Short answer: As of September 2026, the five highest-scoring roofing contractors in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score are Sonntag Roofing LLC (94.5), Roof Iowa LLC (92.0), Andrew’s Roofing Company (80.7), Titan Roofing & Exteriors Inc (77.4), Blackstone Exteriors LLC, registered as Blackstone Roofing LLC (75.5). All of them carry a verifiable manufacturer certification, every rating here was cross-checked against an independent record, and no money changed hands for any placement.
The Roofing Brief scored 10 certified roofing contractors serving the Des Moines metro on a published, reproducible formula, then researched each of the top five individually to confirm its record. Des Moines takes 305 damaging-hail reports of an inch or larger a decade, and Iowa’s response to that is one of the more quietly useful rules in the country. Iowa registers contractors rather than licensing them, with no trade exam at all, but a contractor whose principal place of business is outside Iowa must file a $25,000 surety bond before it can register. That requirement exists specifically because out-of-state storm chasers are hard to pursue after they leave, and the bond is a fund a wronged Iowa homeowner can claim against. So the first question here is not whether the contractor is registered. It is where its principal place of business is, and if the answer is out of state, whether the bond is filed.
What a Des Moines roof is up against
Central Iowa is a hail market with a wind problem on top. NOAA holds 405 hail reports for the six metro counties over the decade, 305 of them an inch or larger and 35 at two inches or more, topped by 3.25-inch stones near Lovington in July 2021. Add 454 severe wind reports, 137 of them at severe thresholds, and 74 tornadoes, including the EF4 that struck Madison County near Macksburg and Winterset on 5 March 2022 and an EF3 near Indianola in August 2019. May and June are the peak months.
The derecho of 10 August 2020 is the event that redefined roofing capacity here. It crossed Iowa with sustained winds over 100 mph, damaged roofs in every part of the metro and became the costliest thunderstorm event in modern United States history. What it taught homeowners is that after a regional event, the queue for good contractors is measured in months, and the people knocking on doors in week one are usually the ones who arrived with the storm.
Iowa’s rule for those arrivals is genuinely useful. Contractors earning $2,000 or more a year in the state must register with the Iowa Division of Labor, and a contractor whose principal place of business is outside Iowa must additionally file a $25,000 surety bond before registering. So the question after a storm is not just whether a contractor is registered but where it is actually based, and if the answer is out of state, whether that bond is on file. A bond is a fund you can claim against; a registration alone is not.
Permits are jurisdiction-specific across a metro this fragmented. Des Moines requires a permit for most roof replacements, and any work that repairs or replaces sheathing or rafters needs one; West Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, Waukee and the other suburbs each run their own permit office. Ask which office the permit is coming from and whose name is on it, and pair that with an impact-rated shingle conversation, because in this metro your insurer is likely to have an opinion about Class 4.
The 5 best roofers in Des Moines, IA
Scored 2026-09-20. The metro mean rating used as the Bayesian prior for Des Moines is 4.85, across a pool of 10 certified contractors.
| Rank | Company | TRB Score | Certification | Rating (reviews) | Adjusted | In business since | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonntag Roofing LLC | 94.5 | President’s Club | 5.0 (1,015) | 4.993 | not published | Dallas Center, IA |
| 2 | Roof Iowa LLC | 92.0 | President’s Club | 5.0 (167) | 4.965 | not published | Ankeny, IA |
| 3 | Andrew’s Roofing Company | 80.7 | Master Elite | 4.9 (168) | 4.889 | not published | Des Moines, IA |
| 4 | Titan Roofing & Exteriors Inc | 77.4 | Master Elite | 4.9 (154) | 4.888 | not published | Grimes, IA |
| 5 | Blackstone Exteriors LLC, registered as Blackstone Roofing LLC | 75.5 | Master Elite | 5.0 (38) | 4.915 | not published | Grimes, IA |
1. Sonntag Roofing LLC — TRB Score 94.5
Sonntag Roofing LLC is based in Dallas Center, IA, BBB accredited since 24 November 2014, A+ rating, and holds President’s Club standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 35 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 39.7 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 15.0 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 4.8 | 10 |
| Total | 94.5 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- A+ rated and accredited since 24 November 2014, a 12-year record. BBB
- Listed with GuildQuality, which surveys customers directly rather than collecting volunteered reviews. GuildQuality
- Contractor and permit record on BuildZoom. BuildZoom
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing across the Des Moines metro.
