St. Paul Park is a Mississippi River town where houses from almost every decade since 1887 share the same streets. Repair King serves St. Paul Park for roof, siding and storm inspections; on Portland Avenue we chalk-marked hail hits and photographed a home on every side in September 2025. Just up Hastings Avenue in Newport, our crews worked on the roofs at Red Rock Lodge. Residential roofing permits here are a set fee through Rum River Consultants, and we file them for you.
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.
Because the town was laid out for a boom that stopped. St. Paul Park was platted in 1887 for thousands of factory workers, the panic of 1893 ended the boom, and in 1908 the sheriff auctioned more than 4,000 unsold lots. Those lots filled in slowly for the next century, so a 1920s house, a 1960s rambler and a 2000s home can sit side by side, each with a different roof deck under the shingles.
The St. Paul Park Improvement Company bought William Fowler's farm in 1887. Within a year the village had about 1,200 people, more than 200 homes and a dozen factories on its own rail spur, from the St. Paul Knitting Works to sleigh and carriage makers. Commuters rode the 'Burlington Motor' train from St. Paul: 25 minutes, 6 cents. Then the money ran out. Many idle factories burned, and the lots went to auction.
The Census numbers show the slow refill: 109 homes from before 1940, 174 from the 1940s, 344 from the 1950s and 549 from the 1960s, the busiest decade. The 1980s added 417 more, including the 175 homes of Stevens Ridge, and the 2000s added 362 after the city annexed land from Grey Cloud Island Township in 2005. There are also 184 manufactured homes.
For a roofer, that means you can't assume what's under the shingles. Older houses often have plank board decking with gaps between the boards; newer ones have plywood or OSB. On a tear-off we measure the gaps and photograph any boards that need replacing before new shingles go down, like we did on the Red Rock Lodge job in Newport.
Red Rock Lodge is the long, low motel at 1280 Hastings Avenue in Newport, just north of St. Paul Park. Our job albums follow Repair King's work there from inspection to tear-off. These photos are from Newport, not St. Paul Park.
The Repair King sign out front of the lodge's single-story buildings while our crew worked on the roofs.
Our crew stripping old shingles by a roof vent. Before tear-off, our inspection photos chalk-marked the damaged shingles across the lodge roofs.
St. Paul Park's homes are mostly mid-century. The median home was built in 1973, the 1960s were the busiest building decade with 549 homes, and 76% of households own their home. The housing mix also includes 184 manufactured homes and a few larger apartment buildings.
| Local factor | What we see in St. Paul Park | Why it matters for repairs |
|---|---|---|
| Housing age | Median year built 1973. 549 homes from the 1960s, 417 from the 1980s, 362 from the 2000s and 109 before 1940 (Census ACS 2020-2024) | Different decades mean different roof decks: plank boards on older homes, plywood or OSB on newer ones |
| Housing mix | 1,728 detached homes, 102 townhomes, 224 units in buildings of 50 or more and 184 manufactured homes | Manufactured homes and apartment buildings each need their own kind of inspection |
| Ownership | 1,799 of 2,367 occupied homes are owner-occupied (76%) | Owners and landlords both get a dated photo report they can keep |
| The 1887 plan | Platted in June 1887; more than 4,000 lots auctioned by the sheriff in 1908 | Houses from many eras side by side on the same block |
| The river and the refinery | East bank of the Mississippi; the refinery here dates to 1939 | Open river-valley exposure: we check ridges, rakes and siding for wind as well as hail |
| Permits | Set-fee residential roof permits through Rum River Consultants, typically processed within one business day | Quick to issue, but the contractor's state license number goes on the application. Ours is BC695228 |
A real St. Paul Park job from our CompanyCam records, described only from the photos. No claim results or dollar amounts.
NOAA storm reports put 1.75-inch hail about a mile south-southeast of South St. Paul, within three miles of our Portland Avenue job, on September 21, 2025, tying the largest hail near St. Paul Park since 2015 (May 16, 2017). Our Portland Avenue photos were taken three weeks earlier, on September 1, 2025. Before that, 1-inch hail was reported on June 12, 2024, and twice in 2023, on July 19 and August 11. The most recent damaging wind was a 64 mph gust on August 29, 2024.
| Date | Type | What was reported | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21, 2025 | Hail | 1.75" hail reported | Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens |
| Aug 29, 2024 | Wind | 64 mph wind gust measured | Missing or creased shingles, ridge caps, flashing, siding |
| Jun 12, 2024 | Hail | 1" hail reported | Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens |
| Aug 11, 2023 | Hail | 1" hail reported | Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens |
| Jul 19, 2023 | Hail | 1" hail reported | Shingles, roof vents, gutters, siding, window screens |
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports within 3 miles of the Portland Avenue St. Paul Park property in our storm records, 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 from Repair King's St. Paul Park job (CompanyCam) and our Red Rock Lodge job album in Newport.
Yes. St. Paul Park's building permits are handled by Rum River Consultants, and a residential roof is a set-fee permit: $125 plus the $1 state surcharge on Rum River's roof application. Set-fee residential permits are typically processed within one business day; commercial roofs are valued and go through plan review.
The city says residential permits such as re-roofing and re-siding can usually be issued within 24 to 48 hours. Rum River also does the inspections, at (763) 331-7722. Payments by check, cash or money order go to City Hall at 600 Portland Avenue.
Repair King puts our Minnesota license (BC695228) on every application. Minnesota code requires an ice barrier at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall on heated buildings, and on older homes we photograph the deck boards before new sheathing or shingles go on.
St. Paul Park is a Washington County city of about 5,500 people on the east bank of the Mississippi, south of Newport. It was platted in 1887, incorporated as a village in 1909 and became a city in 1974.
In its boom years the town had a steamboat landing at the foot of Broadway, depots at Broadway and Pullman Avenues, and the Parker House hotel. St. Paul Methodist College ran here from 1890 to 1918. In 1900 the St. Thomas Catholic mission church was rolled overland from Langdon into town. The Northwestern Refining Company arrived around 1936 and built the first refinery in 1939. The Rock Island swing bridge, with a railroad deck on top and a narrow road deck below, once linked St. Paul Park and Newport to Inver Grove across the river. Today it's a mostly residential city, and Red Rock Lodge, where our crews worked, is just up Hastings Avenue in Newport.
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.
Yes. Residential roofs are a set-fee permit through Rum River Consultants: $125 plus the $1 state surcharge. Repair King files it for you.
Usually quickly. Rum River says set-fee residential permits are typically processed within one business day, and the city says re-roofing permits can usually be issued in 24 to 48 hours.
NOAA reports show 1.75-inch hail within three miles of our Portland Avenue job on September 21, 2025, tying the largest near St. Paul Park since 2015. Run a free Roof & Storm Report for your exact address.
Often plank board decking instead of plywood. We measure the gaps and photograph any boards that need replacing during tear-off, so you know why new sheathing is on the estimate.
Yes. Our crews worked on the roofs at Red Rock Lodge, 1280 Hastings Avenue in Newport, from chalk-marked hail inspection through tear-off.
We document what we find; coverage questions go to your insurer. Repair King is a licensed contractor, not a public adjuster, and we don't negotiate claims.
No cost, no pressure. You get photos of everything we find.
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