Historic red-brick Romanesque Revival apartment building on East 18th Street in Minneapolis, photographed during a Repair King roof project, September 2023

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis roof inspections, reroofs & storm repair for homes, duplexes and apartment buildings

Repair King has 314 Minneapolis projects in our job records, from the 1894 Scottish Rite Temple in Lowry Hill and a Romanesque Revival apartment building in Stevens Square to Nordeast bungalows, Elliot Park rental houses and a south Minneapolis fire rebuild. We chalk-mark and photograph hail hits on shingle and flat roofs alike, pull the city permit, and flag Heritage Preservation Commission or rental-licensing steps before they slow your job down.

Get My Free Roof & Storm Report (612) 354-7677

314Minneapolis projects in our job records

12,900+Minneapolis job photos taken by our crews

2009Licensed Minnesota contractor (BC695228) since

~20 minFrom 680 Transfer Rd to Minneapolis via I-94

The Hail Clock · Minneapolis

Hail hit Minneapolis on Jun 19. Your one-year clock is running.

Many Minnesota policies give you one year from the hail date. You shouldn't have to know that date, so we checked local weather and meteorology reports for you.

Checking local weather and meteorology reports for Minneapolis…

Local storm reports
Hail 1″ and larger
Last 12 months

HAIL FOUND · CLOCK RUNNING

Local weather reports show 2″ hail near Minneapolis on June 19, 2026. Here is the time left on that one-year mark.

0days

00hours

00min

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One-year mark:

Roofing weatherWinter: roofing slows or stops

0real roofing days left after winter and an example 60-day claim process

0days until winter (mid-Nov) slows roofing

Hail is block by block.

A city report can miss your street. Check your exact address for free: hail dates, sizes and how close it came.

Check my address

Hail dates: local weather and meteorology reports near Minneapolis. Winter: local weather records for Minneapolis-St. Paul, 30 winters, July 1996 to June 2026: an average of 107 days a year never get above 40°F (range 76 to 136). General information, not legal advice. Your policy's "Suit Against Us" section sets your actual deadline, and some claims get two years (Minn. Stat. §65A.01) instead of one (§65A.26).

Two-story lap-sided rental house with three mailboxes on the porch in the Elliot Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, with a loose strip of shingles on the porch roof, August 2023

Why Minneapolis is different

Why do so many Minneapolis roof jobs involve duplexes and rental buildings?

Because most Minneapolis homes are rented. Census QuickFacts puts the city's owner-occupied rate at 47.7%, against 72.2% for Minnesota as a whole, and the Metropolitan Council estimates about 29,300 Minneapolis housing units sit in duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. That means a lot of roofs here have an owner who doesn't live under them, several households who do, and a city rental license riding on the building's condition.

Minneapolis leaned into that housing type on purpose. Its Minneapolis 2040 plan, in effect since January 1, 2020, made it the first large American city to end single-family-only zoning, so up to three units are now allowed on residential lots across the city. Much of the stock is old: the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey counts about 88,000 of the city's roughly 216,000 housing units, around 41%, as built in 1939 or earlier.

For a roofer that changes the job. An up-and-down duplex or a converted Victorian often has a main roof, a porch roof for each entrance and a dormer or two, all on board-sheathed decks. After hail we photograph each of those surfaces separately, plus the siding, screens and gutters on every side, so an owner who lives across town can see exactly what we saw.

Every rental unit in Minneapolis needs a rental license, including the rented half of an owner-occupied duplex, and the city scores property condition when it sets each license's inspection tier. A dated photo report of the roof gives landlords and property managers a clear record of the building's condition to work from.

Commercial work

Bobby & Steve's on Washington Avenue, plus a Cedar Avenue restaurant, apartment buildings and a church

A lot of Minneapolis roofing isn't a single-family shingle job. Downtown we've been on the ballasted flat roof of Bobby & Steve's Auto World on Washington Avenue South, and around the city we've documented flat-roofed apartment buildings, a Cedar Avenue restaurant and a century-old church campus, building the photo record owners, managers and boards actually need.

