Stewartville, Minnesota
Honest Slate Roofing in Stewartville, MN
Slate needs pitch, and most of Stewartville does not have it. The median house here dates to about 1990, which means ranches and split levels with shallow planes and long valleys running from the garage to the house. Slate belongs on the steep sections of those roofs, if anywhere, and we would rather tell you that up front than sell you a roof that will not shed.
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- Licensed and insuredMinnesota exterior contractor
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- Storm and insurance workWe handle the claim with you
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Most Stewartville roofs are too flat for slate
Slate sheds water by overlap, not by sealant, so pitch is the whole argument. Below roughly four in twelve it stops being the right material, and a good share of the ranch and split level stock in town sits at or under that. What we usually find on these houses is a shallow plane, a long valley where the garage roof runs into the house wall, and a headwall where the upper level steps down. Those three details are where the water goes. Weight is the other limit, since a 1990 truss roof was not framed for stone and retrofitting it is real structural work. Then there is April 17, 2026, when an EF2 formed just northeast of town with winds near 130 mph and about 22 homes took damage. If wind moved anything on your roof, get a certified roof assessment before the next freeze thaw finds the gap.
Slate Roofing in Stewartville
Where slate belongs on these roofs
Slate kept to the steep parts
Plenty of Stewartville houses have one steep gable or a front entry roof that would carry slate well, with a shingle or metal roof on the shallow planes behind it. That combination works. Slate everywhere does not.
Long garage valleys built wide
The valley from an attached garage into the house carries water off two planes and holds ice all winter. Under slate it needs wide open metal, not a woven detail, or that valley becomes the leak.
Ridge and hip caps reset
Wind takes the caps first. Ridge and hip slates lift or disappear on roofs that still look fine from the street, which is what a 130 mph gust does, and those get rebedded and refastened.
Hairline cracks you cannot see
A slate can crack and stay in place. From the ground the roof looks untouched, and the leak shows up the following spring in a bedroom ceiling. After 130 mph winds, that check is worth doing.
Split level headwalls done right
Where a lower roof runs into an upper wall, slate has to stop at a proper step flashing and counterflashing behind the siding. Caulk on that joint is a two winter fix at best.
Old trusses checked for stone
Retrofitting slate onto a roof framed in 1990 means somebody has to look at the trusses and the spans first. Sometimes they can be reinforced and sometimes the honest answer is a lighter roof.
Working in a town that took a tornado
We measure the pitch first
Every conversation about slate in Stewartville starts with a pitch reading and a look at the valleys. If the numbers do not support stone, we say so on the first visit.
We go up after wind
Plenty of storm damage never drips. We get on the roof after a wind event and look for lifted caps and cracked slates instead of waiting for a stain to appear inside.
We document for your adjuster
We do storm and insurance work. On a slate roof that means marking and photographing damage piece by piece, because an adjuster cannot price what nobody wrote down.
The April damage is still open
About 22 homes in town took damage on April 17, 2026, and a lot of roofs got covered fast that week. If yours was one of them, we will come look at it properly.
We are not a storm chaser
After a tornado the out of town trucks show up and then they are gone. We are a family run company out of Eden Prairie that works this county year round.
What people near Stewartville say
Fantastic guys to work with, did an excellent job of fixing our siding. You can tell it’s a high integrity company. Definitely recommend.
Carolyn MillerSiding repair The crew arrived early and spread tarps all around the house to capture every bit of debris. By 3:00 PM, my entire roof was completely finished.
Hazel JamesRoof replacement, Minneapolis, MN Orange Exteriors fixed a minor leak that involved replacing flashing and a few shingles blown off our roof. Timely, quality work. Great ideas to keep our roof going long term.
Jim ThomasStorm damage repair
Stewartville roof questions
What people in Stewartville ask us about this work. If yours is not covered, call and ask.
Can I put a slate roof on a Stewartville ranch?
It depends on the pitch and the framing, and on many of these houses the answer is no. Late century ranches run shallow, and slate below about four in twelve will let water back up under the overlap. If your house has a steeper gable or entry section, slate can go there while the flat planes get something built for low slope.
The April tornado took slates off my roof. Can they be replaced?
Usually yes. Individual slates get pulled and new ones hooked in without disturbing the rest of the roof, which is one of the real advantages of the material. The catch is matching thickness and color, which is easier on a newer slate roof than an old one. We also check the surrounding slates for cracks while we are up there.
How do I know if the Stewartville tornado cracked slates that never blew off?
You cannot tell from the yard, and that is the problem. Cracked slates sit in place and look normal until water works through the seam and shows up on a ceiling months later. After winds near 130 mph the check is a walk on the roof, or at least a close look with a ladder and binoculars, eyeing every slate on the windward planes.
Have the roof looked at properly
Whether you are asking about slate on a steep gable or about what April left behind, we will come out to Stewartville, get on the roof, and give you a free estimate.
Get Your Free Exterior Estimate
Tell us what is going on with your roof, siding, windows, or gutters. We will take a look and give you a straight answer, including when the answer is that you can wait.
- Phone(612) 600-8529
- Emailadmin@orange-exteriors.com
- Office6600 City West Pkwy Suite 375, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
- HoursOpen 24 hours, Sunday to Saturday
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Rated 5.0 from 217 Google reviews