Roofing across Central Minnesota and the Brainerd Lakes, one town at a time
Repair King covers a wide stretch of central Minnesota that doesn't fit neatly into one city page: lake towns around Brainerd and Mille Lacs, the river towns along the Mississippi from Little Falls to Sauk Rapids, granite and farm country around St. Cloud, and Duluth up on Lake Superior. Our biggest job in the group is Cascade United Methodist Church in Deerwood, where we've walked the full roof chalk-marking hail hits. We also run dedicated pages for St. Cloud, Sartell, Royalton, Bowlus and Crosslake if your town has its own page; this one covers the smaller towns and lake communities around them.
A Deerwood church and a Finlayson motel on our job camera
Church roofs go years between close inspections, and a building this size can hide storm damage across dozens of shingle squares. We walked the whole roof, chalk-marking every hit we found.
Cascade United Methodist Church, County Rd D-10, Deerwood
Our crew chalk-marked and numbered hail hits across the church's asphalt shingle roof during an August 2022 inspection, working section by section from the ridge down to the eaves so nothing was missed.
America's Quality Inn & Suites, Highway 23, Finlayson
In July 2023 our crew walked and chalk-marked the shingle roof and checked the vinyl siding at this two-story Highway 23 motel in Finlayson, a stop many travelers know on the way between the Twin Cities and Duluth. Long, low-pitch motel roofs like this one show wind and hail wear along every ridge and vent.
Towns and lake communities we cover
Each of these is a real Repair King job or inspection, not a list of places we'd like to work. A few facts on each, what the roofs look like, and what we've found.
Little Falls
Little Falls sits on the Mississippi River and is home to the Charles A. Lindbergh Sr. House, rebuilt in 1906-07 after a fire and now a National Register of Historic Places site on the riverbank. Roofs here range from steep-gabled farmhouses on the sections outside town to in-town homes shaded by mature trees that hold onto ice and moss longer into spring. We've been on a Little Falls-area property checking gutters, gable ends and roof-mounted antenna hardware for wind and hail wear.
Last hail report nearby: Jul 29, 2011 (1")Pierz
Pierz started as Pierz Township in 1869, named for missionary Father Francis Xavier Pierz, and was platted as Rich Prairie before residents voted to rename the town Pierz in 1892. St. Joseph's brick church anchors town, and the farms around it carry steep shingle roofs built for heavy snow load. We've inspected and photographed a Pierz-area roof for hail and wind damage.
Last hail report nearby: Sep 16, 2021 (1.5")Avon
Avon grew up between Upper, Middle and Lower Spunk Lake, and the town still throws its Spunktacular Days festival every summer in their honor. On an Avon roof we found a chimney with a cracked mortar joint and a rusted, dented metal cap, the kind of hail damage that's invisible from the driveway. Lake-area homes here take extra wind off open water, so we check ridge caps and rakes closely after storms.
Last hail report nearby: Jul 13, 2023 (1")St. Augusta
St. Augusta didn't incorporate as its own city until May 2000, timed to avoid annexation into neighboring St. Cloud, and its 1873 St. Mary Help of Christians Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Newer subdivisions sit alongside older farmsteads along Highway 15, giving us a mix of architectural and older three-tab shingle roofs to inspect. Repair King has documented storm damage on a St. Augusta property along that corridor.
Last hail report nearby: Jul 18, 2025 (2")Sauk Rapids
Sauk Rapids grew up at the Mississippi River rapids that gave it its name and became the seat of Benton County; its first river bridge, built in 1876, was destroyed the same year and not rebuilt until 1879. This stretch of the river has also seen some of the biggest hail in the whole region, with a 2.5-inch stone reported near our Sauk Rapids job sites in July 2019. We've inspected an in-town roof here for the dents and cracked granulation that size of hail leaves behind.
Last hail report nearby: Aug 7, 2026 (1")Waite Park
Waite Park's identity is granite: quarries here supplied stone for buildings and monuments nationwide from the late 1800s into the 1950s, and the old pits are now Quarry Park & Nature Reserve. On the commercial side, we chalk-marked hail hits on the shingle roof at Waite Park's Culver's restaurant on 2nd Street South, tracing dents down to a hairline crack in the granulation. Homes near the old quarry district get the same close look at flashing and ridge lines.
Last hail report nearby: Aug 7, 2026 (1.5")Sauk Centre
Sauk Centre is where Sinclair Lewis grew up, in the house on Sinclair Lewis Avenue that's now a National Historic Landmark honoring America's first Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Along the Interstate 94 business strip we've walked the flat roof at Sauk Centre's McDonald's on Timberlane Drive, checking the membrane, drains and rooftop units against this area's storm history. In town, older homes near Main Street get the same hail and wind inspection homeowners ask for after a storm.
