Roofing Contractor in Charleston, SC

Roofing services in Charleston, SC

Roof replacement

Full tear-off and rebuild to the coastal spec: high-wind fastening, a sealed deck where the code and the manufacturer call for it, new underlayment, drip edge, and flashing. A Lowcountry roof ages under heat, humidity, and salt at once, so the spec matters more here than it does inland. Attic ventilation belongs in that spec too, and our guide to attic ventilation in South Carolina humidity explains why. See roof replacement.

Roof repair

Common leak sources here are pipe boots, chimney and wall flashing, valleys, and shingles creased by a summer storm. When the rest of the roof has life left, a repair is the right answer, and when it doesn’t, we’ll say so and show you why. Our page on roof repair in Charleston covers leak sources, storm damage, emergency protection and the repair-or-replace threshold in full.

Storm and insurance restoration

After wind or hail we inspect and document to support your claim — photos, measurements, a written scope — and we’re on the roof with your adjuster. We don’t file, negotiate, or interpret your policy. See storm damage.

Metal roofing

Standing-seam metal, specified for the coast, where metallurgy matters as much as profile. It also eliminates the exposed fastener washer, the part that fails first under Southeast UV. Our guide to how long a metal roof lasts on the South Carolina coast covers salt air, fasteners and coatings. See metal roofing.

Commercial roofing

We service low-slope systems — TPO, EPDM, and modified bitumen — across the tri-county. TPO is the common choice on low-slope roofs here; both TPO and PVC can be reflective and use heat-welded seams. Property managers can compare systems, warranties and South Carolina’s commercial license rules in our Charleston commercial roofing guide. See commercial roofing.

Solar-ready roofing

A roof near the end of its life should be replaced before the panels go on, or with them, because taking panels off and re-mounting them later is a real cost. Our role is the roof: we inspect it, and if it is near the end of its life we replace it before the panels go on, so your provider mounts to a sound deck. If you’re still weighing materials, our asphalt vs. metal vs. solar roofing comparison sets the three side by side for coastal South Carolina. See solar roofing.

Roof replacement in Charleston: what actually happens

Under South Carolina’s 2021 code a roof replacement is a full tear-off to the deck, rebuilt with the underlayment, flashing and fastening that the wind design and the shingle manufacturer call for, and with attic ventilation sized to the code’s ratio. Our page on roof replacement in Charleston walks through each step, the GAF shingle and metal systems that hold up on the coast, the warranty tiers, and what the code says about tearing off versus roofing over.

What a roof costs in Charleston in 2026

We price a roof after an inspection, not from the curb. Size, pitch, layers, deck condition, flashing, ventilation, and access all move the number.

For context, not as our price: Modernize’s South Carolina calculator (August 2026) reports an average near $14,800 for an 1,800 to 2,200 square-foot home, within a $9,000 to $22,500 range. Angi (March 2026) puts the Charleston metro average closer to $9,603 — the gap is home size and scope, not one of them being wrong.

Two line items surprise people: permits, priced by the jurisdiction on project value and filed by us, and disposal, elevated by the Bees Ferry restriction.

Big Bear offers flexible financing options — ask your estimator. Our Charleston roof cost guide and roof financing page go deeper.

Building code and wind design in the tri-county

South Carolina is on the 2021 International Residential Code and International Building Code, adopted by the SC Building Codes Council and effective statewide January 1, 2023. The Council adopted the 2024 editions in August 2025 and set the implementation date for local jurisdictions at January 1, 2027 — so a roof permitted today is built to the 2021 code.

The Council also publishes an approved wind-speed map per county:

These are design loads, not forecasts. Together with the approved assembly and the manufacturer’s instructions, they decide whether your roof gets the six-nail pattern and a sealed deck, and they set the flashing details and the shingle rating you should be using.

On shingle ratings: the residential code (R905.2.4.1) requires asphalt shingles to be tested to ASTM D7158 and labeled with the class its table sets for the design wind speed (Class D, G or H); shingles outside D7158’s scope are tested and labeled to ASTM D3161 instead (Class A, D or F). What matters is that the shingle’s rating and the installed fastening pattern both match the design wind speed where your house sits.

Permits and inspections, city by city

Big Bear pulls the permit. Here’s what each jurisdiction’s own page says about roofing, checked September 11, 2026 — quoted where it’s there, left alone where it isn’t.

If your address is outside a city limit, the county is your permitting office, not the nearest town.

