Roofing for Fairview Heights homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In Fairview Heights, 4% of the 8,179 homes went up before 1940. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
Fairview Heights runs to about 11.5 square miles and roughly 16,706 people. It sits about 11 miles east of downtown St. Louis. The community dates back to 1969. We cover ZIP code 62208.
No completed roof in Fairview Heights is logged in our job records yet.
Fairview Heights incorporated in 1969 on what had been farmland, but much of its housing went up before the city did (the Census figures below show the split).
Fairview Heights grew out of farmland and incorporated in October 1969. French Village, an unincorporated community, sits just to its west.
The postwar housing in Fairview Heights is mostly simple to roof, which is why it gets done badly so often. Decking is usually 1x6 boards or early plywood, still sound but worth walking rather than assuming. The recurring problems are the low-slope sections — porch roofs, carport tie-ins, the flat bit over an addition — where a shingle was installed below its rated pitch and has been failing quietly ever since. Attic ventilation on houses of this era is also routinely short of what current shingle warranties require, and under-venting cooks a roof from underneath. We measure intake against exhaust before we quote rather than just nailing on a ridge vent and calling it solved.
Fairview Heights has 8,179 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1972. 362 of them (4%) went up before 1940 — 28th of 48 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 1,574 (19%) in 2000 or later. The 1950s were the busiest decade, adding 1,621 of today's homes (20%). (St. Clair County as a whole: 13% 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. By that measure, 81% of Fairview Heights' homes — the 6,605 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and 47% (3,822 homes) go back before 1970, two roof lives and more. The 1,263 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements come up now, while the 311 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: 6,044 detached houses (74%), 281 attached (3%). 1,213 homes (15%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 460 (6%) in buildings of ten units or more, whose roofs are normally an owner's or a board's call rather than a resident's. The count also takes in 181 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. Owners live in 70% of the 7,221 occupied homes. With houses like these, the jobs we expect most are full tear-offs on houses past two roof lives, 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 | 362 | 4% | |
| 1940s | 449 | 5% | |
| 1950s | 1,621 | 20% | |
| 1960s | 1,390 | 17% | |
| 1970s | 1,536 | 19% | |
| 1980s | 640 | 8% | |
| 1990s | 607 | 7% | |
| 2000s | 1,263 | 15% | |
| 2010s | 281 | 3% | |
| 2020 or later | 30 | 0% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 8,179 homes, 7,221 occupied. Survey estimates.
Between 2016 and 2025 there were 15 reports of 1-inch-plus hail within 5 miles of Fairview Heights’ center in the records of NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, on 13 separate days. 2 of them were 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 1.75 inches, came on April 2, 2025, about 4.9 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 |
|---|---|---|
| April 2, 2025 | 1.75 inches | 4.9 mi E |
| April 2, 2025 | 1.25 inches | 1.4 mi W |
| March 30, 2025 | 1 inch | 4.9 mi SW |
| March 14, 2025 | 1 inch | 4.9 mi E |
| March 14, 2025 | 1 inch | 4.6 mi E |
Hail damage rarely shows from the ground; a storm inspection photographs each slope so you know either way.
The city says 'Building permits shall be obtained prior to making improvements or alterations to a property' and directs specific questions to city staff. It does not name roofing either way.
Fairview Heights does not publish the code edition it currently enforces, so this page does not name one. Editions across the metro run from the 2006 IRC to the 2024 IRC — worth asking any contractor which one they are building to.
The published number is 618-489-2060. Fairview Heights 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.
Wind 115 mph (ultimate) and ground snow 20 psf, the same across the metro; see the roofing code guide for what they govern.
Fairview Heights borders French Village.
Also in St. Clair County:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview Heights | Not published | Not published | 1972 |
| Belleville | Not published | Not published | 1962 |
| O'Fallon | Not published | Not published | 1997 |
| Swansea | Yes | 2006 IRC | 1993 |
All 4 St. Clair County cities side by side →
The city says 'Building permits shall be obtained prior to making improvements or alterations to a property' and directs specific questions to city staff. It does not name roofing either way.
Median year built 1972, by the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates. Of 8,179 homes, 6,605 were built before 2000 and 362 before 1940, so most roofs in Fairview Heights are not the first one the house has had.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Fairview Heights' center was 1.75 inches on April 2, 2025, one of 15 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
Not yet: no completed roof in Fairview Heights 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: cofh.org · www.cofh.org · cofh.org · fairviewheightsil.com · en.wikipedia.org · www.fairviewheights.com · www.bestplaces.net · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
