Madison WI Roof Pros: Roof Replacement, Repair & Storm Work
Expert residential and commercial roofing services. Free inspections for owner-occupied houses, rentals and multi-unit buildings across Dane County.
City of Madison permit pulled and posted before tear-off·Unit count and code path stated in writing on every bid·Occupied units scheduled around the notice a tenant is owed·Photo inspection an absentee owner can act on without climbing
Madison WI Roof Pros handles roof replacement, leak repair, storm and hail work, flat and low-slope membrane, gutters, flashing and ventilation across Madison and Dane County. Asphalt laminate, standing seam steel, heat-welded single-ply, copper and painted-steel flashing, ice barrier and rebuilt eaves. Houses, duplexes, converted flats and small commercial buildings.
We start every job with a question most roofers skip. Who owns this building, and how many dwelling units are under the roof? More than half of the occupied housing in this city is rented, so on a great many Madison roofs the person signing the contract is not the person sleeping under it. That changes the permit path, the code, the access and the math.
So a quote from us names the assembly, the fastening pattern, the underlayment and a per-sheet price for the deck we find once the old roof is off, and it says plainly which of those choices we would make differently if you were selling in six years instead of staying for thirty. Free inspection, written scope, photographs you can forward to a partner or a property manager.
Our Roofing Services in Madison, WI
Roof Replacement
Before we price a replacement we settle one question that changes the answer: are you living under this roof, or renting it out? The building can be identical to the one next door.
Roof Leak Repair
Most leak calls in this city arrive secondhand. A tenant sees the stain, texts the owner, and the owner calls us from somewhere else describing a mark they have not personally looked at.
Storm Damage Restoration
After a storm the ownership question stops being academic. Somebody has to authorize work, somebody has to file, and on a rental those are frequently not the person standing in the doorway when we arrive.
Hail Damage Roofing
Hail creates a temptation on rental property that it does not create on a family home. Take the first cheque, skip the work, keep the difference.
Wind Damage Roofing
Wind damage on a rental is usually found the same way: an occupant hears something flapping, or a neighbor finds shingle pieces in the yard. By the time the owner looks, the roof has been open a while.
Roof Inspections
We write two different reports and they are not interchangeable. One is for a person who lives in the house and wants to know what to do.
Asphalt Shingle Roofs
Asphalt covers nearly everything here, so the real question is never whether to use it. It is which tier to buy, and that is decided by how long you will own the building rather than by which brochure the salesman opened first.
Metal Roofing
We install standing seam steel and we will talk a fair number of Madison owners out of buying it. Not because it is a bad roof.
Tile Roofing
This page mostly exists to argue you out of something. Tile is a fine roof on the right building, and we service the ones already here.
Flat & Low-Slope Roofing
Low-slope roofing here splits along the same line everything else on this site does. Some of it sits on genuine commercial buildings.
Roof Coatings & Sealing
The most common request we refuse comes in on this page, and it usually sounds like this: can you spray something on it so it holds up until we close. On a steep-slope asphalt roof the answer is no, and it will keep being no however the question is rephrased.
Roof Ventilation
Ventilation gets designed for the house that was built. In this city it has to be designed for the building as it is occupied now, and those are frequently not the same thing at all.
Skylights
Skylights are the clearest example of the split this site is built on. In an owner-occupied house a skylight is a feature enjoyed every day.
Gutters & Downspouts
Two things shape gutter work in this city and neither of them is rainfall. The first is that on close-set lots there is often nowhere sensible to put the water.
Fascia & Soffit
The eave is where deferred maintenance surfaces first, and it is the part of a building an owner who lives elsewhere is least likely to ever look at. Nobody reports a soft fascia board.
Chimney Flashing
The older houses here are full of chimneys that no longer do anything. The furnace was replaced decades ago and now vents out a side wall, the fireplace was closed off, and what remains is a masonry stack whose main activities are leaking and needing repointing.
Emergency Tarping
Emergency calls on rented property carry an authority problem inside them. The person watching water come through a ceiling at eleven at night is usually the occupant, and the person who can authorize work is usually somewhere else and not answering.
