Roofers in Hoffman Estates, IL

Roofs in Hoffman Estates

The village started as the Hoffman Parcels — A through F — built between about 1955 and 1965 along Higgins Road, Hassell Road and Golf Road: small ranches and split-levels on slabs, low pitches, attached garages, minimal attics. Those houses are on their second or third roof now, and a lot of the second one was nailed over the first. Barrington Square, Poplar Creek and the neighborhoods off Hassell and Bode are 1970s–80s two-stories with steeper roofs, big valleys and the original or one-time-replaced 3-tab shingles. West of Barrington Road toward the Now Arena and out to the county line, the subdivisions are 1990s–2010s, with architectural shingles that are reaching their first replacement.

Roofers, Hoffman Estates: what winter and spring do to these roofs

In winter the trouble is the Parcel houses: shallow attics packed with insulation against the roof deck, blocked soffits, a warm roof and an ice dam every January. In spring and summer it is the two-stories: hail on the south and west slopes, wind-lifted shingles, valleys leaking where two big roof planes meet.

The Parcel split-level

The most common Hoffman Estates job is the same as the most common Schaumburg one. A 1962 split-level with two layers of shingles, a low-slope section over the garage with shingles on it that leaks at the transition, decking with soft spots at the eave from years of ice dams, and no ridge vent. A proper job tears off both layers, replaces the soft sheets at a per-sheet price, puts two courses of ice-and-water shield along the eaves and up the valleys, membranes the flat section, and runs a ridge vent with the soffits opened up. Around $11,000–$16,000 for the whole house. The flat roof page explains the low-slope section and roof replacement the rest.

Repairs

Roof repair in Hoffman Estates is mostly the standard list: pipe boots at $300–$450, chimney flashing at $600–$1,200, valleys at $800–$1,500, wind damage on a slope at $300–$700. Ice dam repair — steaming the dam, replacing shingles and decking at the eave — is $500–$1,500 on the roof side. The repair page covers each one, and finding the leak from inside is worth reading before you request an estimate.

Newer homes west of Barrington Road

The 1990s–2010s subdivisions toward the county line went up with architectural shingles, better attic ventilation and ice-and-water shield at the eaves. Those roofs are reaching their first replacement now. The usual signs are granule loss on the south and west slopes, ridge cap lifted by wind, and pipe boots cracking at 10–15 years. These houses are bigger and more cut up — hips, valleys, bump-outs over bay windows — so a replacement sits toward the larger two-story sizes on the cost page.

Before you call

• Find the roof's age in your closing papers or the village's permit history.
• Note which rooms show stains, and in which season.
• On a split-level, look at the garage roof from upstairs: shingles, or a sheet?
• Check whether the soffit vents are open or painted over.
• In a townhome, ask the association who owns the roof before you call anyone.

Reading a quote for a Parcel ranch

Two quotes for the same 1960s ranch can be thousands apart. Most of the gap sits in a few lines: how many layers come off, how many sheets of decking are included, how far up the ice-and-water shield runs, and whether the flat section over the garage is on the quote at all. Ask each roofer to show those numbers. A quote that says nothing about ventilation on a house with a history of ice dams is leaving out the part that stops them.

Ice dams on the Parcel houses

On the Parcel ranches the attic is often so shallow that insulation touches the roof deck at the eaves. That leaves no path for air from the soffits, so the deck warms, snow melts and the eave freezes. The roof-side fix is two courses of ice-and-water shield at the eave. The attic side is baffles at each rafter bay, air sealing around light fixtures and the attic hatch, and enough insulation above the ceiling without blocking the vents. On some of these houses a roof rake after big snows is the cheapest help of all.

Winter work

Re-roofing goes on through the winter here on clear days. Shingles do not self-seal in the cold, so the crew hand-seals them. If an ice dam is leaking into the house, steaming is the usual fix at $300–$700, and the permanent repair waits for a dry stretch.

Storms

Hail that hits Schaumburg often hits Hoffman Estates first; the cells usually come from the west. After a bad one, the Parcels and Barrington Square can fill up with storm-chaser trucks within days. Illinois licenses roofing contractors through the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR): ask for the roofer's state license number and look it up on the IDFPR license search, and ask the Village of Hoffman Estates whether the roofer needs to be registered there. What to ask a roofer is the rest, and storm damage covers what to photograph and how claims work.

Townhomes and associations

Hoffman Estates has a lot of townhome and condominium associations, and roof work on them goes through the board. Boards should ask any roofer for the state license number, insurance certificates naming the association and a line-item scope, and should schedule building by building so residents are not all displaced on the same day.

Also nearby

Schaumburg, Streamwood, Palatine, Inverness, Barrington and South Barrington. Zip codes 60169, 60192 and 60195. The same questions apply to a roof replacement in Barrington or South Barrington, where the two-stories and larger custom homes mean bigger roofs.