Why it ranks here. A clean 5.0 across 1,015 registry reviews. Only a handful of contractors in this entire programme combine a perfect rating with a sample above a thousand. Twelve years of unbroken A+ accreditation and GuildQuality participation on top of it.
Best fit for: Des Moines metro homeowners generally, and hail claims. The evidence gap here genuinely narrows the decision.
What we would want clarified. Twenty-one miles from the metro centre in Dallas County, the furthest in this top five. We publish this because a ranking that only prints the flattering findings is an advertisement, not an assessment.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (515) 681-5951, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
2. Roof Iowa LLC — TRB Score 92.0
Roof Iowa LLC is based in Ankeny, IA, BBB accredited since 4 January 2016, A+ rating, and holds President’s Club standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 35 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 38.6 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 11.1 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 7.3 | 10 |
| Total | 92.0 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- A+ rated and accredited since 4 January 2016, a 10-year record. BBB
What they actually do. Residential roofing across the northern Des Moines metro.
Why it ranks here. A clean 5.0 across 167 registry reviews with President’s Club certification and ten years of unbroken A+ accreditation. An Iowa-registered business name and an Iowa address, which in this state means no out-of-state bond question arises.
Best fit for: Ankeny, Johnston and the northern suburbs.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (515) 612-3889, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
3. Andrew’s Roofing Company — TRB Score 80.7
Andrew’s Roofing Company is based in Des Moines, IA, BBB accredited since 16 April 2012, A+ rating, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 35.5 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 11.1 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 10.0 | 10 |
| Total | 80.7 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- A+ rated and accredited since 16 April 2012, a 14-year record. BBB
- Rated 4.9 overall on HomeAdvisor. HomeAdvisor
- Contractor and permit record on BuildZoom. BuildZoom
What they actually do. Roofing and exterior work across the Des Moines metro.
Why it ranks here. The only ranked contractor based in Des Moines itself, with fourteen years of unbroken A+ accreditation and a 4.9 rating agreed by two independent sources.
Best fit for: Des Moines city homeowners wanting a contractor inside the city rather than in the ring suburbs.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (515) 444-9048, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
4. Titan Roofing & Exteriors Inc — TRB Score 77.4
Titan Roofing & Exteriors Inc is based in Grimes, IA, BBB accredited, A+ rating, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 35.5 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 10.9 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 6.9 | 10 |
| Total | 77.4 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- A+ rated BBB accredited business. BBB
- Listed on the Procore construction network, which is a commercial-trade listing rather than a consumer directory. Procore
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing and exteriors serving Des Moines, Ankeny and Grimes.
Why it ranks here. 154 registry reviews at 4.9 from an A+ accredited business, with a commercial-trade network listing indicating it is hired by other builders as well as homeowners.
Best fit for: Grimes, Urbandale and the northwest metro, and commercial work.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (515) 635-4168, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
5. Blackstone Exteriors LLC, registered as Blackstone Roofing LLC — TRB Score 75.5
Trades as Blackstone Exteriors LLC, registered as Blackstone Roofing LLC; listed on the GAF registry as Blackstone Exteriors LLC.
Blackstone Exteriors LLC, registered as Blackstone Roofing LLC is based in Grimes, IA, BBB accredited, A+ rating, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 36.6 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 7.9 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 6.9 | 10 |
| Total | 75.5 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- A+ rated BBB accredited business, filed under the legal name Blackstone Roofing LLC with Blackstone Exteriors as an alternate name. BBB
- Listed on HomeAdvisor with a review history. HomeAdvisor
What they actually do. Roofing and siding across the Des Moines metro.
Why it ranks here. A clean 5.0 rating from an A+ accredited business. Worth knowing when you check the paperwork: the legal entity is Blackstone Roofing LLC and Blackstone Exteriors is the trading name, so a registration search under the trading name alone may come back empty.
Best fit for: Grimes and northwest metro homeowners wanting roof and siding together.
