Roofing for St. Louis City homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In St. Louis City, the 2018 IRC is in force and the median home was built in 1939 or earlier. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
St. Louis City runs to about 61.72 square miles and roughly 278,144 people. The community dates back to 1764. We cover the 631xx ZIP codes across the city.
No completed roof in St. Louis City is logged in our job records yet.
More than half of the city's housing was built in 1939 or earlier. St. Louis housing is dominated by early-20th-century brick two- and four-family flats and rowhouses, not a later suburban build-out.
We work across St. Louis City rather than one corner of it — Downtown, Midtown, The Hill, Soulard, Tower Grove South, Central West End, Lafayette Square, Forest Park Southeast, Shaw and Lindenwood Park included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
The city's Cultural Resources Office and Preservation Board administer 18 local historic districts (10 regular, 8 certified). Population decline since the 1950 peak has left a significant stock of abandoned residential buildings and vacant lots.
On houses this old in St. Louis City the deck is usually solid boards, not plywood, and boards shift: gaps open, nails work loose, and a shingle nailed over a gap holds on to nothing. Chimneys and wall joints often still carry their original step and counter-flashing, which is where many leaks really start while the shingles look fine. Two or three roofs piled on one another are common on streets like these; every extra layer hides the deck, adds weight and voids most manufacturer warranties. Any original slate or tile on the house calls for a different plan from an asphalt tear-off.
The Census Bureau counts 174,111 homes in St. Louis City, with a median year built of 1939 or earlier, the oldest band the survey reports. 100,811 of them (58%) went up before 1940 — the 1st-highest pre-1940 share of the 48 places on this site — and 13,444 (8%) in 2000 or later. More of today's homes date from before 1940 than from any decade since.
About 25 years is the usual working life of a roof, by the figure Missouri's insurance department publishes. That puts 160,667 homes in St. Louis City, the 92% built before 2000, past at least one full roof life; 142,560 of them (82%) predate 1970, old enough for two replacements already. Homes from the 2000s (7,004 in St. Louis City) are reaching their first replacement, while the 6,440 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: 75,554 detached houses (43%), 7,045 attached (4%). 54,045 homes (31%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 36,526 (21%) 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 840 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. Owners live in 45% of the 144,891 occupied homes. Read together, those figures point toward full tear-offs on houses past two roof lives, deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing and flat and low-slope sections, which turn up more on attached and multi-unit buildings.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 100,811 | 58% | |
| 1940s | 12,735 | 7% | |
| 1950s | 17,877 | 10% | |
| 1960s | 11,137 | 6% | |
| 1970s | 7,526 | 4% | |
| 1980s | 5,851 | 3% | |
| 1990s | 4,730 | 3% | |
| 2000s | 7,004 | 4% | |
| 2010s | 5,690 | 3% | |
| 2020 or later | 750 | 0% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 174,111 homes, 144,891 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged 24 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of St. Louis City’s center from 2016 through 2025, on 12 different days. 4 of them were 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 3.75 inches, came on March 14, 2024, about 4.8 miles northeast of the center. The most recent was 1.5 inches on May 16, 2025. 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 16, 2025 | 1.5 inches | 4.7 mi W |
| March 14, 2025 | 2 inches | 3.3 mi S |
| March 14, 2025 | 1 inch | 4.7 mi W |
| March 14, 2025 | 1 inch | 0.4 mi NW |
| March 14, 2025 | 1.25 inches | 1.7 mi SE |
Hail damage rarely shows from the ground; a storm inspection photographs each slope so you know either way.
Per the city's Building Division, no permit is required for 'roof replacement when done with like material and replacement of 25% or less of the roof sheathing.' A permit is required for 'an entire new roof, when roof work is not replacement of like material, and/or when more than 25% of the roof sheathing is removed and replaced,' so the answer depends on the job.
St. Louis City enforces the 2018 IRC. The city adopted the 2018 International Residential Code by Ordinance 70795 on 08-01-2018. It also uses the 2018 IBC (Ord 70794), 2018 IEBC (Ord 70797), 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (Ord 71644, 02-20-2023) and 2017 NEC.
The published number is 314-622-3313. St. Louis City 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.
St. Louis City borders St. Louis County and East St. Louis, Illinois (across the Mississippi River). Our pages for them:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis City | Conditional | 2018 IRC | 1939 or earlier |
| Unincorporated St. Louis County | Conditional | 2015 IRC | — |
Per the city's Building Division, no permit is required for 'roof replacement when done with like material and replacement of 25% or less of the roof sheathing.' A permit is required for 'an entire new roof, when roof work is not replacement of like material, and/or when more than 25% of the roof sheathing is removed and replaced,' so the answer depends on the job.
St. Louis City enforces the 2018 IRC. The city adopted the 2018 International Residential Code by Ordinance 70795 on 08-01-2018. It also uses the 2018 IBC (Ord 70794), 2018 IEBC (Ord 70797), 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (Ord 71644, 02-20-2023) and 2017 NEC.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built at 1939 or earlier: 58% of St. Louis City's 174,111 homes predate 1940 and 8% were built in 2000 or later. At the usual 25-year roof life, 92% have needed at least one new roof already.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of St. Louis City's center was 1.5 inches on May 16, 2025, one of 24 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
It can. St. Louis City has Lafayette Square, Soulard Neighborhood, Central West End and Benton Park. 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 St. Louis City 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.stlouis-mo.gov · www.stlouis-mo.gov · www.stlouis-mo.gov · www.stlouis-mo.gov · en.wikipedia.org · censusreporter.org · en.wikipedia.org · www.stlouis-mo.gov · www.city-data.com · www.zip-codes.com · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