Commercial & Multi-Unit Roofing
A large share of the commercial roofing in this city sits on buildings that look exactly like houses. That is not a turn of phrase.
Insurance Claim Help
We help owners document a roof claim properly and we meet adjusters on site. We do not take over your claim, we do not want it signed across to us, and we will tell you plainly when the right move is not to file at all.
Why Madison Chooses Madison WI Roof Pros
- ✓We settle who owns the building and how many dwelling units are under the roof before we price anything, because in this city that single answer moves the code, the permit and the product all at once.
- ✓An owner who lives in the house may pull their own reroof permit here. A landlord may not, and we put that in writing at the bid rather than letting it surface at the permit counter.
- ✓At three dwelling units your house stops being a house in code terms and becomes a commercial building under chs. SPS 361 to 366. We say so before you collect three residential bids that cannot be permitted.
- ✓Interior and attic access on tenanted buildings is booked around the written advance notice Wisconsin owes an occupant, so no inspection gets refused at the door and no visit is wasted.
- ✓We refuse to sell a coating that makes a failing steep-slope asphalt roof survive until closing. It is the most common request we get on rentals and the answer has never once been yes.
- ✓We quote to your holding period. If you are selling inside a decade we will argue you out of the upgrade tier and put the difference into the deck, the eave and the flashing instead.
About Madison WI Roof Pros in Madison, WI
Madison WI Roof Pros works Madison, the isthmus neighborhoods, the near east and near west sides and the ring of Dane County villages beyond them. Houses, duplexes, converted flats, small apartment buildings and low-slope commercial. Asphalt laminate, steel, single-ply membrane, flashing, gutters and the deck underneath all of it.
The thing that shapes how we work here is ownership. Census tenure counts put renter-occupied units above half of Madison's occupied housing, which is unusual for a city this size and it means most of the roofs in the older neighborhoods are bought by someone who does not live under them. Different holding period, different code path, different right answer. We quote to that rather than pretending every roof is a forever home.
Do not hire us if the plan is to spray a coating over a failing asphalt roof so a rental reaches closing, if you want a third layer laid over two, or if you want a bid that omits the permit so the number looks better. We will say no to all three. Where a repair is the better buy than a replacement, we say so and lose the bigger job on purpose.
Service Areas
Madison WI Roof Pros serves Madison, WI and surrounding communities including:
How It Works
We Establish Who Owns It and How Many Units
Before we climb anything we settle two facts: whether the owner lives in the building, and how many dwelling units it contains. In Madison an owner who resides in the dwelling may pull their own reroof permit without a dwelling contractor certification and a non-resident owner may not. At three units the building is permitted as commercial work. Both answers land on the bid.
Inspection, With Interior Access Booked Properly
We walk the slopes we can stand on safely and pole-camera the rest, then get under the deck. If a tenant lives there, interior and attic access is arranged with the written advance notice Wisconsin owes them, normally twelve hours, so nobody is turned away at the door and the visit is not wasted.
Two Numbers Where Two Numbers Are Honest
You get the assembly we would install for a long hold and, where they differ, the code-correct assembly for a short one. Both are a full tear-off. Neither is an overlay. What moves is the shingle tier, the accessory package and how much eave and deck we rebuild while the roof is open.
Permit, Staging Plan, Then Work
The permit is pulled and posted before the first bundle is opened. On close-set isthmus lots we agree in advance where the trailer stands, whether the alley is usable and how bundles get up, because a roof carried by hand costs more than one that drops into a dumpster and you should see that before you sign.
Recent Projects Across Dane County
What Madison Customers Say
I own four rentals and every roofer before these guys quoted me the top shingle. They asked how long I was holding the buildings, then talked me down a tier and put the difference into deck and eave work on two of them. First bid I have had that explained itself.
They told me my three-flat was permitted as a commercial building, which no one else mentioned, and it turned out to be true. Saved me collecting two more bids that would have gone nowhere. The membrane work on the back section has been dry through two winters.