Historic districts and HOAs

Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review. In the Old and Historic and Old City districts, roof work visible from the public right-of-way is reviewed before it’s permitted, and the policy is strict: “Wherever possible, historic roofs should be repaired rather than replaced. No historic roof shall be replaced in toto unless it can be documented that the roof is beyond reasonable repair.” On metal: “All standing-seam metal roofs shall be of traditional hand-crimped detailing. Modern snap-lock or commercial-grade metal roofs are inappropriate for historic structures and will not be approved.”

Solar has its own BAR policy: on properties rated Category 1 or 2 on the Architectural Inventory, collectors “shall not be visible from the public right of way,” and panels “should be low-profile, or no more than 8″ above the roof surface, and at a pitch consistent with the existing roof.”

Summerville. The Summerville Historic District is overseen by the town’s Historic Preservation Commission, which reviews exterior alterations for historically appropriate materials — architectural shingles echoing traditional profiles are commonly part of that conversation.

Planned communities. If you live in a master-planned community, read your recorded covenants before you sign: many of these neighborhoods review exterior changes through an architectural review board, and roof color, material, and anything visible from the street are often on the list. Check your ARB’s approved-materials list first; we build to what it allows.

Insurance and storms on the South Carolina coast

Your hurricane deductible is a percentage, not a flat dollar amount. Most coastal policies carry a separate hurricane or named-storm deductible expressed as a percentage of your dwelling coverage; your declarations page shows the number. DOI Regulation 69-56 makes insurers disclose it on the policy face: “THIS POLICY CONTAINS A SEPARATE DEDUCTIBLE FOR NAMED STORM OR WIND/HAIL LOSSES, WHICH MAY RESULT IN HIGH OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES TO YOU.”

Roof age changes the math. Many carriers settle older roofs at depreciated value rather than replacement cost — check your policy’s roof schedule. The SC Department of Insurance’s Post-Disaster Claims Guide illustrates it with a 20-year-old roof destroyed by a covered loss: a replacement-cost policy covers the full cost to replace it, while “an ACV policy may pay as little as 20% of the cost to replace the roof, since the useful life of a roof is usually about 25 years.” It is the Department’s illustration of how depreciation works, not a payout rule or a roof-life estimate; your policy sets the actual amount.

Wind coverage of last resort. The South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association — the Wind Pool — caps residential wind coverage in the designated coastal zones; check current limits at scwind.com.

Mitigation pays, when the window is open. State law (§ 38-75-755(A)) makes insurers disclose the wind-mitigation discounts available to you at issuance and renewal, and a FORTIFIED roof commonly earns roughly 10 to 35 percent off the wind portion of a premium — your carrier sets the number, not the state. The SC Safe Home grant funds that work, topping out at $7,500 for Resilient Mitigation. Today it “is not currently accepting applications,” and the Department’s page adds: “Please note that applications open twice a year.” Get your scope ready before it reopens.

The law protects you from one sales tactic in particular. Under § 40-59-25 a contractor “shall not advertise or promise to pay or rebate all or any portion of any insurance deductible as an inducement to the sale of goods or services” — a misdemeanor, and grounds to suspend or revoke a license. The same statute lets you cancel “at any time before midnight on the fifth business day after you have received written notification from your insurer that all or any part of this claim or contract is not a covered loss.”

What we do, precisely. We inspect, document, write a scope, and stand on the roof when your adjuster does — no filing, no negotiating, no advice on policy rights. Our roof insurance claim guide, storm and hail damage page, and hurricane prep and FORTIFIED guide go step by step.

The Charleston storm record, 2024–2026

We date our storms instead of hand-waving at “recent weather.” Here’s the National Weather Service office in Charleston’s own event record:

• June 10, 2024 — a supercell downburst across the Summerville and Ladson corridor, peak gusts of 80 to 85 mph, hail up to 2 inches.
• August 4–9, 2024 — Tropical Storm Debby.
• September 26–27, 2024 — Hurricane Helene.
• June 25–26, 2025 — a severe weather event: 17 roof-relevant storm reports across the tri-county, among them a 62 mph gust measured at Pinopolis.
• July 4–6, 2025 — Tropical Storm Chantal.
• 2026 so far — the National Weather Service logged 128 roof-relevant storm reports across the tri-county on 23 days between May 1 and September 29, 2026, among them a 59 mph gust measured at Charleston International Airport on July 11.

After a named storm, out-of-town crews arrive fast and leave faster, and a warranty is only as good as the company still behind it. Before you sign with anyone — us included — look them up at verify.llronline.com, get license and insurance in writing, and remember nobody may legally offer to cover your deductible.

