Roof Repair in The Heights, Houston TX

Bungalow roofs, historic district rules, and a price you can check line by line.

Most people who find us in the Heights are looking for a repair, not a roof. That is the right instinct. A hundred year old bungalow with one bad valley does not need a full replacement, and we are not going to tell you it does.

We repair when repair is honest and we say so when it is not. Either way you get photographs of what we found and a written number before anything starts.

The pricing is Cost Plus. You see the real cost of your materials and your labor, plus one service fee between 20 and 30 percent set by how complex the job is. Steep pitch, multiple layers, structural repairs and difficult access sit at the higher end. The percentage is quoted upfront and locked before work begins.

The historic district question

Large parts of the Heights sit inside the Houston Heights East, West and South historic districts, and that changes what you are allowed to do to your roof.

The short version: re-roofing in kind, meaning the same material with no change to the shape or the pitch, does not require a Certificate of Appropriateness. Changing the roof material or the color where it is visible from the street does. If you have been planning to go from three tab to architectural, or from a light shingle to black, that is the version that needs approval first.

This matters because doing work that needed a Certificate of Appropriateness without one can bring a stop work order, fines, and an order to put the roof back the way it was. Confirm with the City of Houston Planning and Development Department before the crew is booked. We will tell you which category your job falls into during the inspection, and we will not quote you a color change as though it were a straight swap.

What is different about a Heights roof

Plank decking, not plywood

Most Heights bungalows have 1x6 board decking rather than the plywood or OSB used on newer homes. Boards move with humidity, which is why nails back out and shingles lift along the same lines every few years. It also means fasteners have to land in board rather than in a gap. We have torn a Heights roof down to its original 1x6 decking and found it still solid after a century, so this is usually something to work with, not something to replace.

Low slope porch roofs

The front porch on a classic Heights bungalow is often far shallower than the main roof. Shingles are not rated for that pitch and will leak there eventually no matter who installs them. Those sections need a modified bitumen or rolled system instead. If your leak is over the porch, that is almost always why.

Additions

A lot of these homes have a rear addition added decades after the original build, and the seam where the two roofs meet is the first place water finds. We look there before we look anywhere else.

What we do in the Heights

Roof Repair

Leaks, lifted or missing shingles, failed pipe boots, valley and chimney flashing, and porch sections that were shingled when they should not have been.

Free Roof Inspection

We photograph everything we find and send you the report whether you hire us or not.

Roof Replacement

Careful tear-off that preserves original decking where it is sound, full synthetic underlayment, and the right system on each slope.

Shingle Options

Tamko Heritage, Titan XT and Storm Fighter Flex, which is the impact resistant line.

What a roof costs in the Heights

Nobody can quote your roof from a phone call. The number comes from your square footage, your pitch, how many layers are up there, and what the decking looks like once the old shingles come off. Heights roofs are steep and often cut up with dormers and porches, which costs more labor than a simple hip roof of the same size.

What we promise is that you see how the number was built. Materials at cost, labor at cost, one service fee. If we find rot in a rafter tail or a soft board, you see the count and the price before we replace anything. The full breakdown is in the 2026 Houston roofing cost report.

Storm damage and insurance claims

In Texas a roofing contractor cannot act as your public adjuster on a job they are going to perform. Filing your claim, negotiating your settlement or arguing policy language on your behalf takes a separate license. Anyone offering to handle the whole claim for you is offering something they should not.

House Bill 2102 also makes it a criminal offense in Texas for a contractor to pay, waive, rebate or absorb your deductible, or to advertise that they will.

We inspect, document the damage with photographs, and give you the report so you can file. If your adjuster comes out, we meet them on the roof and show them what we found. You stay in control of your own claim.

A Heights job

1920s bungalow, Tamko Heritage in Rustic Black

Owners who had spent years restoring the house and wanted the roof to match that care. We took the old roof off without damaging the original 1x6 plank decking, which was still solid after a hundred years, and put a modified system on the low slope front porch that had leaked before. Two days.

See the full project

Who issues the permit here

Your roof permit is filed with the City of Houston, not with Harris County. That matters because Houston is its own incorporated city with its own building department, its own fee schedule and its own inspection, and a contractor who assumes county rules gets it wrong.

See the current fee, timeline and official source for Houston on the roof permit checker.

We pull it under our own name wherever one is required, and it is passed through at its actual cost with the receipt attached. A contractor asking you to pull your own permit is asking you to carry the liability for their work.

Storm history near The Heights

NOAA's Storm Events Database recorded 9 hail reports of 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of The Heights between 2016 and 2026, with the largest measured at 2.00 inches. In the same window and radius, NOAA logged 4 severe wind events of 58 mph or higher. The most recent hail or wind event on record near here was Oct 31, 2018.

This is a count of regional weather reports, not a finding about any specific roof. See the full Houston hail and wind history, with sources and method.

What we do here

Roofing is most of it, and the exterior work exists because the same rain that gets through a failed roof detail rots the boards next to it.

All twenty one services.

What it costs

Every job is priced Cost Plus. You see the supplier invoice for the materials, the crew hours at our published rate, the permit and disposal at what they actually cost, and one service fee of 20 to 30 percent set by job complexity and locked before anything starts. No second number, no change order conversation afterwards. The full breakdown.

Our workmanship warranty is ten years, written into the contract. What that covers, and what it does not.

Common Questions

Do I need city approval to replace my roof in the Heights?

If you are re-roofing in kind, same material and no change to shape or pitch, no Certificate of Appropriateness is required. If you are changing the material or the color where the street can see it, yes. Check with the City of Houston Planning and Development Department before you schedule the work.

Can you repair my roof instead of replacing it?

Often, yes. If a repair buys you five more years we will tell you that, and we will show you the photographs that led us there.

My porch roof keeps leaking. Why?

Usually because it is shingled and the slope is too shallow for shingles. That section needs a rolled or modified bitumen system instead.

Will you tear off my original wood decking?

Not if it is sound. Century old 1x6 decking is often in better shape than newer sheet goods. We replace boards that are soft and leave the rest.

How long does a Heights roof take?

Two days for most bungalows. Complex rooflines and porch systems add time, and we tell you which one yours is before we start.

Nearby Areas We Serve

• Garden Oaks & Oak Forest
• Memorial
• Rice Military
• Montrose
• River Oaks
• Museum District
• All service areas