Our tenant reported a stain and they asked for her number so they could ask her about it directly, then scheduled interior access with proper notice so nobody was ambushed. Found a split boot in twenty minutes. Photographed everything and sent it in a form I could forward to my partner.
I asked them to coat the roof to get the house through a sale and they refused, then explained why in enough detail that I stopped arguing. They repaired about twelve feet of rotten eave instead for a fraction of the price. Not many contractors talk themselves out of the bigger job.
Commercial and Multi-Unit Roofing in Madison and Dane County
Half of what people call commercial roofing in this city is a house. Wisconsin's dwelling code stops at two units, and a building of three or more dwelling units without the separations the code specifies is a commercial building governed by chs. SPS 361 to 366.
That catches a great many old Madison houses cut into three and four flats, along with the purpose-built small apartment stock near campus. We work both sides of that line and we tell owners which side they are on before they collect bids, because a residential bid on a commercial building is a bid that cannot be permitted.
Beyond that we handle genuine low-slope commercial: single-ply membrane, tapered insulation, roof drains and edge metal on offices, clinics, retail and light industrial across Dane County.
- ✓Written unit-count and code-path determination on every multi-unit bid
- ✓Heat-welded single-ply membrane, tapered insulation and internal drain rework
- ✓Core cut taken, and the plug handed over, before any recover gets proposed
- ✓Phased reroofs so a tenanted building keeps operating and keeps collecting rent
- ✓Certificates of insurance issued to the LLC or partnership named on the deed
- ✓Access and staging plans for buildings with no lot, no driveway and street frontage only
- ✓Capital reserve figures written for owners who will never climb the ladder
- ✓Turnover-window scheduling around August lease cycles on student-occupied buildings
Frequently Asked Questions
Does replacing a roof in Madison need a permit?
Yes. The City of Madison requires a building permit to replace roofing. The part people miss is who is allowed to pull it. An owner who lives in the dwelling is exempt from holding a dwelling contractor financial responsibility certification when applying for a permit on their own home. An owner who does not live there, including anyone with a one or two family rental, is not exempt and needs a credentialed contractor to obtain the permit.
Does Wisconsin license roofing contractors?
No. There is no roofing license issued by the state. What the state issues is a Dwelling Contractor Financial Responsibility certification for the business and a Dwelling Contractor Qualifier certification for an individual, and those are what the city asks for when a permit is pulled on a dwelling of one or two units. Ask any bidder to show you both. They are two separate credentials and a contractor can hold one without the other.
My house has three apartments in it. Is that still residential?
Not in code terms. Wisconsin's Uniform Dwelling Code covers one and two family dwellings. A building of three or more dwelling units without the separations the code specifies is a commercial building and has to meet chs. SPS 361 to 366. Madison's own guidance says the same thing: three or more attached units follow the commercial building code.
Plenty of old Madison houses cut into three flats fall on that side of the line and the owners do not know it.
There is a tenant in the unit. Can you still inspect the ceiling?
Yes, with notice. Wisconsin rental practice rules require advance notice before a landlord or their contractor enters an occupied unit for inspection or repairs, normally at least twelve hours in writing, unless the tenant agrees to less. Genuine emergencies are the exception. We book interior access when we book the roof visit, and we ask for the tenant's own phone number so the leak gets described by the person who is actually watching it.
I am selling the duplex in two years. What should I buy?
Less than a roofer will usually try to sell you, and more deck than you expect. A premium laminate returns its extra cost somewhere around year twenty-two, which you will not own, and it does not raise a Madison rent or reliably move an appraisal. A sound deck, a proper ice barrier, correct edge metal and a mid-grade laminate is the honest buy. We will put that in writing rather than upsell you.
Can you get a dumpster onto a downtown isthmus lot?
Sometimes, and we check before quoting rather than after. Madison's older core sits on a roughly two-mile neck of land between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, and those blocks were platted tight. Many houses have no driveway, a shared walk and an alley behind. Where a trailer cannot stand we price a hand tear-off, a ladder hoist or a street occupancy, and you see that line before you agree to anything.