Roof replacement, leak repair and hail & storm damage for homes in Des Peres. In Des Peres, the 2018 I-Codes are in force and the median home was built in 1976. It starts with a free inspection that photographs every slope.
Des Peres runs to about 4.3 square miles and roughly 9,170 people. It sits about 14 miles west of downtown St. Louis. The community dates back to 1934. We cover ZIP code 63131.
No completed roof in Des Peres is logged in our job records yet.
Des Peres' biggest building decade was the 1970s (nearly 30% of homes).
That includes Dougherty Lake. Housing age and construction shift across Des Peres, sometimes by decades within a few streets, which is why we look at the roof before we quote rather than after.
Des Peres was incorporated as a town in 1934. Dougherty Lake was one of its original residential subdivisions. Its City Hall predates incorporation; it was originally built by a neighboring Lutheran church as an orphanage.
From this stretch of building, houses in Des Peres sit on plywood or OSB, were first roofed in three-tab shingles, and are mostly on their second roof now. Trouble tends to be at the penetrations rather than across the field: the rubber collar on a pipe boot splits years before the shingles give out, and it is the leak we trace most often. Ridge vents were hit and miss in these decades, and OSB that stays damp for a season softens in a way plywood does not, something you feel underfoot rather than see from the yard.
Des Peres has 3,331 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1976. 12 of them (0%) went up before 1940 — one of the five lowest pre-1940 shares of the 48 places on this site — and 429 (13%) in 2000 or later. The 1970s were the busiest decade, adding 990 of today's homes (30%). Across St. Louis County the pre-1940 share is 10%, so Des Peres sits below it.
Missouri's Department of Commerce and Insurance puts the useful life of a roof at usually about 25 years. That puts 2,902 homes in Des Peres, the 87% built before 2000, past at least one full roof life, and the 1,058 built before 1970 (32%) are usually on a third covering or later. The 206 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements come up now, while the 223 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with. On houses that old, the question worth asking is how many layers are up there: a roof laid over an old one hides the deck.
By building type: 3,266 detached houses (98%), 0 attached (0%). 65 (2%) in buildings of ten units or more, where the roof is usually a landlord's or an association's decision. 3,065 of 3,195 occupied homes (96%) are lived in by their owners. On a housing mix like this, the likely work is replacements on roofs from the 1970s to the 1990s.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 12 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 17 | 1% | |
| 1950s | 643 | 19% | |
| 1960s | 386 | 12% | |
| 1970s | 990 | 30% | |
| 1980s | 631 | 19% | |
| 1990s | 223 | 7% | |
| 2000s | 206 | 6% | |
| 2010s | 210 | 6% | |
| 2020 or later | 13 | 0% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 3,331 homes, 3,195 occupied. Survey estimates.
From 2016 through 2025, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 reports of hail of 1 inch or more within 5 miles of Des Peres’ center, spread over 6 storm days. 3 of them were 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 2 inches, came on May 19, 2025, about 4.7 miles east of the center. A report needs someone to see the hail and send it in, so the count is a floor, not a full tally.
| Latest reports | Size | From center |
|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2025 | 1.25 inches | 4.6 mi E |
| May 19, 2025 | 1.75 inches | 1.9 mi SE |
| May 19, 2025 | 1 inch | 1.7 mi NE |
| May 19, 2025 | 2 inches | 4.7 mi E |
| May 16, 2025 | 1 inch | 2.9 mi N |
Hail damage rarely shows from the ground; a storm inspection photographs each slope so you know either way.
Nothing Des Peres publishes says whether a like-for-like re-roof needs a permit. We call the department (314-835-6100) before the job and pull whatever is required.
Des Peres enforces the 2018 I-Codes. Des Peres adopted its building codes by Ordinance 2873, titled 'Adoption of Building Codes 2018.' The 2018 edition shown comes from that title rather than from the ordinance's full text.
The published number is 314-835-6100. The building official on record is Will Penney, Building Official (314-835-6100, wpenney@desperesmo.org). The department page is here.
Des Peres shares the metro's figures: 115 mph design wind, 20 psf ground snow. The code guide explains both.
Also in St. Louis County:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Des Peres | Not published | 2018 I-Codes | 1976 |
| 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 |
| Clayton | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1954 |
| Creve Coeur | Not published | 2009 IRC | 1980 |
All 21 St. Louis County cities side by side →
Nothing published settles it for Des Peres, so the department gets the question before work starts and any permit it wants is pulled by us.
Des Peres enforces the 2018 I-Codes. Des Peres adopted its building codes by Ordinance 2873, titled 'Adoption of Building Codes 2018.' The 2018 edition shown comes from that title rather than from the ordinance's full text.
Median year built 1976, by the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates. Of 3,331 homes, 2,902 were built before 2000 and 12 before 1940, so most roofs in Des Peres are not the first one the house has had.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Des Peres' center was 1.25 inches on May 19, 2025, one of 21 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
The building official on record is Will Penney, Building Official. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
Not yet: no completed roof in Des Peres 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.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · en.wikipedia.org · censusreporter.org · www.point2homes.com · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
