Denver puts the repair-versus-replace line in writing, which almost no city does. On a building under 25,000 square feet, a repair needs a permit once it passes ten percent of the roof area or two roof squares, whichever is smaller. Roof coatings need no permit at all. Every new penetration does. And a partial roof that ends at a natural edge may be replaced under a permit — but a partial slope may not. Those four sentences decide what your repair actually costs, and they are the first thing we check.
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Most of what we see in Denver is repairable and we will say so. But the city's own thresholds shape the answer: under 25,000 square feet a repair crosses into permitted work above ten percent of the roof area or two squares, whichever is smaller, and a partial slope cannot be replaced on its own. That means the honest options on a Denver roof are often narrower than a salesperson would like them to be, and we lay them out with the photographs rather than around them.
Water travels, and on Denver's older stock it travels along boards. Some 123,248 units — 34.3 percent of the city — predate 1960, which is the plank-decking population. A stain over a bedroom ceiling routinely begins at a flashing or penetration well up the slope and runs along a gap in 1X decking before it shows. We trace before we quote, with attic access and a hose test where the diagnosis needs one.
We photograph test squares on multiple slopes, check the soft metals, and date damage against what NOAA actually recorded near your address. The metro's peak month is June, then May, and there are 75 separate two-inch-or-larger reports in the eleven-year record to check against. If the bruising matches a storm day we will name it. If it is age and granule loss rather than impact, we will write that instead, even when it costs us the job.
A UL 2218 Class 4 shingle passes if there is no tearing, fracturing, cracking or rupturing visible on the back after a two-inch steel ball is dropped at hail-equivalent energy. Crushed granules and dents on the top surface are not failures. So a Class 4 roof genuinely resists the damage that matters and can still look hit — which is exactly the conversation that goes wrong in a claim. We explain it the same way to you and to an adjuster.
When a roof is open, stopping water is the only priority. We tarp to hold through the next system, document what is underneath before covering it, and return with a scoped repair rather than turning an emergency into a pressured contract. Colorado's own statute exists partly because of what happens in Denver after a hailstorm — we would rather be on the right side of that.
Colorado's residential roofing article applies to work over $1,000, which catches a great many repairs. That means the written contract, the scope and approximate cost, our address, email and telephone, identification of our liability insurer, the cancellation and refund policy with the rescission clause, the deductible statement, and the trust language in bold. A repair contract that omits those is not a shortcut, it is a non-compliant contract.
We get on the roof, mark test squares, and photograph both the damage and the sound areas. Attic access where the question is a leak. You receive the complete set regardless of whether you hire us, because a homeowner holding photographs is a homeowner who can get a real second opinion in a market with this much door-knocking.
We calculate the repair area as a percentage of the roof, because that is what decides whether this is unpermitted work, a quick permit, or — above 25,000 square feet on a commercial building — a logged-in review with Green Buildings Ordinance implications. We also check whether what you want done is a partial roof to a natural edge or a partial slope, because the city permits one and not the other.
Repair, partial replacement or full replacement, each with a cost and an expected remaining life, our recommendation stated plainly, and a contract that meets Article 22 including the 72-hour rescission right where an insurance claim is involved. If a repair buys three years and a replacement is coming anyway, we say three years is what you are buying.
We integrate rather than patch: flashings reworked, shingles woven into the field, penetrations resealed. Where the work is permitted, the 201 final is called. Then we come back after the next significant weather to confirm it held. Our workmanship coverage applies to a repair exactly as to a replacement.
The hard part of a shingle repair is making it disappear, and in Denver there is a second constraint: the replacement product still has to carry the ASTM wind rating your street requires. We source the closest current match that also meets your zone — 115, 125 or 140 mph depending on where you sit between Federal, Sheridan and Kipling — weave rather than butt the courses in, and tell you honestly when a discontinued line means no true match exists.
Step flashing at a wall, counterflashing at a chimney, a split pipe boot — these account for most of the leaks we diagnose on Denver's older stock. On a plank deck we also remediate to the city's rule: no continuous opening greater than half an inch, and no opening greater than six square inches under asphalt shingles on 1X decking, with smaller openings coverable in 26-gauge metal. Sealant is a finishing material, not a flashing.
