Richfield grew from 3,778 people in 1940 to more than 42,000 by 1960, and most of its roofs still sit on houses from that boom. Repair King re-roofed a stone-faced story-and-a-half in east Richfield in April 2025, found the original board decking under the old shingles, and flashed the new roof into the stone gable walls. The Bloomington Lincoln dealership just across I-494, where we installed a Duro-Last flat roof, is one of our best-known commercial jobs. We pull the Richfield permit and keep the sheathing and flashing photos the city asks for at final inspection.
I felt very comfortable because of his professionalism. He allowed me not to sign a piece of paper until I spoke with my husband, because my husband wasn't home at the time, and a lot of the contractors weren't allowing that.
[Ginger] We first met Mike when he came to our door after a storm, and it was very nice. He was very professional, and he was professionally dressed. As a woman alone at home, when he stopped and rang the doorbell after a storm, he was actually non-threatening. I felt very comfortable because of his professionalism, and he continued that throughout. He allowed me not to sign a piece of paper until I spoke with my husband, because my husband wasn't home at the time, and a lot of the contractors weren't allowing that, so that was very helpful for us as well. The other thing he did was give me a card so that I could research him online and make sure he really was who he said he was, and then talk to some other people in the neighborhood and in the area, so I could see what he had done. That professionalism kept going throughout the whole job, because he continued to have good cleanup. If I had any questions, even on a Saturday night, I had his phone number to call, which was very helpful for me, so I wasn't stressed out about how the job was going. [Dean] We didn't know who to go to. We'd never had any issues before and never had to have any contractor work before. Mike was able to help us out, because we had multiple things we had to deal with on the house. We had our roof, we had damage to the garage door, we had damage to the deck and the fencing. We had all kinds of different things. Mike was able to come in with his company, Repair King, work all those different angles and bring everybody else in for us. [Ginger] We were very lucky to meet Mike with Repair King, who gave us a wonderful experience out of something that wasn't. Because of his professionalism and Repair King, I would definitely recommend that you give him a call.
On many Richfield homes from the postwar boom, the roof deck is the original: rows of solid boards instead of plywood or OSB panels. Boards shrink, split and leave gaps, so shingle nails can miss or work loose. Richfield's reroofing handout asks for photos of the roof sheathing or roof boards at final inspection, so the deck gets checked on every tear-off.
Richfield's own history says the city became a popular home for returning World War II veterans, and its population grew from under 10,000 to 42,500 between 1940 and 1960. The city's comprehensive plan cites a Richfield HRA study that found nearly 93% of its single-family houses are ramblers or expansion bungalows, most of them one or one-and-a-half stories. That means low attics, half-story knee walls and chimneys set right through the roof.
Our April 2025 job in east Richfield was a stone-faced story-and-a-half. When the old shingles came off, the crew found spaced board decking, which we measured and photographed before new sheathing panels went down. The gable walls are stone veneer, so the roof-to-wall joints needed new step flashing and ice and water membrane turned up against the stone. Richfield's handout calls for exactly those photos: sheathing, new sidewall step flashing, kick-out flashing, chimney crickets and other flashings.
The handout also says new roofing can't go over wood shake, slate, clay or asbestos-cement tile, or over two or more existing layers. It requires ice and water protection at the eaves and asks for added attic ventilation where the house falls short of code. On a small 1950s attic, that ventilation check matters as much as the shingles.
The Bloomington Lincoln dealership at 7800 Dupont Ave S sits just across I-494 from Richfield, on the same Dupont Avenue that runs through Richfield's south side. It's in Bloomington, not Richfield, but many Richfield drivers pass it every day.
Repair King installed a Duro-Last membrane roof on the dealership's showroom and service building. The drone footage at the top of our Bloomington page flies over it. This frame shows how much roof is up there: long runs of membrane, parapet walls and a scatter of rooftop units.
During our July 2024 inspection of the old Bloomington Lincoln roof we photographed every rooftop unit curb. This one shows the base of a metal curb with worn, patched membrane around it. Worn curbs like this were among the conditions documented before the roof was replaced.
Richfield's housing is unusually uniform. The median home was built in 1959, and 5,347 of its 17,183 homes went up in the 1950s. Add 2,866 from the 1940s and the city is mostly small postwar houses, with apartment buildings along the main corridors and large office and retail buildings near I-494, including Best Buy's headquarters.
| Local factor | What we see in Richfield | Why it matters for repairs |
|---|---|---|
| Housing age | Median year built 1959. 5,347 homes from the 1950s, 2,866 from the 1940s and 2,662 from the 1960s (Census ACS 2020-2024) | Homes this age often still have board decking. We budget for deck repairs before tear-off instead of surprising you mid-job |
| House types | Nearly 93% of single-family houses are ramblers or expansion bungalows, mostly 1 or 1.5 stories (Richfield comprehensive plan, citing the HRA) | Half-story roofs have knee walls and short attics, the usual source of ice dams and poor ventilation |
| Housing mix | 10,173 single-family detached homes; 3,166 homes in buildings of 50+ units; 6,361 of 16,547 households rent | Rental and apartment roofs need the owner or manager to approve the scope and see a written condition report |
| Stone and brick walls | Postwar cottages with stone veneer, brick chimneys and gable walls that rise above the roof | Every roof-to-wall joint needs step flashing and counter flashing; the city asks for photos of it |
| Wind exposure | 19 days with damaging wind reported near our Richfield job since 2015, including a 60 mph gust measured at MSP Airport on July 28, 2025 | Wind lifts shingle tabs and ridge caps before it breaks anything. We check seal strips on every slope |
| Airport neighbor | MSP Airport borders the city; Richfield is one of the cities in MAC's noise mitigation consent decree | Homes in the program area may have had sound-insulation work. We note vents, attic insulation and ventilation before re-roofing |
Real Richfield jobs from our CompanyCam records, with photos our crews took on site. Homeowners aren't named and house numbers are left off.