Last hail report nearby: Jul 4, 2026 (1")Glenwood
Glenwood has been the seat of Pope County since 1866 and sits at the east end of Lake Minnewaska, a lake big enough to fill the town's parks with visitors every summer. We've worked an exterior job at the Park Crest Place apartments on 6th Avenue SE, checking garages, carports and roof edges across the property. Homes closer to the lake see more wind exposure on their south and west-facing slopes.
Last hail report nearby: Jun 29, 2026 (1")Long Prairie
Long Prairie was the first white settlement in what became Todd County, chosen in 1848 as headquarters for the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) reservation before the reservation was ended in 1855. Homes and farm buildings here run from older two-story houses near downtown to newer construction on the edges of town. We've inspected a Long Prairie-area roof for hail and wind damage as part of our central Minnesota coverage.
Last hail report nearby: Jul 4, 2026 (1")Brainerd
Brainerd sits on the Mississippi River at the edge of the Brainerd Lakes Area, with Paul Bunyan Land welcoming visitors since 1954 and hundreds of area lakes drawing summer traffic through town. The same lines of summer storms that pass through Brainerd have dropped 2-inch hail near our job sites as recently as June 2022. We've been on a Brainerd-area roof documenting that kind of damage with dated photos.
Last hail report nearby: Sep 12, 2025 (1")Deerwood
Deerwood grew up on the Cuyuna Iron Range after the Kennedy shaft went into production in 1907 and the first ore shipped out in 1911, and its name and boundaries shifted as the local railroad expanded through the area. Our largest job here is Cascade United Methodist Church on County Road D-10, where we walked the full asphalt shingle roof, chalk-marking hail hits and checking every vent, valley and wall flashing. Homes on the Cuyuna-area lakes nearby get the same level of documentation.
Last hail report nearby: Jun 23, 2022 (1")Pequot Lakes
Pequot Lakes is known for its bobber water tower: a 106-foot tank built in 1960 and repainted as a giant red-and-white fishing bobber in 1987, still standing today even after a second, working water tower replaced it in 1999. Lake homes around Pequot Lakes take real wind off open water, and we pay close attention to ridge caps and rake edges on steep-pitched roofs here after a storm. We've inspected a Pequot Lakes-area roof for that kind of wind and hail damage.
Last hail report nearby: Apr 17, 2025 (1.5")Garrison
Garrison sits on the shore of Mille Lacs Lake, where the Civilian Conservation Corps built the Garrison Concourse between 1936 and 1939, a 330-foot arc of native pink and gray stone along the shoreline. Resort cabins and year-round homes here take plenty of open-water wind, and we check ridge caps, rakes and lakeside slopes closely. Repair King has inspected a Garrison-area roof for storm damage as part of our Mille Lacs coverage.
Last hail report nearby: Jun 27, 2022 (0.75")Motley
Motley was laid out in 1874 along the rail line, with lumber mills built by H.B. Morrison in 1878 and by Curtis and Lawrence in 1881 driving its early growth; the city now sits mostly in Morrison County with a small part in Cass County. Older homes near downtown and newer construction on the edges both get the same inspection for hail and wind wear. We've documented roof damage on a Motley-area property as part of our regional storm response.
Last hail report nearby: Jun 19, 2026 (1.75")Onamia
Onamia sits on the south shore of Lake Onamia, whose Ojibwe name means "dancing ground," just three miles south of Mille Lacs Lake along the main route north to Garrison. Homes and cabins here see the same lake-driven wind and hail exposure as the rest of the Mille Lacs shoreline, and we check ridge lines, vents and flashing accordingly. Repair King has inspected Onamia-area roofs for storm damage.
Last hail report nearby: Apr 17, 2025 (1")Finlayson
Finlayson was organized in 1895 and incorporated as a village in 1905, named for David Finlayson, a local sawmill proprietor, after the pine around the depot had been logged off. On Highway 23 we've worked on garage and outbuilding roofs on the same Finlayson property as America's Quality Inn & Suites, and we check commercial and residential roofs along that corridor the same way. Homes further into Pine County get the same documented inspection.
Ogilvie
Ogilvie was incorporated as a village in Kanabec County in 1902, named for landowner Oric Ogilvie Whited, on land the Hersey Lumber Company first purchased in 1854. It's a small town along Highway 23, with homes and farm buildings that see the same summer hail lines as the rest of Kanabec County. Repair King's free Roof & Storm Report covers Ogilvie addresses the same as anywhere else in this region.
Last hail report nearby: Jun 19, 2026 (1")Duluth
Duluth is the outlier on this list: a major Lake Superior port city with its own building department and its own commercial re-roofing permit policy, facing lake-effect snow and wind most of this region doesn't see. We've inspected a Duluth property, and for jobs here we pull permits through the City of Duluth rather than a county office and document ice-dam and wind damage the same way we do everywhere else in central Minnesota.
