Lubbock took its adopted code and added a sentence the model code does not contain. Where most of the country allows a second layer of shingles over the first, Lubbock's amendment to R908.3.1.1 lists asphalt, fiberglass and composition shingles among the coverings a recover may not go over. Read plainly, that makes this a tear-off city by ordinance. Which means the only question left is whether the tear-off is done properly — the deck inspected, the ventilation addressed, the criteria in Lubbock's own design table actually respected.
Roof Experts is the roof replacement partner Lubbock TX property owners trust. We bring DFW-quality crews and materials to every Lubbock project — from asphalt, metal, tile, and slate to inspections and full roof replacement. Need an estimate? Call Roof Experts at (469) 936-7663 or request your free roof inspection online.
Lubbock's amendment to IRC R908.3.1.1 prohibits a roof recover where the existing covering is asphalt, fiberglass or composition shingle, wood shake, slate, tile or asbestos cement; where the roof is water-soaked or deteriorated; or where two or more applications already exist. The model code's version does not list asphalt shingles. Lubbock added them. That is a substantive local amendment with a direct consequence for your house, and it is also a strong enough claim that we read the current adopted text back to the building official before we put it on your contract.
A tear-off is the only moment in twenty years that anyone can see your decking. We inspect every sheet, photograph what we find, and replace what is delaminated, rotted or fastened into nothing. On a Lubbock home of typical age that is rarely zero sheets. We price deck replacement as a clearly stated per-sheet allowance rather than burying it, so a surprise on day two is a line item you already agreed to and not a renegotiation.
Lubbock's adopted Table R301.2 reads 115 mph design wind, Seismic A, a 15 psf ground snow load, a 12-inch frost line, a 15°F winter design temperature, moderate to heavy termite, an air freezing index of 172 and a mean annual temperature of 59.9°F. The wind figure matches Dallas-Fort Worth exactly. The cold side does not: triple DFW's ground snow, double its frost line, seven degrees colder in winter design. Ice barrier underlayment is still not required here — we say so plainly rather than selling one as a code item it is not.
Lubbock amended R806.1 to exempt attic ventilation where drywall attaches directly to the rafters, where the roof deck is insulated with spray foam, or where the building official deems it unnecessary. That means the correct ventilation answer for your house depends on how your attic is actually built, not on a default the crew applies to every job. We look at the assembly, calculate the intake and exhaust the roof genuinely needs, and where an exemption applies we document why rather than quietly cutting vents that should not be there.
Lubbock keeps no fee amounts in the code. Art. 28.05 defers them to the council-adopted schedule, but it fixes the method: renovation and remodeling work is charged per $1,000 of construction valuation or portion of it. That means the permit fee on your replacement follows the real scope. It also means an under-stated valuation is a problem waiting to happen, and the code is pointed about the alternative — work started without a permit is penalized at 200% to 400% of the normal fee depending on violation history.
Lubbock's noise ordinance permits construction from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the longest legal window of any market we serve, with no numerical decibel cap on the work itself. We use the early end of it deliberately. Sections are sized so that what is opened in the morning is dried in before the afternoon wind builds, because on the Llano Estacado the afternoon wind is not a possibility to plan around — it is the default condition.
We measure the roof, document the existing assembly, and write a scope that covers tear-off, deck allowance, underlayment, flashings, ventilation, field shingle, hip and ridge, and debris handling. Because a layover is not available to you here, the comparison between bids is a genuine like-for-like comparison — which makes it much easier to see which bidder has left something out.
We confirm our Art. 28.04 registration is current for the calendar year, submit for the permit against the actual valuation, and stage materials. Debris handling is settled before mobilization: Sec. 22.06.112 bars permitted haulers from collecting at single-family residences, so we plan load-out around that rather than discovering it on tear-off morning.
Everything comes off down to the sheathing. We inspect and photograph the deck with you if you want to be there, replace what needs replacing, and get underlayment, ice-and-water at the vulnerable details, drip edge and flashings in before the crew leaves. Nothing stays open overnight and nothing stays open into the afternoon.
Field shingle installed to the manufacturer's high-wind instructions with enhanced nailing, hip and ridge sealed and fastened, ventilation completed to the calculated figure. Then the required city inspections, a magnet sweep of the property line to line, a walk-through with you, and the closeout file: permit record, warranty registration, and the deck and flashing photographs from step three.
In a city with 89 recorded days of inch-or-larger hail and 21 of two-inch-or-larger hail in 26 years, an impact-rated shingle is not an upsell, it is the reasonable baseline. We are careful about what the rating means: Class 4 is earned in a UL 2218 steel-ball test and it measurably improves bruise resistance, but nothing on the market is proof against a 4.5-inch stone falling for fifteen minutes. Most carriers discount the premium for one. Call yours and ask before you choose.
