Full Tear-Off, Never A Layover
Every city replacement goes to bare decking so we can see and replace bad plank boards. A second layer over old shingles hides rot and voids most manufacturer coverage.
how we replace a roofRoof replacement in St. Louis City, in short
STL Roof Repair replaces roofs throughout the City of St. Louis with a full tear-off to bare decking, code-required ice and water shield, and six nails per shingle. Most city homes finish in one to three days. As John Beal Roofing — family-run since 1947 and an Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor — we provide a free inspection, a written estimate, and a lifetime workmanship warranty on qualifying work. Call (314) 429-6000 any hour.
The city is its own animal. Inside the limits you have brick two-story flats, gabled South City bungalows, and Central West End homes that were framed long before anybody wrote a modern roofing code — and the decking underneath is usually 1x6 plank with gaps, not plywood. That matters, because you cannot see plank sheathing or the condition of the boards until the old shingles come off. A quote written from the ground on a city home is a guess. We chalk out what we can see, then price the tear-off honestly and tell you before we start what decking replacement would cost if the boards turn out soft.
Access is the second thing that separates city work. Many blocks have no driveway, an alley behind, and cars parked bumper to bumper out front, so we plan dumpster placement and material drop before the crew arrives. Our Maryland Heights office is twenty minutes from most city ZIPs, we pull the permit ourselves, and the crew that shows up works for us — not a storm-chase outfit working the metro for a season.
Low-Slope Rear Additions
Most city homes have a nearly flat porch or kitchen addition off the back. We tie a membrane or rolled system into the steep main slope correctly instead of shingling a pitch that cannot shed water.
flat and low-slope systemsStorm Claim Documentation
If the roof failed from hail or straight-line wind, we photograph every slope and take the adjuster meeting with you before anybody writes a replacement check.
hail damage in St. Louis CityEmergency Cover Until Install Day
If the roof is leaking now, we tarp first and replace on schedule. A live dispatcher answers overnight.
24/7 emergency service in the city
The Process
What A City Roof Replacement Actually Looks Like
Free inspection and written scope
A technician gets on the roof, photographs each slope, checks the attic side for daylight and staining, and writes an itemized price. No obligation, no charge.
Tear-off to bare decking
Old shingles and felt come off completely. Soft, split, or gapped plank boards are replaced before anything new goes down — you see photos of what we found.
Underlayment and the water details
Ice and water shield at the eaves and valleys as code requires, synthetic underlayment across the field, new drip edge, new pipe boots, new step and counterflashing at chimneys and walls.
Shingles, ventilation, and cleanup
Six nails per shingle to NRCA guidelines, ridge vent cut and installed for real intake-to-exhaust airflow, then magnetic sweep of the yard, walks, and street.
Why City Roofs Fail Where They Do
On a city home the shingle field is rarely what kills the roof first. It is the transitions. The steep main slope meets a low-slope rear addition, and that seam is where decades of patching stack up. Brick chimneys — often two or three on one house — get sealed with caulk instead of proper two-piece counterflashing, and caulk has a five-year life on a south-facing wall. Dormer cheeks and sidewalls need step flashing woven course by course; when a previous crew skipped that and ran a bead of mastic instead, the leak shows up inside a bedroom ceiling years later and nobody can find the source from the ground.
The other failure we see constantly in the city is ventilation. Older homes were built with almost no soffit intake, and someone later blew in insulation that buried what little there was. Heat and moisture sit in the attic, the decking cooks the shingles from underneath, and a thirty-year shingle gives up at eighteen. Replacing the roof without fixing the airflow just restarts the same clock, so we address intake and exhaust as part of the scope rather than as an upsell.
Repair Or Replace Inside The City Limits
We do not sell replacements to people who need repairs. If the shingles still lay flat and hold granules, the damage is on one slope, and the deck is sound, a repair is the honest answer and we put it in writing. Replacement is the call when shingles are brittle enough to crack in your hand, granule loss has exposed the mat across multiple slopes, there are already two layers on the deck, or the roof is past twenty years and leaking in more than one place. On a century-old city home there is also a practical threshold: once you are opening the deck in three separate areas, one tear-off costs less than three repairs and resets the warranty.
What Comes With Every St. Louis City Replacement
- Free inspection, photo documentation, and a written estimate with no obligation
- Complete tear-off to bare decking with plank board replacement priced up front
- Code-required ice and water shield, synthetic underlayment, new drip edge and pipe boots
- Six nails per shingle and installation to NRCA guidelines
- Lifetime workmanship warranty on qualifying work plus Owens Corning material coverage
- City permit pulled by us, dumpster and material staging planned around city parking
St. Louis City Roof Replacement Questions
How long does a roof replacement take on a St. Louis City home?
Most city homes are a one to three day job. A straightforward bungalow is often a single day; a large two-story with multiple chimneys, dormers, and a rear low-slope addition runs two to three. Weather and any decking replacement we uncover can add a day, and we tell you as soon as we know.
Do you tear off the old shingles or roof over them?
We always tear off to bare decking. Never a layover. On city homes with plank sheathing that is the only way to find split or rotted boards, and a second layer over old shingles voids most manufacturer coverage anyway.
What happens if the decking under my roof is bad?
We show you photographs of it and replace it. Because plank decking is impossible to evaluate before tear-off, your written estimate states the per-sheet or per-board price ahead of time, so there is no surprise number invented on install day.
Where will the dumpster go if I have no driveway?
We plan that before the crew arrives. Depending on the block that means the alley, a permitted street placement, or a smaller trailer that can be moved daily. Tell the dispatcher your street situation when you call and we build it into the scope.
Is the estimate really free?
Yes. The inspection, the photographs, and the written estimate are free with no obligation. Call (314) 429-6000 and a live person answers, day or night.
Free St. Louis City Roof Estimate
Serving every ZIP inside the City of St. Louis. Tell us about the roof and we will call to schedule the inspection.
Related pages: Roof Replacement · Roof Repair St. Louis City · Emergency Roof Repair St. Louis City · Hail Damage Repair St. Louis City · Service Area
Ready For A New Roof In St. Louis City?
One free inspection gets you photographs of the real condition and a written price. No obligation, and no pressure to replace a roof that can still be repaired.