Roofing · Chicago, IL
Water coming through the ceiling? Get a roofer on the phone.
A roof leak is two problems: the hole, and everything the water has already soaked on the way down. Call, tell us what happened and give us your ZIP, and we will connect you to an independent roofing company covering your area.
Connects you to an independent roofing company. Home Service Lab does not perform the work and does not set the price.
- Active roof leak
- Storm damage
- Missing shingles
- Hail damage
- Sagging ceiling
- Flashing failure
- Tree impact
- Emergency tarp needed
While it is still coming in
You cannot fix a roof in the rain, but you can limit what it costs you.
- Stay off the roof. Wet, storm-damaged and steep are three good reasons, and falls are the single biggest cause of serious injury in this trade. Roofers are insured for it. You are not.
- If a ceiling is bulging, put a bucket under it and pierce the centre with a screwdriver. It feels wrong, and it is right. Releasing the water drains it in a controlled place. Left alone, a bulging ceiling eventually comes down in one piece.
- Move what you can and cover what you cannot. Furniture, electronics, anything on the floor beneath it.
- Photograph everything before you clean up, including the damaged area outside if you can see it safely from the ground. Storm claims are largely won or lost on documentation.
- Kill the power to any room where water is near lights or outlets. A ceiling light filling with water is an electrical problem as well as a roofing one.
Be careful who knocks on your door after a storm. Widespread damage attracts crews who chase weather events, take a deposit and leave. Being contacted first is not a recommendation.
What roofers get called for
The jobs that come through this line most.
Written so you know roughly what you are dealing with before anyone arrives. None of this replaces someone looking at it properly.
Emergency tarping
The holding measure that stops the inside getting worse while a proper repair is scheduled and the insurer catches up. Often the first thing that should happen and the cheapest.
Active leak through a ceiling
Finding the entry point is the hard part — water travels along rafters and can surface a long way from where it got in.
Wind and hail damage
Frequently an insurance job. Hail damage in particular is easy to miss from the ground and easy to overstate from a sales van, so an independent assessment is worth having.
Flashing and valley failure
Where the roof meets a chimney, wall or another roof plane. A very common leak source and usually a targeted repair rather than a re-roof.
Aged or failing shingles
Curling, granule loss in the gutters, bare patches. The question is whether it is repairable or at the end of its life, and that is worth a second opinion.
Tree or debris impact
Structural as well as weather-tight. Expect the roofer to want the deck and rafters assessed, not just the covering replaced.
In Chicago
Illinois licenses roofers, and Chicago's easy reroof permit depends on it.
Under the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act, it's unlawful to work as a roofing contractor in Illinois without a license from the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
Chicago's Easy Permit Program for reroofing isn't available if anyone doing the work lacks a valid Illinois Roofing Contractor license. On homes up to four stories, repairing or replacing a roof pitched at least 2:12 needs no building permit at all, but structural repairs and any work on a low-slope roof do.
If insurance is paying, Illinois roofing contracts have to say the roofer can't pay, waive or rebate any part of your deductible. A roofer offering to cover it is offering something the contract itself rules out.
- Illinois General Assembly - 225 ILCS 335/9 Licensure requirement (Roofing Industry Licensing Act)
- City of Chicago Department of Buildings - What Types of Work Do Not Require a Building Permit?
- City of Chicago Department of Buildings - Reroofing (Easy Permit Program)
- Illinois General Assembly - 225 ILCS 335/5.5 Roofing contract requirements
Before you agree to work
Six things worth asking on the doorstep.
Roofing carries more storm-chasing and more deposit-taking than any other trade here. These questions filter most of it out.
- Your license number and state, please.Roofing licensing varies by state. Where it applies, it is verifiable in minutes.
- Are you carrying current liability and workers compensation insurance?Both, specifically. If someone is injured on your roof and the company has no workers comp, that can land on your homeowners policy.
- Are you local, and how long have you been at this address?Not a promise of anything, but a company that will still be reachable next winter is worth more than the cheapest quote.
- Written scope before anything starts.Repair or replace, how much decking is included, what happens if rot is found underneath, and who removes the debris.
- Why are you asking for a deposit?Established roofers frequently do not need money up front for a repair. A large cash deposit demanded on the doorstep is the most common pattern in storm-chasing complaints.
- What are you asking me to sign?If it is an assignment of benefits, read it properly. You would be signing over control of your insurance claim.
Cost
Why we will not quote you a price.
Roofing quotes swing enormously and much of the cost is invisible until the old covering comes off. What moves it:
- Steep and high means fall protection, slower work and higher labor. A single-storey shallow roof is a different job entirely.
- How many existing layers have to come off and be disposed of, and disposal is charged by weight.
- Rotten decking is found after tear-off, not before. Ask what the per-sheet price is so it cannot be improvised later.
- Asphalt, metal, tile and slate are not in the same cost bracket, and some need specialist crews.
- Re-roofs commonly need a permit and an inspection.
- After a regional storm, demand spikes and pricing follows it.
Being straight with you
We route the call. We do not do the roofing.
This site is a free service to assist homeowners in connecting with local service contractors. All contractors are independent and this site does not warrant or guarantee any work performed. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to verify that the hired contractor furnishes the necessary license and insurance required for the work being performed. All persons depicted in a photo or video are actors or models and not contractors listed on this site.
Questions
Roofing, answered.
What is the average cost of a new roof in Chicago?
We don't publish a Chicago price, because the roofing company sets it after seeing the roof.
One thing to check in the quote is the roofer's Illinois roofing license number. Without it, the job can't go through Chicago's Easy Permit Program for reroofing.
Should I use the company that knocked on my door after the storm?
Be cautious. Widespread storm damage reliably attracts crews who work an area for a few weeks, collect deposits, and are gone before anyone chases them. Some door-knocking companies are perfectly legitimate — but being approached first is not a recommendation.
Whoever you use, check licensing and insurance, avoid large cash deposits, and do not sign anything that hands over your insurance claim without reading it.
Will my insurance cover storm damage?
Sudden storm damage is commonly covered where wear and tear and deferred maintenance are not. We are not your insurer and this is not a coverage promise — but the practical takeaway is that documentation dated close to the storm helps considerably.
Can a leak just be patched, or do I need a whole new roof?
Both are legitimate answers depending on the roof. A single failed flashing on an otherwise sound roof is a repair. Widespread granule loss and curling on a twenty-year-old covering usually is not. If the first company you speak to goes straight to replacement, get a second opinion.
How long should a roof last?
It depends heavily on material, ventilation and climate — a roof in a hail belt ages very differently to the same roof elsewhere. Rather than counting years, look for curling edges, bald patches and granules collecting in the gutters.
Do I need to be home for the work?
For a quote, ideally yes, so you can ask the questions above and see the photographs. For the work itself, often not — but agree access, parking and debris removal in advance.
Do you cover my ZIP code?
Roofing coverage is broad but demand spikes hard after regional storms, which is exactly when availability tightens. Call and give us the ZIP and we will tell you where things stand.
Still coming through the ceiling?
One call connects you to an independent roofing company covering your ZIP. Free to connect, no obligation.
(866) 338-0642