Roof replacement, leak repair and hail & storm damage for homes in Clayton. In Clayton, the 2021 IRC is in force and 35% of the 6,934 homes went up before 1940. It starts with a free inspection that photographs every slope.
Clayton runs to about 2.5 square miles and roughly 17,380 people. It sits about 8 miles west of downtown St. Louis. The community dates back to 1913. We cover ZIP code 63105.
No completed roof in Clayton is logged in our job records yet.
Clayton's housing mixes pre-1940 construction (about 35% of homes) with mid-20th-century mid-rise and high-rise development.
We work across Clayton rather than one corner of it — Claverach Park, Clayshire, DeMun, Downtown Clayton, The Moorlands, North Clayton, Brentmoor Park, Carrswold, Forest Ridge and Hillcrest included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Clayton, the St. Louis County seat, was settled in 1877 and incorporated in 1913 on land donated by Ralph Clayton. Its housing ranges from prewar brick walkups, apartment buildings and mansions to mid-century-modern low- and high-rise towers downtown.
Postwar houses in Clayton are plain to roof, which is exactly why so many get roofed carelessly. Expect 1x6 board decking or early plywood: usually sound, but it should be walked, not assumed. The weak spots are the shallow pitches — a porch roof, the join to a carport, the flat section over an addition — where shingles went on below their rated slope and have leaked slowly for years. Attics from this era rarely have the ventilation today's shingle warranties ask for, and a hot, under-vented attic ages a roof from below, so intake and exhaust get measured before the quote.
Clayton has 6,934 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1954. 2,433 of them (35%) went up before 1940 — the 5th-highest pre-1940 share of the 48 places on this site — and 1,421 (20%) in 2000 or later. More of today's homes date from before 1940 than from any decade since. That is above St. Louis County's 10%.
About 25 years is the usual working life of a roof, by the figure Missouri's insurance department publishes. On that yardstick the 5,513 homes in Clayton built before 2000 (80%) have outlived at least one roof, and the 4,517 built before 1970 (65%) are usually on a third covering or later. The 859 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements come up now, while the 562 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with. Older houses are where a second layer laid over the first turns up, and that layer is what hides soft decking.
By building type: 2,184 detached houses (31%), 217 attached (3%). 2,389 homes (34%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 2,144 (31%) in buildings of ten units or more, where a resident rarely gets to choose the roofer. 3,413 of 6,222 occupied homes (55%) are lived in by their owners. With houses like these, the jobs we expect most are full tear-offs on houses past two roof lives, deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing, first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles and flat and low-slope sections, which turn up more on attached and multi-unit buildings.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 2,433 | 35% | |
| 1940s | 714 | 10% | |
| 1950s | 837 | 12% | |
| 1960s | 533 | 8% | |
| 1970s | 408 | 6% | |
| 1980s | 233 | 3% | |
| 1990s | 355 | 5% | |
| 2000s | 859 | 12% | |
| 2010s | 515 | 7% | |
| 2020 or later | 47 | 1% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 6,934 homes, 6,222 occupied. Survey estimates.
Between 2016 and 2025 there were 33 reports of 1-inch-plus hail within 5 miles of Clayton’s center in the records of NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, on 13 separate days. 6 of them were 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 2.5 inches, came on May 16, 2025, about 4.6 miles north of the center. The most recent was 1.25 inches on May 19, 2025. Counts follow people as much as storms, since every report is a spotter’s or a resident’s.
| Latest reports | Size | From center |
|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2025 | 1.25 inches | 3.5 mi SW |
| May 19, 2025 | 2 inches | 2.9 mi SW |
| May 16, 2025 | 1.5 inches | 0.4 mi N |
| May 16, 2025 | 1 inch | 2.5 mi N |
| May 16, 2025 | 2 inches | 1.8 mi N |
If one of those storms crossed your street and nobody has been on the roof since, a storm inspection photographs what it did.
Clayton publishes no rule either way on a like-for-like re-roof, so we ask the building department (314-290-8463) before we start and pull whatever it wants.
Clayton enforces the 2021 IRC. City Code Section 500.010 adopts the 2021 International Building Code, and Section 500.020 Part IV adopts the 2021 International Residential Code.
The published number is 314-290-8463. Clayton does not publish the building official's name, so this page does not name one. Plenty of sites will show you one anyway. The department page is here.
Clayton shares the metro's figures: 115 mph design wind, 20 psf ground snow. The code guide explains both.
Clayton borders City of St. Louis, University City and Ladue. Our pages for them:
Also in St. Louis County:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1954 |
| University City | Not published | 2018 IRC | 1949 |
| Affton | Conditional | 2015 IRC | 1958 |
| Ballwin | Yes | 2015 I-Codes (2024 I-Codes proposed for 2026) | 1976 |
| Brentwood | Not published | 2024 IRC | 1956 |
| Chesterfield | Not published | 2015 IBC / 2015 IRC | 1982 |
| Creve Coeur | Not published | 2009 IRC | 1980 |
All 21 St. Louis County cities side by side →
Clayton publishes no rule on it. We ask the building department first and pull whatever it requires.
Clayton enforces the 2021 IRC. City Code Section 500.010 adopts the 2021 International Building Code, and Section 500.020 Part IV adopts the 2021 International Residential Code.
Median year built 1954, by the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates. Of 6,934 homes, 5,513 were built before 2000 and 2,433 before 1940, so most roofs in Clayton are not the first one the house has had.
33 reports of 1-inch-plus hail fell within 5 miles of Clayton between 2016 and 2025, the biggest 2.5 inches on May 16, 2025 (NOAA Storm Prediction Center).
It can. Clayton has Hi-Pointe–DeMun Historic District. Inside a designated district, changing a visible roof material or color can need preservation review before the permit is issued. Like-for-like replacement usually raises fewer questions, but we check before quoting.
Not yet: no completed roof in Clayton is in our job records, so this page shows no job count.
Researched 2026-09-09; housing, Census ACS 2020–2024; hail, NOAA SPC. Sources: www.claytonmo.gov · www.claytonmo.gov · ecode360.com · en.wikipedia.org · censusreporter.org · www.point2homes.com · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
