In Cottleville, the 2021 IRC is in force and 1% of the 2,275 homes went up before 1940. We replace and repair roofs here and inspect after hail, starting with a free, photographed inspection.
Cottleville runs to about 4.7 square miles and roughly 5,937 people. It sits about 27 miles west of downtown St. Louis. We cover ZIP code 63304.
No completed roof in Cottleville is logged in our job records yet.
Cottleville's housing is overwhelmingly new construction: more than half of all homes (about 52%) were built in the 2010s.
That includes Old Town Cottleville. Housing age and construction shift across Cottleville, sometimes by decades within a few streets, which is why we look at the roof before we quote rather than after.
Cottleville was first settled in 1798 under a Spanish land grant and platted as a town in 1839. It has been one of Missouri's fastest-growing cities; its population grew nearly 1,500% between 1980 and 1990. Its median home was built in 2012, making it one of the newest-built towns in the area outside its small historic Old Town core.
Newer construction in Cottleville generally has OSB decking, architectural shingles and a proper ridge vent, so the roofs themselves start in better shape. The catch is what the shingle was: a great deal of the building through the 2000s went on with builder-grade shingles carrying a nominal warranty far longer than their real service life, and those are reaching the end now. Hail is the other factor — a newer roof is not a hail-proof roof, and a bruised mat can look perfect from the driveway for two years and then start failing all at once. If yours has never been looked at after a storm, that is the reason to have it looked at.
Cottleville has 2,275 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 2012. 32 of them (1%) went up before 1940 — one of the five lowest pre-1940 shares of the 48 places on this site — and 1,834 (81%) in 2000 or later. The 2010s were the busiest decade, adding 1,171 of today's homes (51%). (St. Charles County as a whole: 2% before 1940.)
The rule of thumb from Missouri's Department of Commerce and Insurance is a useful life of usually about 25 years for a roof. That puts 441 homes in Cottleville, the 19% built before 2000, past at least one full roof life; 34 of them (1%) predate 1970, old enough for two replacements already. Homes from the 2000s (465 in Cottleville) are reaching their first replacement, while the 1,369 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with.
Detached single-family houses make up 72% (1,638); attached houses and townhouses 8% (193). 77 homes (3%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 367 (16%) in buildings of ten units or more, where a resident rarely gets to choose the roofer. 81% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 19% rented. Read together, those figures point toward first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles and hail checks on newer roofs that look fine from the driveway.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 32 | 1% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 2 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 7 | 0% | |
| 1980s | 128 | 6% | |
| 1990s | 272 | 12% | |
| 2000s | 465 | 20% | |
| 2010s | 1,171 | 51% | |
| 2020 or later | 198 | 9% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 2,275 homes, 2,206 occupied. Survey estimates.
Between 2016 and 2025 there were 40 reports of 1-inch-plus hail within 5 miles of Cottleville’s center in the records of NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, on 13 separate days. 15 of them were 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 3 inches, came on May 13, 2023, about 4.2 miles east of the center. The most recent was 2 inches on May 16, 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 16, 2025 | 2 inches | 2.2 mi E |
| May 16, 2025 | 1.5 inches | 3.7 mi NE |
| May 16, 2025 | 1.75 inches | 2.2 mi E |
| May 16, 2025 | 2 inches | 3.7 mi E |
| May 16, 2025 | 1.75 inches | 2.7 mi E |
A bruised shingle can look fine for a season or two, which is why a storm inspection after a date like these is worth having.
Cottleville publishes no rule either way on a like-for-like re-roof, so we ask the building department (636-498-6565) before we start and pull whatever it wants.
Cottleville enforces the 2021 IRC. City Code Section 500.290 adopts the 2021 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, with Appendices A, B, C, E, F, G, H, J, M, N and P. It was adopted by Ordinance No. 2157 on June 26, 2024.
The published number is 636-498-6565. Cottleville 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.
The design figures are metro-wide rather than local: 115 mph ultimate design wind and a 20 psf ground snow load. What they do to a roof is in the roofing code guide.
Also in St. Charles County:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottleville | Not published | 2021 IRC | 2012 |
| Lake St. Louis | Not published | 2021 Construction Codes | 2000 |
| O'Fallon | Yes | Not published | 2000 |
| St. Charles | No | 2021 IRC | 1986 |
| St. Peters | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1988 |
| Wentzville | Not published | 2015 I-Codes | 2008 |
All 6 St. Charles County cities side by side →
Cottleville does not publish a clear answer either way. We confirm it with the building department before starting and pull whatever is required.
Cottleville enforces the 2021 IRC. City Code Section 500.290 adopts the 2021 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, with Appendices A, B, C, E, F, G, H, J, M, N and P. It was adopted by Ordinance No. 2157 on June 26, 2024.
Older than most people guess: the Census puts 19% of Cottleville's homes before 2000 and 1% before 1970, with a median year built of 2012 (2020–2024 estimates). A roof usually lasts about 25 years, so the deck and the layers get checked before any quote.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Cottleville's center was 2 inches on May 16, 2025, one of 40 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
Not yet: no completed roof in Cottleville 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: ecode360.com · www.cityofcottleville.com · www.cityofcottleville.com · en.wikipedia.org · www.cityofcottleville.com · censusreporter.org · www.point2homes.com · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