Rooftop HVAC units on the river-rock ballasted flat roof of Bobby & Steve's Auto World on Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, with the skyline behind — Bobby & Steve's Auto World, 1221 Washington Ave S, downtown
Downtown drivers know this Washington Avenue gas station and car wash a few blocks from U.S. Bank Stadium. Its flat roof is a river-rock ballasted membrane crowded with rooftop HVAC units, exhaust fans and skylights. Our inspection photos work curb by curb: stained, ponded areas around the units, chalk-marked spots on the black membrane flashing, and open, split corners where the flashing meets the curbs, all with the downtown skyline behind.

White membrane flat roof of Sagal Restaurant on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis, with the Cedar Cultural Center marquee across the street — Sagal Restaurant & Coffee, Cedar Avenue, Cedar-Riverside
In December 2023 we were up on the white membrane roof at this Cedar Avenue restaurant building, right across the street from the Cedar Cultural Center marquee. Flat commercial roofs in Cedar-Riverside take heavy snow load and ponding, so we document seams, parapet caps and every penetration.

Brick apartment building entrance at 1800 in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis — Stevens Square apartment buildings, Stevens & Clinton Avenues
We've been on the flat membrane roofs of four apartment buildings within a few blocks of each other in the Stevens Square-Loring Heights neighborhood — 1800 Clinton Ave, 1900 and 1901 Stevens Ave, and the historic Nokoma co-op on 3rd Ave S — photographing membrane seams, drains and downtown-facing parapets for the ownership and management groups behind them.

Cross and cupola on the shingled roof of the Creekside UCC (formerly Mayflower Community Congregational Church) building in Minneapolis — Creekside UCC (formerly Mayflower Community Congregational Church), 106 E Diamond Lake Rd
This south Minneapolis congregation marked 100 years as Mayflower before taking the name Creekside UCC in 2025. We documented the shingled sanctuary roof, the cupola and cross, and the building's rooftop solar array and flat membrane sections during an October 2024 inspection.

Tear-off or recover

Tear off or roof over? The rule for Minneapolis flat roofs

A new membrane can sometimes go right over an existing flat roof, which skips tear-off and keeps debris away from tenants. Minnesota's building code doesn't allow it when the existing roof is water-soaked or deteriorated, is tile or slate, or already has two or more roof coverings. A core cut and moisture check decide which side of that line a building is on.

What the code saysMinnesota adopts the 2018 International Building Code, and section 1511.3.1.1 lists the three conditions where a roof recover is not permitted. Anything wet has to come off.

Why a recover is attractiveDuro-Last notes that its system can often be installed over an existing roof, which avoids tear-off costs and keeps weather and debris out of occupied units.

Light on old buildingsA 50-mil Duro-Last membrane weighs about 0.29 lb per sq ft. That's worth knowing on a century-old apartment building in Stevens Square or Elliot Park.

Proof before promisesWe cut cores and photograph each layer, so the tear-off vs. recover decision is based on what's actually on the roof.

Code references: Minnesota Rules 1305.0011 and 1305.1511 (2020 Minnesota Building Code, based on the 2018 IBC). Your city's building official has the final say. Product facts from Duro-Last's published product data (duro-last.com). Repair King is an independent licensed Minnesota contractor (BC695228).

Commercial roofing Flat roof options

Minneapolis neighborhoods

What we find depends on which Minneapolis block we're on

Minneapolis annexed and built out in waves, from 1880s streetcar rowhouses to 1920s bungalows to postwar rentals, and the roofs we inspect reflect that timeline as much as any storm.

Stevens Square-Loring Heights

Locally designated a historic district in 1989 and listed on the National Register in 1993, this small near-downtown neighborhood is packed with 3½-story brick "midwestern walk-up" apartment buildings built between 1912 and 1926. Roof and exterior work on buildings inside the district needs Heritage Preservation Commission sign-off, which we flag before we ever pull a permit.

