Free Roof Inspection, Greater St. Louis

A roof inspection should end with photographs and a written scope in your hand, not a price and a pen.

This is not a mild market. NOAA's Storm Events Database logged 125 hail events in St. Louis County between 2020-2025, with stones measured up to 2.5 inches and averaging 1.32 inches. That count is of reported events, not of insured losses, and reporting density tracks population, so a busy county logs more reports than an empty one. Even read conservatively it means a roof in this area takes repeated impact.

What gets looked at

The field of the roof is the least informative part. What tells the story is the detail work: flashing at every wall and chimney, the condition of pipe boots, valley metal, ridge and soffit ventilation, the state of the gutters and where the downspouts actually discharge. On a hail call the soft metal gets checked first, because gutters, vents and condenser fins record impacts that asphalt hides.

Why a pre-storm inspection is worth having

The single most useful document a homeowner can own is a dated set of photographs of an intact roof. When something does happen later, the question of what was pre-existing and what the storm did stops being an argument and becomes a comparison. That is worth more than any promise a contractor can make about the claim itself, and unlike those promises it is entirely within the rules.

The line the law draws, and why it matters to you

Missouri bars roofing contractors from acting on your insurance claim. RSMo 407.725 says a contractor shall not represent or negotiate, or offer or advertise to represent or negotiate, on a homeowner's claim for roof work. It is worth knowing because the promise is common in this market and the promise itself is the warning sign.

Documentation is where a roofer earns their place. Photographs of the actual condition, measurements, a written scope, and a technical presence when your adjuster walks the property. That gives you evidence. It does not give anyone authority over your policy, and no roofing company should be asking for that.

Two frequently repeated errors: Missouri does not require insurers to match undamaged slopes, because no such statute or regulation exists here and it comes down to your policy wording. And if you do want representation, a public adjuster is the licensed route, separate from the contractor and prohibited from doing the repair.

Scope of work

Roofing, gutters, downspouts. Nothing else, on purpose. Atlas and Malarkey shingles.

• Roof replacement and tear-off, including decking that has gone soft underneath
• Repair work: pipe boots, step flashing, valley metal, nail pops
• Inspections that end in photographs and a written scope
• On-site formed seamless gutter, guards, realignment and repair
• Downspout extensions, reroutes and underground drainage away from the house

The drainage end of that list is genuinely uncommon for a roofing company in this market, and it is the part that decides whether a well-drained roof ends up protecting the foundation or undermining it.

Call Keys Roofing at (314) 220-2333

Straight through to the office. Roofing, gutters and downspouts only, across greater St. Louis.

Book an inspection

You get the photographs and the written scope either way.

The questions worth asking

Not the price first. Ask who is physically doing the work, employees or subcontracted crews. Ask for the scope in writing, including the per-sheet cost of replacing decking that turns out to be rotten, because that is the number that moves after work starts. Ask who honours the workmanship warranty and for how long, separately from whatever the manufacturer covers on the shingle itself. Ask for proof of insurance covering the people on the roof.

And be wary of urgency. A roof that has lasted through the storm will last through the week it takes to get a second opinion.

Questions people actually ask

What does an inspection actually cover?

Flashing at every wall and chimney, pipe boots, valley metal, ridge and soffit ventilation, fasteners, the gutters and where the downspouts discharge. On a hail call the soft metal gets checked first because it records impacts the shingles hide.

What do I get at the end of it?

Photographs and a written scope, whether or not there is work to do. Being told in writing that a roof is fine is worth having.

Why bother before a storm rather than after?

Because a dated set of photographs of an intact roof turns a later argument about pre-existing damage into a simple comparison.