Repair King has worked in and around Blue Earth: we inspected a row of in-town homes on July 25, 2018, and documented a farm near Blue Earth from the farmhouse to its arched-roof barn and steel pole building. Hail of 1.25 inches was reported near town on August 11, 2023 and June 21, 2020. Whether it's a shingle roof on a 1950s house or a steel roof on a machine shed, we measure it, photograph it and give you the report.
They went up and they found 37 spots that were definitely hit by that storm, and there were some storms that had hurt our shingles years earlier that we didn't know about. That drone was quite worthwhile sending up.
My name's Tim Flitter. I'm from St. James, Minnesota. This is St. Paul's Lutheran Church. I've been a member here for 17 years. Four years ago, June 20th of four years ago, we were in a meeting here and we had a hailstorm. It was a memorable hailstorm. We came outside, and there was not a lot of damage that we saw, but there were some good-sized hail chunks. A couple months went by, and a lot of our neighbors needed their roofs replaced. We had slate shingles on our church. We didn't think much of it. Two months later or so, Repair King out of the Twin Cities showed up, and they said, “Could we send a drone up just to check your roof?” And they went up, and they found 37 spots that were definitely hit by that storm of two months earlier, and there were some storms that had hurt our shingles years earlier that we didn't know about. That drone was quite worthwhile sending up. As far as the setting up of the actual project, the project manager has pretty much done it all. He's had a number of meetings with us. There were probably half a dozen phone meetings, and I think there were three in-person meetings. Today the crew is here and starting in on the project. The project should take about three weeks, and if we have good weather, it won't take that long. But there's no mess. The dumpsters are in place. Everything's in the right place. They've got correct scaffolding. Nobody should get hurt. Everybody is anchored down on our steep roof. I believe they're doing a very professional job.
Every building on the place, not just the house. On the farm we documented near Blue Earth, that meant the farmhouse's shingles, siding and windows, an arched-roof barn with a steel roof and cupola, a garage-style shed, and a steel-sided pole building with its own cupola. Steel roofs hide hail dents and loose fasteners that only show up close, so we photograph and measure each panel run.
Blue Earth is farm country. The town has canned sweet corn and peas since 1926, when the plant that later belonged to the Green Giant Company opened here, and the fields around town still supply it under Seneca Foods. The outbuildings on those farms are a roofing world of their own: gambrel and arched barns with corrugated or ribbed steel, pole buildings with painted steel panels, cupolas, and older sheds with shingles that haven't been touched in decades.
On the farm file below, our inspector ran a tape across roof penetrations, vents, window openings and siding runs on the farmhouse, then walked around each outbuilding photographing the steel panels, trim, soffits and cupolas. That measured record matters when you're comparing repair and replacement on a barn roof: it shows the size of the job before anyone orders material.
The farm is near Blue Earth. St. Paul's Lutheran Church is about 35 miles northwest in St. James, where member Tim Flitter talks about the drone inspection and re-roof in the video above.
A full farm inspection: the farmhouse roof, siding and windows measured and photographed, then the arched-roof barn, the shed and the steel pole building, panel by panel. The photos cover the steel roofing, trim, soffits and both cupolas.
Our drone found 37 hail-hit spots on the church's steep old roof. The July 2023 re-roof ran from full scaffolding, with guardrails along the stone walls and the lot coned off below.
Blue Earth's houses are mostly older and mostly single-family: about 78% are detached homes, 434 were built before 1940, and another 699 went up in the 1940s and 1950s. Very little has been built since 2000. Outside town, farmsteads add steel-roofed barns, pole buildings and machine sheds to the picture.