Why Charleston homeowners choose Big Bear

GAF Master Elite. GAF awards it to “fewer than 2% of roofing contractors nationwide,” and it’s what lets us offer the Golden Pledge — 50-year non-prorated material coverage and lifetime limited misapplication coverage, non-prorated for the first 25 years (30 on Timberline UHDZ and Timberline AS II), on an eligible, registered Golden Pledge system built with the required GAF components; the current warranty document sets the terms. Only Master Elite contractors can sell it, and we also hold the GAF President’s Club 2023 award. We’ll say the quiet part too: “lifetime” on any shingle warranty means limited, prorated after the non-prorated period, and transferable once to a new owner under the warranty’s transfer terms.

A real Charleston office. 4500 Leeds Ave, Suite 200 W, North Charleston — not a truck with a magnet on the door. We partner with Habitat for Humanity on Berkeley County builds roughly every month.

Verify us. Residential roofing here is done under a Residential Specialty Contractor registration through LLR, covering, in the state’s words, “the installation, alteration and repair of materials common to the residential building industry that form a watertight, weather resistant surface for roofs and decks.” Commercial roofing over $10,000 falls under a separate commercial contractor license (S.C. Code § 40-11-30). Look up any contractor, us included, at verify.llronline.com.

How the job runs. Free inspection, often drone-assisted → written estimate → we pull the permit → build → final inspection → on Golden Pledge installs we handle the GAF warranty registration. Phones are answered 24/7.

Charleston roofing questions we hear most

Do I need a permit to replace my roof in Charleston?

Plan on it, and let us file it. Goose Creek states in writing that a permit is required for new shingles or other roofing materials, and the City of Charleston lists “Roofing: Commercial and Residential” as its own permit type. Other tri-county jurisdictions permit building repair and alteration generally.

What wind speed does a Charleston roof have to be built for?

The SC Building Codes Council’s county maps show 140 and 150 mph contours in Charleston County, 140 mph in Berkeley, and 130 and 140 mph in Dorchester — ultimate design wind speed, Risk Category II. Those figures, with the approved assembly and the manufacturer’s instructions, decide whether your roof gets six-nail fastening and a sealed deck, and they set your shingle’s rating.

What building code applies to my roof, and is it changing?

South Carolina is on the 2021 IRC and IBC, effective statewide January 1, 2023. The SC Building Codes Council has adopted the 2024 editions with an implementation date of January 1, 2027. A roof permitted today is built to the 2021 code.

How much does a new roof cost in Charleston in 2026?

We price it after an inspection. For context, Modernize’s SC calculator (August 2026) reports an average near $14,800 within a $9,000 to $22,500 range, and Angi (March 2026) puts the Charleston metro average near $9,603.

Will insurance pay for my new roof after a storm?

That’s your carrier’s decision, not ours. Two things decide most claims: whether the damage is storm-related, and whether your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value on a roof of its age. We inspect, document, and write a scope to support your claim.

Can a roofer cover my hurricane deductible?

No. S.C. Code § 40-59-25 says a contractor “shall not advertise or promise to pay or rebate all or any portion of any insurance deductible as an inducement to the sale of goods or services.” It’s a misdemeanor and grounds to suspend a license.

How long does a roof replacement take?

The install is usually the quick part. What moves the schedule is what surrounds it: HOA or BAR approval where required, the permit, a dry weather window in storm season, and the final inspection. We walk you through that sequence before work starts, rather than promising a date we can’t hold.

What roofing material holds up best in Charleston?

It depends on the exposure. For many homes an algae-resistant architectural shingle installed to the coastal high-wind spec is the practical answer; where salt exposure or a longer service life justify it, a concealed-fastener metal roof earns its cost. Near salt water, the metal and coating system matter more than the profile, and the manufacturer’s coastal-exposure rules decide what we spec. Flat sections need a membrane. Historic downtown properties follow the BAR’s in-kind material rules.

What is the 25 percent rule for roofing?

It isn’t a South Carolina rule. The 25 percent figure people read about comes from other states’ codes and some local conventions. South Carolina’s building-codes law, the Building Codes Council’s regulations and the state’s changes to the 2021 residential code set no such percentage. Here the test is layers and condition: a Charleston roof replacement strips the old coverings to the deck, and no new covering may go over two existing layers or a deteriorated roof.

When is the best time of year to replace a roof in Charleston?

There’s no single right month; the forecast and the calendar decide it. A tear-off leaves the deck open, so it needs a run of dry days, and in storm season and the humid summer months those runs can take more planning. Crew schedules can tighten after a major storm, so booking before one gives you more choice of dates. The permit, plus any HOA or BAR approval, sets the earliest start.