What it actually takes to re-roof a house in Alton — whether the city wants a permit, which code edition applies, who to call at the building department, and how old the housing here really is. No sales copy dressed up as local knowledge.
Alton runs to about 15.7 square miles and roughly 25,279 people. It sits about 20 miles north of downtown St. Louis. There are around 12,551 housing units here, and every one of them has a roof with a clock on it. The community dates back to 1837. We cover ZIP code 62002.
We have not logged a completed roof in Alton yet. We would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
The typical home in Alton dates to around the early-1950s. A house of that vintage has usually been through two or three roofs. It is also old enough that what is under the shingles matters as much as the shingles: plank decking, older flashing details, and layers someone went over rather than tore off.
A mix of pre-1940 Victorian-era housing (about 28% of homes) and a large 1950s postwar wave (about 21%).
That includes Upper Alton. Housing age and construction shift across Alton, sometimes by decades within a few streets, which is why we look at the roof before we quote rather than after.
Many blocks of Alton were built in Victorian Queen Anne style during its 19th-century steamboat-era prosperity, and the city retains an unusually high number of brick-paved streets; the Great Flood of 1993 cut off Alton's water supply for weeks and inundated the historic downtown.
The postwar housing in Alton is mostly straightforward 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.
Alton does not publish a clear answer either way on whether a like-for-like roof covering replacement needs a permit. We confirm it with the department before we start, every time, and we pull whatever is needed as part of the job. We would rather write that here than guess on your behalf.
Alton enforces the 2021 IRC. Alton City Code Section 9-1-3 carries amendments to the 'ICC International Residential Code 2021' and 'ICC International Building Code 2021 Edition.' Most recently amended by Ordinance 7970, December 18, 2024.
The published number is 618-463-3500. The building official on record is Greg Caffey, Building and Zoning Director. The department page is here.
Permitting is on us, not on you.
Unlike some states, Missouri does not assign each municipality its own wind and snow numbers — these are metro-wide.
| Criterion | Figure | What it drives |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate design wind (Vult) | 115 mph | Fastener schedule and the manufacturer wind rating we specify |
| Nominal design wind (Vasd) | 89 mph (derived, not published locally) | The allowable-stress figure older specs quote |
| Ground snow load | 20 psf | Structure, and how much the eaves hold in a freeze-thaw |
| Frost depth | 30 in | Footings, not roof covering |
| Seismic design category | C residential / D commercial | Lateral bracing and structural connections — not shingles |
What each of these actually does to a roof, why New Madrid does not change how shingles go on, and the difference between the code minimum and the manufacturer minimum on nails per shingle, are all in the St. Louis roofing code guide.
Alton borders West Alton, Missouri and Grafton.
Elsewhere in Madison County we also cover:
Missouri sets none of this at state level, so a specification that was right one municipality over is not automatically right here.
| City | Permit for a re-roof | Adopted code | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collinsville | Yes | 2021 I-Codes | 618-346-5200 |
| Edwardsville | Not published | 2021 IRC | — |
| Glen Carbon | Not published | Not published | 618-288-2603 |
| Granite City | Not published | 2012 IRC | 618-452-6218 |
Free inspection, a written scope, and photos you keep either way.
Alton does not publish a clear answer either way. We confirm it with the building department before starting and pull whatever is required.
Alton enforces the 2021 IRC. Alton City Code Section 9-1-3 carries amendments to the 'ICC International Residential Code 2021' and 'ICC International Building Code 2021 Edition.' Most recently amended by Ordinance 7970, December 18, 2024.
The typical home in Alton dates to around the early-1950s, so most roofs here are on their second or third covering rather than their first. That figure is an ACS-derived median republished by housing-data services, not a survey of individual roofs.
It can. Alton has Christian Hill Historic District, Upper Alton Historic District, Middletown Historic District and Downtown Alton Historic District. Inside a designated district, changing a visible roof material or colour can need preservation review before the permit is issued. Like-for-like replacement usually raises fewer questions, but we check before quoting.
Not yet. We have no completed roof logged in Alton, and we would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
Illinois licenses roofing contractors statewide under 225 ILCS 335, so any roofer working here needs a current IDFPR roofing licence. Missouri, across the river, does not licence roofers at the state level at all.
Permit and code details for Alton come from the jurisdiction's own published pages and codified ordinances. Population, housing and neighbourhood detail come from census data and the sources below; housing-age figures are ACS-derived medians republished by housing-data services, so treat them as approximate. Sources: cityofaltonil.gov · codelibrary.amlegal.com · cityofaltonil.gov · en.wikipedia.org · censusreporter.org · www.point2homes.com. Municipal staffing, phone numbers and adopted code editions change — confirm with the jurisdiction before relying on anything here.