Northeast Minneapolis (Nordeast)

Settled from the 1880s on by Polish, Ukrainian, Italian and Scandinavian immigrant families drawn to the riverfront mills, Nordeast is still known for a church on nearly every corner and steep-roofed two-story homes on narrow lots. Our Grand Street and Cleveland Street NE jobs are typical: older decking, multiple layers of old shingles, and chimneys that need new flashing.

North Minneapolis

Housing here runs from turn-of-the-century two-stories near the river to postwar rental bungalows further out toward Camden and Folwell, most of it built before 1939. Absentee owners and property managers make up a big share of the roofs we inspect north of Broadway.

Kingfield and the Diamond Lake corridor

South Minneapolis blocks like Kingfield have some of the city's oldest housing stock — about three-quarters of Kingfield's single-family homes were built before 1920. Creekside UCC's building on Diamond Lake Road sits in this same older, tree-covered part of south Minneapolis.

Minneapolis homes & buildings

What are Minneapolis homes and buildings built like?

Minneapolis is an older, denser and more rental-heavy city than the rest of the metro. Roughly four in ten housing units were built before 1940, the median building dates to 1954, and just over half of homes are rented, so we plan most inspections around older decks, multiple roof sections and owners who may not live on site.

Local factor	What we see in Minneapolis	Why it matters for repairs
Housing age	About 41% of housing units built in 1939 or earlier; median year built 1954 (Census ACS 2024)	Older homes often have board-sheathed decks, several old shingle layers and chimneys that need new flashing, which we price in before tear-off, not after.
Home types	About 72,000 single-family detached homes and about 29,300 units in duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes (Met Council 2025 estimates)	Up-and-down duplexes and converted houses have porch roofs, dormers and additions that each need their own photos and flashing checks.
Who owns the roof	Owner-occupied rate 47.7% (Census QuickFacts, 2020–2024); every rental unit needs a city rental license	Many owners never see their own roof. A dated photo report stands in for a site visit and supports the rental file.
Siding and trim	Lap siding, stucco and brick on pre-war houses; brick and stone on walk-ups, churches and older commercial blocks	Hail marks show differently on each surface, so we check every elevation, not just the roof.
Trees	The Park Board cares for nearly 200,000 boulevard trees on about 1,100 miles of streets	Branches overhang many roofs. After wind, a limb strike can crack decking that looks fine from the sidewalk.
Commercial and apartment roofs	Flat membrane, coated and gravel roofs on apartment buildings, restaurants and venues, plus steep shingle roofs and stone towers on historic churches	Low-slope roofs need drains, seams, parapets and rooftop units checked; Minneapolis also limits how many membranes can be stacked on a roof.

Project files

Minneapolis project files: a downtown gas station, a landmark temple, a music venue, a fire rebuild and a rental portfolio

Five real Minneapolis jobs, described only from the photos and records our crews created on site, commercial first. Owner names and house numbers are left out.

Rust-colored ponding stain spreading from a rooftop unit curb across the ballast on the Bobby & Steve's Auto World roof in downtown Minneapolis

Bobby & Steve's Auto World, downtown Minneapolis

Property: Gas station, convenience store and car wash at 1221 Washington Ave S, with a river-rock ballasted flat roof, rooftop HVAC units, exhaust fans and skylights
Work: Flat roof inspection, walked unit by unit, with close-ups of every curb and flashing detail
Found: Rust-colored ponding stains around rooftop unit curbs, chalk-marked spots and pull-backs on the black membrane flashing, split and open corners where flashing turns up the curbs, conduit runs resting on the ballast, and skylight curbs photographed on every side

Pink sandstone Scottish Rite Temple in Minneapolis with a conical turret and large stained-glass window, photographed during a Repair King inspection in March 2024

