Finding a good roofer in Conroe

Finding a Conroe roofer when there is no inspector

Here is something most Conroe homeowners do not know until the shingles are already off. The City of Conroe does not require a permit to re-roof a house, as long as the roof sheathing and rafters do not need to be replaced. Outside the city limits, in unincorporated Montgomery County, there is no residential building permit for a shingle job either. Put those together and on most Conroe roofs, nobody from any government ever looks at the work.

That puts the whole weight of the job on the roofer you pick. Nobody checks the nailing pattern, the underlayment, the drip edge or the flashing at the chimney. If it is done badly, you find out in the first hard rain, or when you sell the house and the buyer's inspector goes up the ladder.

What pine country does to a roof

Conroe sits at the edge of the East Texas Piney Woods, and a lot of the lots around town and out toward Lake Conroe are cut into standing pine and hardwood. The trees are why people move here. They are also hard on roofs in three ways:

• Needles in the valleys. Pine straw packs into roof valleys and gutters and holds water against the shingles and flashing. A valley that stays wet is where most slow leaks start.
• Shade and algae. Slopes that never get full sun stay damp and grow the black streaks you see on so many roofs up I-45. Algae-resistant shingles are worth asking for on a shaded lot.
• Limbs. A tall pine loses limbs in every tropical storm. Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 dropped trees across Montgomery County, and a single limb can punch through decking.

A good Conroe roofer will look at the trees before the shingles, and will tell you which limbs over the roof should come down before the new roof goes on, not after.

Your HOA cannot ban a tougher shingle

Much of Conroe's growth has come in master-planned neighborhoods with deed restrictions, and most of them require architectural approval before a roof is replaced. One thing works in your favor. Under Texas Property Code section 202.011, a property owners' association cannot prohibit shingles designed to resist wind and hail, or to improve energy efficiency, as long as they look like the shingles the rules otherwise allow. If you want Class 4 impact-resistant shingles, which many insurers discount, the HOA can have a say on the color but not on the rating.

Put the inspection in the contract

Since the city will not inspect most Conroe re-roofs, write the checks into the contract yourself:

1. Full tear-off to the deck, not a second layer over the old shingles.
2. The underlayment named by type, and ice-and-water shield in the valleys.
3. New drip edge, pipe boots and flashing, not reused.
4. A price per sheet for any decking that has to be replaced, and photos of the deck before it is covered.
5. The manufacturer's installation instructions followed, so the shingle warranty holds.
6. A written workmanship warranty, and a local address behind it.

Ask for photos at each stage. A roofer who does the work right is happy to show it.

Storms, insurance and the deductible

Wind and hail damage is usually covered by homeowners insurance, subject to your deductible. You file the claim; the roofer can document the damage and meet the adjuster. Texas law requires you to pay your own deductible, and it is illegal for a contractor to offer to waive or absorb it. The storm damage and hail damage pages go through what to do in the first few days, and the free claim checklist is worth printing before the next storm season.

Common questions

Call 832-662-4107 any time, day or night, and you will be put through to a local, owner-run roofing company that works in Conroe.

Call 832-662-4107