodplain review required near watercourses.

We plan those constraints before the design is finalized, not after submission.

Converting an Existing Deck Into a Screen Room

Deck conversion can work, but only if the existing structure can carry the new load.

Many open-air decks were framed for furniture and foot traffic, not for roof loads, wind pressure, and an enclosed wall system.

Existing Deck Conversion Inspection

Before any conversion, we inspect:

Footing depth
Post spacing
Beam sizing
Ledger attachment
Joist condition
Stair and landing layout
Guardrail requirements
Roof support points
Drainage around the foundation

If the deck falls short, we reinforce the frame, replace the support system, or rebuild the platform. That costs less than correcting a warped, misaligned room after the enclosure is already on.

Can I Add Electrical to a Screen Room?

Yes, but electrical work changes the permit scope.

Outlets, fans, lighting, and similar additions can trigger additional UCC review and trade requirements. The electrical plan should be included before permit submission, not added after framing.

Schedule a Screen Room Estimate in Hummelstown

We cover the full project from the first site check through final inspection, including design, permit preparation, plan packets, zoning checks, inspection coordination, and build.

We confirm which jurisdiction your parcel sits in, prepare the correct permit set, and manage the approval handoffs between zoning and building departments.

Call (717) 779-1782 to schedule a screened porch or screen room estimate in Hummelstown, South Hanover Township, Swatara Township, Londonderry Township, or nearby Dauphin County areas.

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(717) 779-1782

Our Location

23 Kellocks Run Rd, Hummelstown, PA 17036