Scottish Rite Temple (former Fowler Methodist Episcopal Church), Lowry Hill

Property: 1894 Romanesque stone church at Dupont and Franklin Avenues, expanded in 1906 and listed on the National Register in 1976; now home to the Scottish Rite Valley of Minneapolis
Work: Drone survey and full exterior and roof documentation
Found: Drone photos of the stone turret tops and the flat roof deck between them; steep shingle slopes, stone chimneys, dormers, copper-green trim and the low-slope sections photographed from above and on foot
When: October 2023 and March 2024

Rooftop HVAC unit and ductwork on the coated flat roof of the Cabooze on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis, with the West Bank skyline behind, June 2023

The Cabooze, Cedar Avenue on the West Bank

Property: Music venue at 913 Cedar Ave, open since July 31, 1974, with a coated flat roof over the club and bar
Work: Flat roof inspection and photo documentation
Found: Ponding rings and dark staining across the coated roof surface; curbs, ductwork and rooftop HVAC units photographed; measured close-ups of marks on the membrane
When: June 2023

Interior of a south Minneapolis house taken down to the studs during a fire rebuild, with new framing lumber under the original board roof deck, May 2026

South Minneapolis fire restoration

Property: Two-story stucco house a couple of blocks south of Lake Street, first inspected by us for its roof in May 2023
Work: Fire damage documentation and rebuild
Found: Charred rafters and board roof sheathing, collapsed ceilings, and moisture-meter readings taken throughout the house in July 2025; the interior was then taken down to the studs
Result: New framing lumber installed alongside the original rafters, with the old board sheathing coated white, as seen in May 2026 photos
When: July 2025 to summer 2026

Light-blue three-story rental house with an arched dormer in the Elliot Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, photographed during a storm inspection in August 2023

Seven rental buildings for one owner, Elliot Park

Property: Older two- and three-story rental houses on East 16th Street, Park Avenue and Portland Avenue, just south of downtown
Work: Storm inspections across a small rental portfolio
Found: Every elevation photographed: lap siding, corner trim, window screens, downspouts and porch roofs, with a loose strip of porch-roof shingles on one building
When: August 2023

Hail & storm history

When storms last hit Minneapolis

Minneapolis sits in the middle of the Twin Cities' hail corridor. Local storm reports logged 2" hail near our Minneapolis job sites on June 19, 2026 and again on September 21, 2025, with the largest hail we've had reported here reaching 3" on August 11, 2023. Damaging wind gusts up to 62 mph were reported on July 27, 2025. Hail and wind that size can bruise shingles, crack vent caps, dent gutters and rooftop units, and split flat membrane roofs, even when nothing looks wrong from the sidewalk or the parking lot.

Jun 19, 2026Last hail report near Minneapolis (2")

3"Largest hail reported near Minneapolis since 2015 (Aug 11, 2023)

27Days with 1"+ hail reported near Minneapolis since 2015

Date	Type	What was reported	What to check
Jun 19, 2026	Hail	2" hail reported	Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens
Jun 9, 2026	Wind	Damaging wind reported (trees/limbs down)	Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding
Sep 21, 2025	Hail	2" hail reported	Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens
Aug 15, 2025	Hail	1" hail reported	Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens
Aug 8, 2025	Wind	Damaging wind reported (trees/limbs down)	Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding
Jul 28, 2025	Wind	60 mph wind gust measured	Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding
Jul 27, 2025	Wind	62 mph wind gust measured	Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding

Source: Local weather and meteorology reports within 3 miles of Minneapolis 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 shingle slope or flat/membrane roof section walked, hits chalk-marked and photographed
Soft metals checked: vent caps, gutters, downspouts, coping, rooftop units, AC fins
Siding and screens checked on houses; parapets, drains and membrane seams checked on apartment and commercial buildings
Dated, GPS-tagged photo report you keep

Check your own address

Our free Roof & Storm Report looks up hail and wind history for your exact address, not just the city.

