Roof Shingles in St. Louis

Three-tab, architectural or designer

The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) sorts asphalt shingles into three tiers:

• Three-tab. The basic shingle: one layer, with cutouts that make it read as three separate tabs. Flat and uniform from the street.
• Architectural (also called laminated or dimensional). Two pieces bonded together for a thicker, shadowed look; ARMA calls it the most common asphalt shingle.
• Designer or premium. Lines with special shapes and colors, many made to imitate slate, shake or tile.

The gap shows up in the paperwork as much as on the roof. GAF's published limited warranty, to take one maker, covers its three-tab line for 25 years with 5 years of full, non-prorated coverage and wind coverage to 60 mph for 5 years. Its lifetime architectural lines get 10 years of full coverage and 15 years of wind coverage at 110 mph, or 130 mph with the installation it specifies. On a roof that has to face St. Louis storms, that difference alone makes architectural shingles the sensible floor.

What the weight and the wind label tell you

Weight. Code-compliant shingles must meet ASTM D3462 (IRC R905.2.4), which sets minimum and maximum values for a shingle's mass and physical properties, as NRCA's trade magazine explains. Laminated shingles carry more than one layer of tabs, so a square of them weighs more. Treat weight as a clue to how much material you are buying, not as a rating.

Wind. The code wants the wind class printed on the bundle wrapper (R905.2.4.1). Under ASTM D7158, the test the code names first, ARMA lists Class D for design wind speeds up to 116 mph, Class G up to 155 and Class H up to 194, for ordinary houses under 60 feet tall in suburban or open terrain. Shingles outside that test's scope are labeled to ASTM D3161 instead, whose Classes A, D and F correspond to 60, 90 and 110 mph test speeds. St. Louis is designed to 115 mph, so the 2018 IRC table accepts a D, G or H shingle here, or A, D or F under the older test. Editions vary: Missouri has no statewide code, and Illinois' statewide code covers only new houses, so re-roofs in Swansea and Waterloo still fall under the 2006 IRC those towns adopted.

The code floor is four nails per strip shingle (R905.2.6). Makers want more for their top wind coverage: GAF's warranty lifts it from 110 to 130 mph only when its own starter strips line the eaves and rakes and each shingle gets the nail count its line calls for. We nail six.

What a shingle needs underneath it

A shingle is one layer of a system, and both the code and the maker have a say in the rest. The 2018 IRC requires a solid deck under asphalt shingles (R905.2.1) and a slope of 2 in 12 or steeper, with the underlayment doubled wherever the slope is under 4 in 12 (R905.2.2). Drip edge goes on every eave and rake (R905.2.8.5).

The warranty adds its own conditions. GAF's standard limited warranty, for one, excludes damage caused by fastening that departs from its printed instructions, by inadequate ventilation, or by failing to hand-seal shingles laid in cold weather, and it extends coverage on accessories when three or more of its own accessory products go on with a lifetime shingle. Ventilation is the condition to check first; the roof ventilation page covers the math. The drawing below shows every layer we put down, from the deck to the ridge.

Impact-resistant shingles for hail country

Missouri ranked fifth among the states for hail an inch or larger in 2025, with 253 events by NOAA's count, and spring is the season: a National Weather Service St. Louis study put 73 percent of the region's reports of 2-inch and larger hail between March and June.

Impact-resistant shingles are rated under UL 2218, from Class 1 to Class 4, with Class 4 the top rating, per ARMA; the Class 4 test hits the shingle with a 2-inch steel ball. Real hail is ice, so IBHS, the insurers' research institute, tests these shingles with laboratory-made hailstones and grades the dents, granule loss and tears. Its November 2025 ratings covered 24 products, about 95 percent of the impact-resistant shingles sold each year. Most rated Good and none Excellent, and IBHS does not recommend a product rated Marginal or Poor where hail falls. Ask for the rating of the exact line on your quote.

Algae streaks and humid summers

The dark streaks on so many roofs are not dirt. ARMA names the usual culprit as Gloeocapsa magma, an airborne algae that settles on roofs in warm, humid conditions and slowly turns a light roof brown to black, sometimes in streaks. St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County all sit in the mixed-humid climate zone 4A in the Department of Energy's county guide.

Algae-resistant shingles carry granules with copper in them, which ARMA says helps control the growth, and makers warrant that separately. GAF's table, for example, gives algae protection its own term, from 10 years to 30 depending on the product line. Two practical points from ARMA: the streaks show most on light-colored roofs, and a diluted bleach wash only lightens them for a while. Never let anyone pressure-wash a shingle roof; ARMA warns that high-pressure washing is likely to damage asphalt roofing.

Color and heat

Summer is the hard season for asphalt here. In a normal year Lambert reaches 90°F on 47 days (NOAA, 1991 to 2020), and dark granules soak up that sun. DOE's guide to cool roofs credits white and cool-color surfaces with bouncing back as much as 90 percent of sunlight, puts cool asphalt shingles at about the same price as standard ones, and cautions that shingles give up some reflectance as they weather. For mixed climates like ours, it adds, the extra winter heating a reflective roof causes may be outweighed by its summer savings. ARMA explains that solar-reflective shingles get there with special granules. InterNACHI, for its part, says hot climates drastically reduce asphalt shingle life.

Two cautions. Light colors show algae streaks soonest, so pair them with algae-resistant granules. And in a St. Louis City historic district, a change of roof color or material should be cleared with the Cultural Resources Office first; Kirkwood runs its own Landmarks Commission and nine local historic districts, so ask there too before you settle on a shade.

How shingle warranties work

Read the definitions, not the headline. In GAF's standard limited warranty, "lifetime" means for as long as the original owner owns a single-family house; other buildings get 40 years. Full coverage of material and labor lasts only through an early non-prorated period, 10 years on its lifetime lines, after which any payment shrinks to reflect the years of use. Wind coverage is shorter at 15 years, the warranty can be transferred once, and a claim must be reported within 30 days of noticing the problem. It covers manufacturing defects. It excludes hail, wind above the covered speed, damage traced to faulty installation or poor ventilation, and tear-off and disposal costs.

Above that standard tier, makers sell enhanced or system warranties that stretch the full-coverage period and sometimes add workmanship coverage. They are typically tied to the maker's own accessories and offered through contractors the maker has credentialed: CertainTeed's SureStart PLUS tiers, for one, come only from its credentialed installers. Ask any roofer which tier they can register and get it in writing. We register the manufacturer's warranty once the job is finished.

Common questions about roof shingles in St. Louis

Where we work

Roof shingles across greater St. Louis, from the city and St. Louis County out to St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties and across the river into the Metro East. Each city has its own page with the permit rule and code edition that apply there: