Roof replacement, leak repair and hail & storm damage for homes in Summerville. In Summerville, the 2021 IRC is in force and 48% of the 22,776 homes were built before 2000. It starts with a free inspection that photographs every slope.
Summerville runs to about 22.6 square miles and roughly 51,654 people. It sits about 21 miles northwest of downtown Charleston. The community dates back to 1847. We cover ZIP codes 29483, 29484, 29485 and 29486.
In the Downtown Historic District, a change of roof material needs a Certificate of Appropriateness before the permit, which town staff can approve as a minor certificate; a repair that matches the existing roof needs none. The district guidelines favor repairing historic roofs, call for heavyweight architectural shingles when asphalt is replaced, and list swapping a metal roof for asphalt shingles as not appropriate.
No completed roof in Summerville is logged in our job records yet.
Largely single-family homes of many ages: the historic district holds about 700 buildings, most from before World War I, including bungalows, raised cottages and Charleston single houses, while the newest growth is in the planned community of Nexton.
We work across Summerville rather than one corner of it — Downtown Historic District, Nexton, Oakbrook, Knightsville, Brownsville, Branch Creek and South Pointe included. Age and construction change between them, which is why we look before we quote.
Mostly in Dorchester County, with parts reaching into Berkeley and Charleston counties, Summerville began as a pineland summer retreat and still has on its books a tree-protection ordinance first passed in 1847. It lies in the Middleton Place-Summerville Seismic Zone, home to about 70 percent of South Carolina's earthquakes.
Most newer homes in Summerville have OSB decking, architectural shingles and a real ridge vent, so they start ahead. What varies is the grade of shingle: much of the 2000s building used builder-grade product whose warranty on paper outlasts its working life, and those roofs are wearing out now. Hail is the other variable. A young roof can still be bruised, and a damaged mat may look perfect from the driveway for a couple of years before it starts to fail, so a roof never checked after a storm is due a look.
By the Census Bureau's estimate there are 22,776 homes in Summerville, with a median year built of 2001. 753 of them (3%) went up before 1940 — 14th of 28 places on this site for pre-1940 share — and 11,939 (52%) in 2000 or later. The 2000s were the busiest decade, adding 7,475 of today's homes (33%). That is above Dorchester County's 2%.
The Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development puts the service life of an asphalt shingle roof at about 20 years. By that measure, 48% of Summerville's homes — the 10,837 built before 2000 — are past their first roof, and the 2,269 built before 1970 (10%) are usually on a third covering or later. First replacements are arriving on the 7,475 homes built in the 2000s, while the 4,464 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with.
Detached single-family houses make up 64% (14,532); attached houses and townhouses 7% (1,561). 3,098 homes (14%) sit in two- to nine-unit buildings and 2,494 (11%) in buildings of ten units or more, where a resident rarely gets to choose the roofer. The count also takes in 1,091 mobile homes, which are a different kind of roof job. 69% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 31% rented. Read together, those figures point toward first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles, flat and low-slope sections, which turn up more on attached and multi-unit buildings and hail checks on newer roofs that look fine from the driveway.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 753 | 3% | |
| 1940s | 63 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 471 | 2% | |
| 1960s | 982 | 4% | |
| 1970s | 2,034 | 9% | |
| 1980s | 3,373 | 15% | |
| 1990s | 3,161 | 14% | |
| 2000s | 7,475 | 33% | |
| 2010s | 3,959 | 17% | |
| 2020 or later | 505 | 2% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 22,776 homes, 21,228 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged 17 reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Summerville’s center from 2016 through 2025, on 9 different days. 5 of them were 1.75 inches or larger. The largest, 2 inches, came on June 10, 2024, about 4.6 miles east of the center. Counts follow people as much as storms, since every report is a spotter’s or a resident’s.
| Latest reports | Size | From center |
|---|---|---|
| June 10, 2024 | 2 inches | 4.6 mi E |
| June 10, 2024 | 1 inch | 3 mi SE |
| June 10, 2024 | 1.75 inches | 3.4 mi SE |
| June 10, 2024 | 1.75 inches | 3.1 mi W |
| June 10, 2024 | 1.5 inches | 4.5 mi SW |
Hail damage rarely shows from the ground; a storm inspection photographs each slope so you know either way.
The town's Building Department lists roofing work among the projects that require a permit. Permits are applied for online through the town's Citizenserve portal, and a signed contract or scope of work between the owner and the contractor must be uploaded before the permit is issued. The fee is based on the contract amount: $1,000 or less has no fee unless an inspection is needed ($15 per inspection); from $1,000 to $50,000 it is $50 for the first $1,000 plus $5 for each added $1,000; a $30 administrative fee applies to each permit. If work starts before the permit is issued, the fees are doubled.
Summerville enforces the 2021 IRC. The town enforces the 2021 South Carolina Residential Code (the 2021 International Residential Code with South Carolina changes) and the 2021 South Carolina Building Code, along with the 2020 National Electrical Code and the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code. Town Code Section 6-37 adopts the newest editions adopted by the South Carolina Building Codes Council, on the state's enforcement dates. The town has posted the state notice that the 2024 South Carolina codes take effect for local governments on January 1, 2027. A local rule in Section 6-41 says plumbing vent pipes through the roof must end at least 6 inches above the roof.
The published number is 843-851-5200. The building official on record is Rebecca McGrew, Director of Building Services. The department page is here.
Design wind here is set by location, not one figure for the whole area: across greater Charleston the published ultimate design wind speeds run 133–150 mph, depending on where a house stands. The building department for Summerville can tell you which figure applies. What it does to a roof is in the roofing code guide.
Summerville borders North Charleston, Lincolnville, Ladson, Sangaree and Ashley River. Our pages for them:
Also in Dorchester County:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summerville | Yes | 2021 IRC | 2001 |
| North Charleston | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1996 |
| Lincolnville | Not published | Not published | 1987 |
| Ladson | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1990 |
| Sangaree | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1986 |
| Unincorporated Dorchester County | Yes | 2021 IRC | — |
| Ridgeville | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1977 |
All 4 Dorchester County cities side by side →
The town's Building Department lists roofing work among the projects that require a permit. Permits are applied for online through the town's Citizenserve portal, and a signed contract or scope of work between the owner and the contractor must be uploaded before the permit is issued. The fee is based on the contract amount: $1,000 or less has no fee unless an inspection is needed ($15 per inspection); from $1,000 to $50,000 it is $50 for the first $1,000 plus $5 for each added $1,000; a $30 administrative fee applies to each permit. If work starts before the permit is issued, the fees are doubled.
Summerville enforces the 2021 IRC. The town enforces the 2021 South Carolina Residential Code (the 2021 International Residential Code with South Carolina changes) and the 2021 South Carolina Building Code, along with the 2020 National Electrical Code and the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code. Town Code Section 6-37 adopts the newest editions adopted by the South Carolina Building Codes Council, on the state's enforcement dates. The town has posted the state notice that the 2024 South Carolina codes take effect for local governments on January 1, 2027. A local rule in Section 6-41 says plumbing vent pipes through the roof must end at least 6 inches above the roof.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built at 2001: 3% of Summerville's 22,776 homes predate 1940 and 52% were built in 2000 or later. At the usual 20-year roof life, 48% have needed at least one new roof already.
Yes. The most recent report of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of Summerville's center was 2 inches on June 10, 2024, one of 17 such reports from 2016 through 2025.
The building official on record is Rebecca McGrew, Director of Building Services. The department's own number is on this page, beside its name.
It can. Summerville has Summerville Historic District. Inside a designated district, changing a visible roof material or color can need preservation review before the permit is issued. Like-for-like replacement usually raises fewer questions, but we check before quoting.
Not yet: no completed roof in Summerville is in our job records, so this page shows no job count.
Researched 2026-10-24; housing, Census ACS 2020–2024; hail, NOAA SPC. Sources: www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · library.municode.com · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · en.wikipedia.org · www.scencyclopedia.org · schpr.sc.gov · www.summervillesc.gov · summervillesc.gov · www.scemd.org · en.wikipedia.org · www2.census.gov · tigerweb.geo.census.gov · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