Run My Storm Report

Job photos

Real Minneapolis jobs, from our job camera

Exhaust fans and rooftop units on the ballasted roof at Bobby & Steve's on Washington Avenue, downtown Minneapolis

Chalk-circled spot on the membrane flashing at a rooftop unit curb, Bobby & Steve's, downtown Minneapolis

Looking down Washington Avenue from the Bobby & Steve's roof toward the downtown Minneapolis skyline

American Foursquare home in south Minneapolis, photographed during a roof project, October 2023

Triple-gable home on Grand Street NE in Northeast Minneapolis, photographed during an inspection, December 2025

North Minneapolis bungalow with a folk-art eagle over the porch, photographed during a roof project, October 2025

Hail hit chalk-marked on a north Minneapolis roof during an inspection, September 2025

Aerial view of a finished roof off Cleveland Street in Northeast Minneapolis, August 2024

Heat-welding a membrane seam on a flat commercial roof near Snelling Avenue, Minneapolis, September 2026

Photos taken by Repair King crews at Minneapolis properties. CompanyCam captions carry the capture month; the Bobby & Steve's photos come from our job album.

Codes & permits

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Minneapolis?

Yes. Minneapolis requires a building permit for all reroofing work except repairs using less than one bundle of shingles (about 33 square feet). Repairs to rafters or trusses need an additional permit and a framing inspection, and every reroof ends with a final inspection.

The City of Minneapolis requires a building permit to reroof a house, duplex or commercial building; the only exception is a repair using less than one bundle of shingles (33⅓ square feet). If rafters or trusses need repair, as they often do after a fire or a tree strike, the city requires a second permit and a framing inspection. Pitched residential roofs and low-slope commercial and apartment roofs follow different requirements. Repair King pulls the permit under our Minnesota contractor license (BC695228).

Minneapolis has more than 200 locally designated landmarks and historic districts, including Stevens Square. Exterior work on a building inside one of these districts — roofing included — needs Heritage Preservation Commission review before the city issues a permit. We identify this during the inspection, not after you've already applied.

Every Minneapolis rental property needs a current rental dwelling license, and the city assigns each one a property-conditions tier that sets how often it gets inspected and what it costs to renew. A 2025 city ordinance now requires council approval to renew a license for the most cited buildings. A documented, up-to-date roof is one less item working against your tier when renewal season comes around.

The city's roofing guide for one- and two-family homes notes that many shingle makers won't allow their shingles on board decks wider than 6 inches nominal, which matters on pre-war Minneapolis houses. Ice barrier is required from the eave to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall. On flat roofs, Minneapolis policy allows no more than two membranes, so a third layer means a tear-off.

Local

Where in Minneapolis does Repair King work?

All over the city. Our 314 Minneapolis projects run from Stevens Square walk-ups and Elliot Park rentals near downtown to Nordeast, North Minneapolis, Lowry Hill and the south Minneapolis blocks around Lake Street and Diamond Lake Road.

Minneapolis is a city of distinct, mostly pre-war neighborhoods stitched together by the Mississippi River and the chain of lakes, and our 314 Minneapolis projects are spread across nearly all of them — brick walk-ups near downtown, worker cottages in Nordeast, foursquares near the lakes and rental bungalows further north. We work from our shop at 680 Transfer Rd in St. Paul's Midway, about 20 minutes away on I-94. After hail or wind, call or text and we'll get an inspection scheduled, whether it's one house or a whole apartment portfolio.

Inspect first

Storm damage in Minneapolis: what should you do first?

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.

1 · InspectWe check the roof, soft metals, gutters, siding and windows, and we check the storm history for your address.

2 · DocumentYou get a dated photo report of everything we observe, damage or not.

3 · DecideYou choose the next step: repair, replace, or keep an eye on it. We explain the repair options and give you a written estimate.

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.

Owner resources

Minneapolis property owner resources

Official links worth bookmarking, whether or not you ever hire us.

FAQ

Minneapolis roofing questions

Do I need a permit to reroof in Minneapolis?

Yes. Minneapolis requires a building permit for all reroofing except repairs using less than one bundle of shingles (33⅓ square feet), and rafter or truss repairs need a separate permit and framing inspection. Repair King pulls the permit under our Minnesota contractor license (BC695228).

When did hail last hit Minneapolis?

Local storm reports show 2-inch hail near our Minneapolis job sites on June 19, 2026 and September 21, 2025. The largest hail reported here since 2015 was 3 inches on August 11, 2023, and there have been 27 days with hail of 1 inch or larger in that time. Run a free Roof & Storm Report for the history at your exact address.

I own a duplex in Minneapolis and live in one unit. Does the rental side need a license?

Yes. The city requires a rental license for rented units in owner-occupied duplexes, the same as for single-family rentals. Property condition feeds into each license's inspection tier, so a documented, well-kept roof is one less item working against you.

My building is in a Minneapolis historic district — does that affect my roof?

It can. Minneapolis has over 200 locally designated landmarks and historic districts, including Stevens Square. Exterior work on a building inside one of these districts, including roofing, needs Heritage Preservation Commission review before the city will issue a permit. We flag this during your inspection.

A boulevard tree fell on my Minneapolis house. Who removes it?

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board does. After a storm, its crews clear emergency routes and streets first, then remove downed boulevard trees from houses; call 612-313-7710 to report one. Once the tree is off, we can inspect and photograph the roof, decking and gutters it hit.

Does Repair King do fire restoration in Minneapolis?

Yes. Our south Minneapolis fire file runs from documenting charred rafters and roof sheathing in July 2025 through a rebuild down to the studs. Structural repairs like that need a Minneapolis framing permit and inspection, which we handle with the rest of the permit work.

Does Repair King work on apartment and commercial roofs in Minneapolis?

Yes. Our Minneapolis files include the Scottish Rite Temple, the Cabooze on Cedar Avenue, flat-roof apartment buildings in Stevens Square and a church campus on Diamond Lake Road, in addition to houses across the city.

Have you worked on commercial roofs in downtown Minneapolis?

Yes. We inspected the ballasted flat roof at Bobby & Steve's Auto World on Washington Avenue South, photographing every rooftop unit curb, skylight and flashing corner. Downtown flat roofs carry a lot of equipment, and the curbs are where we look first.

What do I get from a Repair King inspection?

A dated photo report covering roof slopes or membrane, vents, flashing, gutters, siding and windows. We document what we find; coverage questions go to your insurer.

Can a new flat roof go over my old one?

Sometimes. Minnesota's building code allows a roof recover unless the existing roof is water-soaked or deteriorated, is slate or tile, or already has two or more coverings. We cut a core to check before recommending either option.

How many roof layers are allowed on a commercial building in Minnesota?

Once a roof has two or more applications of roof covering, the 2018 IBC as adopted in Minnesota does not permit another recover. The roof has to be torn off to the deck before the new one goes on.

Book a free roof inspection

No cost, no pressure. You get photos of everything we find.

Prefer to talk? (612) 354-7677

Minneapolis roof inspections, reroofs & storm repair for homes, duplexes and apartment buildings

Hail hit Minneapolis on Jun 19. Your one-year clock is running.

Why do so many Minneapolis roof jobs involve duplexes and rental buildings?

Bobby & Steve's on Washington Avenue, plus a Cedar Avenue restaurant, apartment buildings and a church

Bobby & Steve's Auto World, 1221 Washington Ave S, downtown

Sagal Restaurant & Coffee, Cedar Avenue, Cedar-Riverside

Stevens Square apartment buildings, Stevens & Clinton Avenues

Creekside UCC (formerly Mayflower Community Congregational Church), 106 E Diamond Lake Rd