Last hail report nearby: Jul 26, 2021 (1")When storms last hit Central Minnesota & the Brainerd Lakes
This region stretches from the Mississippi River towns around St. Cloud to the Mille Lacs and Brainerd lakes and up to Lake Superior, so storm history varies block to block. Near our Deerwood church job, NOAA storm reports show 1.25-inch hail on September 14, 2018, and 1-inch hail as recently as June 23, 2022, with a 58-64 mph wind gust measured nearby in four separate years since 2015. Other job sites in this group have it worse: 2.5-inch hail was reported near our Sauk Rapids work on July 26, 2019, and 2-inch hail has hit near our Avon and Brainerd-area jobs since 2015 too. On a lake cabin or a flat commercial roof, hail that size cracks shingles, dents metal and rarely gets reported by anyone but us.
| Date | Type | What was reported |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 22, 2025 | Wind | Damaging wind reported (trees/limbs down) |
| Jul 31, 2024 | Wind | 58 mph wind gust measured |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports within 3 miles of the Deerwood church, Avon, Waite Park and Sauk Centre properties Repair King has worked on, through September 2026. Reports are from trained spotters and the public; hail can hit a street without a report.
What our inspection covers
- Every roof slope or membrane section walked, with hits chalk-marked and photographed
- Metal flashing, chimney caps, vents, gutters and downspouts checked for dents and cracks
- Lakeside and wind-exposed slopes checked separately from sheltered ones
- Dated, GPS-tagged photo report you keep, whether it's a cabin, a farmhouse or a church
Check your own address
Our free Roof & Storm Report looks up hail and wind history for your exact address, not just the city.
Real jobs from around the region
Photos taken by Repair King crews at Central Minnesota & the Brainerd Lakes properties. Dates are the capture dates from our job camera.
Permits across a lot of small towns
Most of the towns on this page don't run their own building department. Roof permits for St. Augusta, Avon, Pierz and the surrounding townships go through Stearns or Morrison County; Long Prairie and Sauk Centre area townships go through Todd County; Glenwood-area work goes through Pope County; Garrison, Onamia and Mille Lacs-area work goes through Mille Lacs County; Ogilvie goes through Kanabec County; and Finlayson goes through Pine County. Deerwood, Brainerd, Pequot Lakes and Motley fall under Crow Wing (and, for part of Motley, Cass County).
Duluth is the exception: it runs its own building department with a published Commercial Re-Roofing Permit Requirements Policy for low-slope and membrane roofs. Repair King pulls permits under our Minnesota contractor license (BC695228) and confirms the right office, city or county, before we schedule any job.
Statewide, the Minnesota Residential and Building Codes require an ice-barrier membrane at the eaves on most roofs in this snow zone, regardless of which office issues the permit.
One region, a lot of different roofs
This part of Minnesota doesn't have one look. There are Mississippi River towns with 1800s brick churches, granite-quarry towns, farmland dotted with steel-roofed machine sheds, resort lake shorelines around Brainerd and Mille Lacs, and Duluth's lake-effect weather up on Superior. What ties our work together is the same documentation on every job, whether it's a farmhouse roof, an apartment building or Cascade United Methodist Church.
Central Minnesota & the Brainerd Lakes roofing questions
Do I need a permit to replace my roof if I live outside city limits?
Almost always, yes, through your county rather than a city office. Morrison, Stearns, Todd, Pope, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs, Kanabec and Pine Counties each issue building permits for reroofing outside incorporated cities. Tell us your address and we'll confirm the right office.
Is Duluth's roofing permit process different from the smaller towns?
Yes. Duluth runs its own building department with a specific commercial re-roofing policy, unlike most of the small towns on this page, which route permits through the county. We handle both.
Does Repair King do commercial roofs in this region, or just homes?
Both. Our largest commercial job in this group is Cascade United Methodist Church in Deerwood, and we've also worked on commercial roofs at a restaurant in Waite Park and a flat commercial roof in Sauk Centre.
Do you inspect lake cabins around Brainerd, Pequot Lakes and Mille Lacs?
Yes. Lakeside roofs take more wind off open water, so we pay extra attention to ridge caps, rake edges and exposed south and west slopes on cabin and lake-home roofs.
When did hail last hit this area?
It depends on the town. NOAA storm reports show 2.5-inch hail near Sauk Rapids on July 26, 2019, and 2-inch hail near Avon, Brainerd and Glenwood as recently as 2022 and 2026. Run a free Roof & Storm Report for your exact address to see the local history.
My town isn't on your Woodbury-style city pages. Do you still serve it?
Yes. St. Cloud, Sartell, Royalton, Bowlus and Crosslake each have their own dedicated page; the towns on this page share this regional one because each is a smaller market on its own. Coverage and documentation are identical either way.
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