Denver houses carry a lot of low-slope porch and patio roof, and shingles on those sections fail in predictable ways. The correct repair is a membrane properly terminated into the steep-slope field — and Denver's licensing rules mean membrane work above ten percent of the roof or two squares requires a D-Roof Covering/Waterproofing licensee. We hold that classification, which not every shingle contractor bidding your house does.
Our repair work carries the same coverage as our replacement work. If a flashing we reworked or a section we rebuilt fails, we come back. A repair is not a lesser job with lesser standards and it should not carry a lesser commitment.
We return after the next significant weather to confirm the repair held, at no charge. In a metro averaging roughly 12.7 hail days a year that is rarely a long wait, and it is how we learn whether our diagnosis was right.
Colorado's residential roofing article reaches any contract over $1,000, so the written-contract requirements, the trust language on your deposit, the deductible prohibition and the 72-hour insurer-denial rescission right all apply to a repair contract, not just a replacement. Read them. They are there for you.
Don't see your question? Call us at (720) 644-2020 — we're happy to talk it through.
It depends on size, and Denver publishes the threshold. On a building under 25,000 square feet, a repair needs a permit once it exceeds ten percent of the roof square footage or two roof squares, whichever is smaller. On a building of 25,000 square feet or more the threshold drops to five percent — and at that size Green Buildings Ordinance compliance enters the picture, with no quick permit available. Roof coatings require no permit. All new penetrations, including skylights, rooftop units, pipes and solar, do.
Not as a slope. Denver's Roofing Guide states that partial roofs ending at a natural edge may be replaced under a permit, but not partial slopes. So a detached garage roof, or a section that terminates at a wall or a ridge line the city recognizes as a natural edge, can be handled on its own. Half a slope cannot. That rule is a common surprise on hail claims and it is one of the first things we check when scoping a partial job.
Often it is possible to say. The Denver metro recorded hail on 140 distinct days between 2015 and 2025, with 75 reports of two inches or larger, peaking in June and then May. Denver County alone had 31 hail days. Notable dates include 8 May 2017, described in the NOAA record as Colorado's most expensive insured catastrophe at around $2.3 billion; 19 June 2018, with a three-inch stone at Englewood; and 30 May 2024, with 2.75 inches at Denver International. We check the record for your address rather than attributing everything to the most recent event.
Possibly both, and the test explains why. UL 2218 records a failure only when there is tearing, fracturing, cracking or rupturing visible on the back of the shingle. Crushed granules and dents on the top surface are not failures. So a Class 4 roof can look struck while remaining functionally intact — which is exactly what the product is designed to do. We document the mat condition rather than the surface appearance, and we explain the distinction the same way to you and to your carrier.
Not as a code requirement. Denver's official Roofing Guide reproduces the amended table with 'Ice Barrier Underlayment Required: No' and states that self-adhering bitumen at the eaves and rakes is not required. We often recommend it anyway, for performance and because manufacturers frequently require it for warranty coverage. What we will not do is tell you the city requires it, because it does not — and a contractor who tells you otherwise is either misinformed or counting on you not checking.
Because Denver requires shingles to be tested and labeled to ASTM D 7158, or ASTM D 3161 where the brand is outside that scope, and sets minimum ratings by street zone: 115 mph east of Federal Boulevard, 125 mph from Federal to Sheridan, and 140 mph from Sheridan to Kipling. A repair that puts underrated shingles onto a westside roof is a repair that does not comply. We select the match from products that carry the rating your address requires.
Active leaks and open roofs first, with tarping to stop water before anyone talks scope. We document what is under the tarp before we cover it, because a covered roof that was never photographed weakens your claim. What we will not do is use the emergency as leverage — and Colorado law gives you a written rescission right for precisely that reason, which we will point out before you sign rather than after.
Three concrete things, all grounded in statute. First, anyone offering to cover or rebate your deductible is describing conduct Colorado prohibits, with consequences for your claim. Second, your deposit must be held in trust until materials are delivered to your property or most of the work is done, and that language is required in bold on the contract. Third, ask which Denver Specialty Class D certificate they hold — shingles, membrane, metal or green roof — because the categories are distinct and a shingle licensee cannot do your low-slope section beyond a narrow limit.
Free inspection, honest scope, real warranty. Most service work scheduled within 24–48 hours.
(720) 644-2020