What it actually takes to re-roof a house in St. Louis City — 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.
St. Louis City runs to about 61.72 square miles and roughly 278,144 people. There are around 174,694 housing units here, and every one of them has a roof with a clock on it. The community dates back to 1764. We cover the 631xx ZIP codes across the city.
We have not logged a completed roof in St. Louis City yet. We would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
More than half of the city's housing was built 1939 or earlier — St. Louis's housing stock 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, sometimes by thirty years and a whole different framing method, which is why we look before we quote rather than after.
The city has a Cultural Resources Office/Preservation Board that administers 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.
Houses of this age in St. Louis City were sheathed with solid board decking rather than plywood, and boards move. Plank gaps open up, nails back out, and a shingle fastened into a gap has nothing holding it. We also expect original step and counter-flashing at chimneys and walls — often the real leak while the shingles look fine — and more than one house on a street like this has two or three roofs stacked on it because someone went over rather than tore off. That matters: layers hide the decking, add weight, and void most manufacturer warranties. If there is original slate or tile anywhere on the property, it wants a different conversation than an asphalt tear-off.
Per the 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.'.
St. Louis City enforces the 2018 IRC. 2018 International Residential Code, Ordinance 70795, adopted 08-01-2018. Also 2018 IBC (Ord 70794), 2018 IEBC (Ord 70797), 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (Ord 71644, 02-20-2023), 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.
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.
St. Louis City borders St. Louis County and East St. Louis, Illinois (across the Mississippi River). These are the ones we also cover, each with its own permit rule and code edition:
Free inspection, a written scope, and photos you keep either way.
Per the 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.'.
St. Louis City enforces the 2018 IRC. 2018 International Residential Code, Ordinance 70795, adopted 08-01-2018. Also 2018 IBC (Ord 70794), 2018 IEBC (Ord 70797), 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (Ord 71644, 02-20-2023), 2017 NEC.
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 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 St. Louis City, 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 St. Louis City 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.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. Municipal staffing, phone numbers and adopted code editions change — confirm with the jurisdiction before relying on anything here.