NOAA storm reports put 1.25-inch hail near our Richfield job on August 11, 2023, the largest reported there since 2015. Before that, August 2020 brought three hail days in four weeks: 1.25 inches on August 10, 1 inch on August 14 and 0.88 inch on September 6. Wind is the bigger story in Richfield. A 60 mph gust was reported on July 28, 2025, and 2024 brought 64 mph on July 14, 60 mph on July 31 and 58 and 61 mph on August 26 and 27.
| Date | Type | What was reported | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2025 | Wind | 60 mph wind gust measured | Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding |
| Aug 27, 2024 | Wind | 61 mph wind gust measured | Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding |
| Aug 26, 2024 | Wind | 58 mph wind gust measured | Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding |
| Jul 31, 2024 | Wind | 60 mph wind gust measured | Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding |
| Jul 14, 2024 | Wind | 64 mph wind gust measured | Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding |
| Sep 29, 2023 | Wind | 66 mph wind gust measured | Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding |
| 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 Richfield property in our storm records (east Richfield), 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 crews at Richfield properties. Dates are the capture dates from our job camera.
Yes. Richfield's reroofing handout applies to all buildings where part or all of the roof covering is replaced, and re-roofing permits can be issued at the time of application. The fee follows the city's valuation schedule, and reroofs are exempt from the plan review fee.
Richfield's January 2024 fee schedule starts at a $65 minimum and charges $83.50 for the first $2,000 of work plus $16.55 for each additional $1,000 up to $25,000, plus the state surcharge. The same schedule lists commercial and residential reroofs as having no plan review fee. Your exact fee depends on the job value on the permit.
Richfield requires one final inspection. For it, the city asks for photos of the roof sheathing or roof boards, the new sidewall step flashing, kick-out flashing, chimney crickets and other flashings. Deteriorated flashing has to be replaced. The handout also requires a chimney cricket when a chimney is wider than 30 inches along the ridge line and doesn't meet the ridge. Repair King photographs each of those items on every job.
The city's building inspections office is at 6700 Portland Ave S (612-861-9860), and permits run through the city's online portal. All roofing contractors have to be licensed by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Repair King pulls permits under Minnesota license BC695228.
Richfield is a first-ring Hennepin County suburb of about 7 square miles, directly south of Minneapolis and next to MSP Airport. It became a village in 1908 and holds town meeting records back to May 11, 1858, the day Minnesota became a state.
The name comes from the rich farmland that covered the area before the postwar building boom. Today Best Buy's headquarters is the city's top employer, with about 5,200 people, and the park system covers more than 460 acres in 21 parks. Wood Lake Nature Center is the best known of them: once a recreational lake ringed by homes, it lost much of its water in the 1950s, and the city dedicated it in 1971 as one of the first municipal nature centers in Minnesota. Homes near the airport can fall inside the Metropolitan Airports Commission's noise mitigation program, which covers eligible houses in Richfield, Minneapolis and Eagan. Richfield also runs a point-of-sale inspection program for homes being sold.
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.
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Yes. Richfield's reroofing handout covers any building where part or all of the roof covering is replaced. Re-roofing permits can be issued at the time of application, the fee follows the city's valuation schedule, and there is no plan review fee for reroofs. Repair King pulls it for you.
Photos of the roof sheathing or roof boards, new sidewall step flashing, kick-out flashing, chimney crickets and other flashings. We take those photos during the job and keep them with your file.
Often some of it. Many Richfield homes from that era have board decking instead of plywood. We check it at tear-off, photograph it and replace or cover what isn't sound, and we tell you up front how deck work is priced.
Only if the existing roof is sound and has just one layer. Richfield's handout says the old roof must come off if it's water-soaked or deteriorated, if it's wood shake, slate, clay or asbestos-cement tile, or if it already has two or more layers.
NOAA reports show 1.25-inch hail near our Richfield job on August 11, 2023, the largest there since 2015. Wind has been more frequent: a 60 mph gust on July 28, 2025 and four damaging-wind days in the summer of 2024. Run a free Roof & Storm Report for your exact address.
Yes. We installed a Duro-Last membrane roof on the Bloomington Lincoln dealership at 7800 Dupont Ave S, just across I-494 from Richfield, after documenting the old roof in July 2024.
The roof-to-wall joints. Each one needs step flashing woven into the shingles and a way to shed water off the stone. On our 2025 east Richfield job we turned ice and water membrane up the stone walls and installed new wall flashing before the shingles.
We document what we find; coverage questions go to your insurer. You get a dated photo report either way.
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