| Local factor | What we see in Blue Earth | Why it matters for repairs |
|---|---|---|
| Housing age | 434 homes built before 1940, 231 in the 1940s and 468 in the 1950s, out of 1,681; only 38 built since 2000 (Census ACS 2017-2021) | Post-war homes are often on a third roof; we check decking and old layers before quoting |
| Farm buildings | Arched and gambrel barns with steel roofs, pole buildings with painted steel panels, cupolas and older shingled sheds | Steel panels show hail as dents and loose fasteners; we photograph and measure each run |
| Housing mix | About 78% single-family detached, 159 units in buildings of 20+, about 65% owner-occupied | Landlords and apartment owners need a written condition report |
| Downtown landmarks | The 1891-92 Faribault County Courthouse, red brick and Kasota stone with a clay tile roof and a tall corner tower | Masonry buildings with tile and metal roof details need specialized repair, not a standard shingle crew |
| Open prairie | Blue Earth sits on flat farmland at the I-90 and US-169 junction | Wind and hail cross open fields with nothing to slow them; we check ridge caps and seal strips on every roof |
| Siding and windows | Vinyl lap siding, vinyl windows and aluminum trim on many in-town homes and farmhouses | Hail marks siding and screens; we inspect and measure them with the roof |
From our photo archive of Blue Earth-area jobs. No homeowner names or house numbers; no claim results or dollar amounts.
NOAA storm reports show 1.25-inch hail near Blue Earth on August 11, 2023, and the same size on June 21, 2020, the two largest hail reports near town since 2015. Earlier, 1.5-inch hail was reported on April 12, 2010. The strongest recent wind was a 70 mph gust on June 16, 2014, and gusts of 58 and 60 mph were reported in 2019 and 2016. Hail that size dents steel roof panels, cracks shingles and splits vinyl siding.
| Date | Type | What was reported | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 11, 2023 | Hail | 1.25" hail reported | Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports within 3 miles of the center of Blue Earth, through September 2026. Reports are from trained spotters and the public; hail can hit a street without a report.
Our free Roof & Storm Report looks up hail and wind history for your exact address, not just the city.
Photos taken by Repair King at Blue Earth-area properties.
Yes. The City of Blue Earth says building permits are required for almost all construction and remodeling projects, and it lists shingling and siding by name. Questions go to the city's building official.
Inside city limits, the City of Blue Earth issues the permit; its forms page lists the building permit application, required documents and a building permit waiver for owners doing their own work. Repair King pulls the permit under our Minnesota contractor license, BC695228. The city's page also explains Minnesota's residential roofer and remodeler licensing, worth a read before hiring anyone.
Farms and rural properties outside Blue Earth fall under Faribault County and township rules instead, which can differ for agricultural buildings. We confirm which office covers your address before we schedule any work.
Blue Earth is the Faribault County seat, established in 1856 on the Blue Earth River. It's where Interstate 90 was completed coast to coast in 1978, marked by the Golden Stripe near the rest area, and where the Jolly Green Giant statue has stood since 1979.
The Giant went up because radio station owner Paul Hedberg worried that I-90 would pull travelers past town; Blue Earth businesses paid for the fiberglass statue, which stands about 55 feet tall and debuted at the September 23, 1978 celebration of the interstate's completion. The 1892 Faribault County Courthouse has a clay tile roof and a tall corner tower, and over the years caps of its small towers, chimneys and a central cupola were removed because of deterioration and storm damage. Around those landmarks are the post-war houses, older homes and farms Repair King inspects.
Start with an inspection, not a decision. A damaged shingle does not automatically mean a roof needs to be replaced. What matters is what the inspection actually finds on the roof, siding, gutters and windows.
Repair King is a licensed Minnesota contractor (BC695228). We are not a public adjuster and do not negotiate insurance claims. Questions about your policy belong with your insurance company.
Official links worth bookmarking, whether or not you ever hire us.
NOAA storm reports show 1.25-inch hail near Blue Earth on August 11, 2023, matching the June 21, 2020 report as the largest near town since 2015. Run a free Roof & Storm Report for your exact address.
Yes. The City of Blue Earth requires building permits for almost all remodeling, and it names shingling and siding specifically. We pull the permit for you.
Yes. On a farm near Blue Earth we documented the farmhouse, an arched-roof barn with a steel roof, a shed and a steel pole building, measuring and photographing each one.
Up close, panel by panel. Hail shows on steel as dents, chipped paint and loosened fasteners, and it's easy to miss from the ground. We photograph the panel runs, trim and cupolas and note what we find.
Yes. We inspected several in-town homes on July 25, 2018, and a farm near Blue Earth. About 35 miles northwest, we re-roofed St. Paul's Lutheran Church in St. James.
Yes. We document what we find, damage or not, and explain repair options. Coverage questions go to your insurer.
The National Weather Service office in Chanhassen (Twin Cities) covers Blue Earth and Faribault County.
No cost, no pressure. You get photos of everything we find.
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