What it actually takes to re-roof a house in Des Peres — 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.
Des Peres runs to about 4.3 square miles and roughly 9,170 people. It sits about 14 miles west of downtown St. Louis. There are around 3,331 housing units here, and every one of them has a roof with a clock on it. The community dates back to 1934. We cover ZIP code 63131.
We have not logged a completed roof in Des Peres yet. We would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
The typical home in Des Peres dates to around the mid-1970s. A house of that vintage has usually been through two roofs, and the one on it now is often the second — which means it is old enough to be checked rather than assumed.
Mostly built in 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, and its City Hall predates incorporation, having originally been built by a neighboring Lutheran church as an orphanage.
Housing from this stretch in Des Peres sits on plywood or OSB decking and was largely first roofed with three-tab shingles. Most are on their second covering by now. The things worth checking are the penetrations rather than the field: pipe boots from this era are the single most common leak we trace, because the rubber collar splits long before the shingles wear out. Ridge venting was inconsistent through these years, and OSB that has been damp for a season goes soft in a way plywood does not — you find it with your feet, not from the ground.
Des Peres 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.
Des Peres enforces the 2018 I-Codes. Ordinance 2873 is titled 'Adoption of Building Codes 2018' in the city's document center. The ordinance PDF itself failed to retrieve, so the specific IRC edition and appendices are inferred from the ordinance title rather than read from its text. Treat as probable, not confirmed.
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.
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.
Elsewhere in St. Louis 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. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affton | Yes | Not published | 314-615-5184 |
| Ballwin | Yes | 2015 I-Codes (2024 I-Codes proposed for 2026) | 636-227-2129 |
| Brentwood | Not published | 2024 IRC | 314-963-8602 |
| Chesterfield | Not published | 2015 IBC / 2015 IRC | 636-537-4000 |
| Clayton | Not published | 2021 IRC | 314-290-8463 |
| Creve Coeur | Not published | 2009 IRC | 314-872-2500 |
| Ellisville | Not published | 2015 IRC | 636-227-9660 |
| Eureka | Not published | 2018 IRC | — |
| Florissant | Not published | 2021 IRC | 314-839-7648 |
| Kirkwood | Not published | 2021 IRC | 314-822-5823 |
| Manchester | Not published | Not published | 314-615-5184 |
| Maryland Heights | Yes | 2021 IRC | 314-291-6550 |
| Mehlville | Yes | Not published | 314-615-5184 |
| Oakville | Yes | Not published | 314-615-5184 |
| Richmond Heights | Not published | Not published | 314-646-7658 |
| Unincorporated St. Louis County | Yes | Not published | 314-615-5184 |
| Town and Country | Yes | 2018 I-Codes (2024 I-Codes pending) | 314-587-2820 |
| University City | Not published | 2018 IRC | — |
| Webster Groves | Not published | 2015 IBC family | 314-963-5300 |
| Wildwood | Not published | Not published | — |
Free inspection, a written scope, and photos you keep either way.
Des Peres does not publish a clear answer either way. We confirm it with the building department before starting and pull whatever is required.
Des Peres enforces the 2018 I-Codes. Ordinance 2873 is titled 'Adoption of Building Codes 2018' in the city's document center. The ordinance PDF itself failed to retrieve, so the specific IRC edition and appendices are inferred from the ordinance title rather than read from its text. Treat as probable, not confirmed.
The typical home in Des Peres dates to around the mid-1970s, 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.
Not yet. We have no completed roof logged in Des Peres, and we would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
Missouri has no state-level roofing contractor licence. Licensing and registration are imposed municipally, and several St. Louis metro cities require it. Illinois does licence roofers statewide, so a contractor working the Metro East needs an IDFPR roofing licence.
Permit and code details for Des Peres 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: www.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · www.desperesmo.org · 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.