Concealed-clip standing seam is the longest-service answer on a High Plains home, and its advantage here is specifically about wind rather than hail: no exposed fasteners in the field means no fastener holes working loose under three consecutive winter months of gradient wind. Clip spacing and terminations are engineered to the 115 mph figure. On hail we are straightforward — panels dent, the denting is cosmetic rather than functional, and that is a conversation to have with your carrier before installation.
Many Lubbock homes carry a section of roof too low in slope for any shingle to be correct on it. During a full replacement that is the moment to fix it properly, with a membrane section correctly terminated into the steep-slope field. Doing it now costs a fraction of doing it later as a separate mobilization, and it removes the detail most likely to leak in the first five years.
Most premium laminated shingles carry a limited lifetime warranty with a non-prorated initial period, typically ten to fifteen years, after which coverage prorates. It is tied to your ownership of the home and it is material-only unless the full system is installed by a certified contractor. We go through the actual document with you rather than letting the word 'lifetime' do the work.
Where underlayment, starter, field shingle, hip and ridge and ventilation all come from one manufacturer and are installed by a contractor that manufacturer has certified, coverage extends past material into workmanship for a defined term. This is the coverage worth paying attention to, and it only exists if the roof is genuinely built as a system.
Our own coverage on the installation itself, independent of any manufacturer. Flashings, penetrations, fastening, ventilation. If it fails because of how we built it, we come back and make it right. We are based in Garland, we are registered and bonded where the city requires it, and we are still here when the call comes.
Don't see your question? Call us at (469) 936-7663 — we're happy to talk it through.
Lubbock amended IRC R908.3.1.1 and added asphalt, fiberglass and composition shingles to the list of existing coverings a recover may not be installed over — a list the model code does not include them on. It also bars a recover where the roof is water-soaked or deteriorated or where two or more applications already exist. Read plainly, that makes shingle-over-shingle unavailable here. Ask the contractor offering it to show you the code section permitting it, and ask whether they intend to pull a permit at all, since a re-roof is not on Lubbock's exemption list.
Three separate 4.50-inch days within ten miles of the city since 2000. The best-documented is 23 June 2023 near Wolfforth, reported by a National Weather Service employee, with the narrative describing a large swath of giant hail over an extensive portion of the city causing widespread damage to roofs and vehicles. The 8 May 2015 event produced softball-size hail in Slaton and an NWS damage estimate the narrative says would likely reach $300 million. Those dollar figures are the NWS's own estimates, not an insurance industry source, and we attribute them that way.
The wind number is identical — 115 mph three-second gust in both adopted tables — but the rest of Lubbock's Table R301.2 is not. Ground snow is 15 psf against DFW's 5. The frost line is 12 inches against 6. Winter design temperature is 15°F against 22°F, and the air freezing index is 172 against 150. Ice barrier underlayment is not required in either. Beyond the table, Lubbock has the recorded blizzards, the 125 gradient-wind days and the giant hail frequency that DFW does not, which is why the assembly and the fastening detail matter more here than the headline number suggests.
We will not publish a figure, because Lubbock does not. Art. 28.05 states that fee amounts follow the schedule adopted by city council in the budget, and the schedule is not something we can responsibly quote from a web page. What the code does establish is that renovation work is priced per $1,000 of construction valuation or portion of it, with plan review at 25% of the master permit fee. We confirm the current rate with Building Safety at (806) 775-2087 when we scope your roof and show it as its own line.
We photograph every sheet we replace, with the location, and we price deck replacement as a stated per-sheet allowance agreed before we start. If we replace four sheets you pay for four sheets and you see four photographs. A tear-off is the only time anyone can see the decking, and a contractor who does not document it is asking you to take a significant amount on faith.
It depends on how your attic is built, and Lubbock's own amendment says so. The city amended R806.1 to exempt ventilation where drywall attaches directly to the rafters, where the roof deck uses spray foam insulation, or where the building official deems it unnecessary. So the honest answer is that we look at your assembly, calculate the intake and exhaust the roof actually needs, and where an exemption applies we document the reason rather than cutting vents into a conditioned attic that should not have them.
Most Lubbock single-family roofs are a one to two day job for the roof itself, with the permit and inspection sequence adding time on either end. Deck damage extends it. Lubbock's 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. legal work window gives us more room to sequence than most cities do, and we use the early hours on purpose — the objective every single day is that whatever we opened is dried in before the afternoon wind comes up.
Lubbock's hail season is later and tighter than North Texas's. Of the 115 distinct hail days recorded within ten miles between 2000 and 2025, 45 fell in May and 30 in June — 65 percent in two months — with April a distant third at 15. The city has recorded no hail day at all in October, November or December across those 26 years. If you are replacing electively rather than on a claim, the autumn is genuinely quieter here in a way it is not in Garland or Dallas, and scheduling then usually means a crew with more room in the calendar.
Free inspection, honest scope, real warranty. Most service work scheduled within 24–48 hours.
(469) 936-7663