What we would want clarified. Thirty-eight registry reviews is the thinnest base in this top five. We publish this because a ranking that only prints the flattering findings is an advertisement, not an assessment.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (515) 720-2158, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
The 305 hail reports behind a Des Moines roof
Aggregate hail counts tell you very little about a specific roof. These are the individual events: every severe-weather report logged by the National Weather Service across the 6 counties of the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA statistical area over ten years, with the dates, the stone sizes and the towns they landed on. Over that decade the metro logged 405 hail reports, 454 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports and 74 tornadoes. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $233.0 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
The biggest hail to fall on Des Moines in a decade
| Date | Stone size | Reported near | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 July 2021 | 3.25 in | Lovington | Polk |
| 9 July 2021 | 3.0 in | Woodward | Dallas |
| 14 May 2020 | 3.0 in | New Virginia | Warren |
| 19 August 2022 | 3.0 in | Clover Hills | Polk |
| 1 October 2019 | 2.75 in | Des Moines | Polk |
| 7 May 2023 | 2.75 in | Baxter | Jasper |
The largest stone on record for this metro fell on 9 July 2021 near Lovington, measured at 3.25 inches. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired.
Wind. The strongest thunderstorm gust logged in the metro was 76 knots, about 87 mph, near Indianola on 28 June 2018. Asphalt shingles begin lifting at roughly 67 mph when they are correctly nailed, and considerably below that when they are not.
Tornadoes. 74 tornadoes touched down in these counties over the decade, the strongest rated EF4 near Macksburg on 5 March 2022.
What the National Weather Service wrote about it
The NWS logs a written account of each severe-weather episode. This is its description of the 24 May 2024 event near Jasper, reproduced verbatim:
Storm chaser measured 84 mph wind gust with a hand-held anemometer. Also observed power flashes and trees down. Time of occurrence was estimated from radar.
That is the kind of damage a roof in this metro has to be specified against, described by the agency that recorded it rather than by a contractor selling the repair.
When it happens. Severe weather reports cluster in May (221), June (200), July (152). The worst years on record were 2024 (152), 2017 (118), 2020 (113). If you are scheduling non-urgent work in Des Moines, the months outside that window are when crews are least stretched and least likely to be triaging emergency callouts ahead of your job.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, county-level detail files 2016 to 2025, filtered to the counties of this statistical area by The Roofing Brief. Damage figures are as reported to the NWS and undercount insured losses.
What to do with this. At 305 damaging-hail reports in ten years, impact resistance in Des Moines is a specification question, not an upsell. Ask every contractor you shortlist to quote a UL 2218 Class 4 impact-rated shingle alongside the standard option, and ask your insurer whether a Class 4 roof earns a premium discount, because many carriers offer one in high-hail territory.
How to check a Des Moines roofer in ten minutes
Licensing is required in IA. Iowa requires contractor registration with the Iowa Division of Labor for anyone performing more than $2,000 of construction work in a calendar year. It is a registration, not a licence: there is no trade examination and no competency test of any kind.
Registration requires proof of unemployment insurance and workers compensation. A contractor whose principal place of business is outside Iowa must additionally file a $25,000 surety bond before it can register. That bond exists specifically because out-of-state contractors are harder to pursue, and it is a fund a wronged Iowa customer can claim against.
Check here: Iowa Division of Labor contractor registration search. Ask where the contractor’s principal place of business is. If it is outside Iowa, it must have filed a $25,000 bond, and you should confirm that before signing. Storm-chasing crews that follow hail across state lines are exactly who that bond requirement was written for.
Four checks to run before you sign anything, in any state.
- Verify certification at the source. Use the GAF verification tool rather than trusting a badge image on a company website.
- Get the certificate of insurance from the insurer, not the contractor, and confirm general liability and workers compensation are both active on the day work starts.
- Confirm who pulls the permit. If a contractor asks you to pull it as the homeowner, that moves liability onto you. Decline.
- Get warranty terms in writing before any deposit, and check the manufacturer warranty being promised actually requires the certification tier the contractor holds.
How deep the Des Moines certified market really is
10 certified roofing contractors serve the principal cities of the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA statistical area, of which 2 hold the top President’s Club tier. The pool carries 2,302 customer reviews between them at a mean rating of 4.85. The statistical area had a 2024 population of 753,913, a change of 6.26% against the 2020 census base, per the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
How these Des Moines rankings were produced
Every contractor in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA pool was scored out of 100 on four published components: certification tier, a Bayesian adjusted rating, review depth and distance from the metro centre. In this metro that meant scoring 10 certified contractors, of whom 2 hold President’s Club standing and 5 Master Elite, against a metro mean rating of 4.85. The top five were then researched individually against Better Business Bureau records, state licence registers and manufacturer directories. Good and bad findings are published together, and no contractor paid for a place here.
The full method, the weightings, what the GAF certification tiers actually mean, who is eligible to be ranked and what we do not claim are all set out on our roofer ranking methodology page. Last updated: September 2026. Scoring run: 2026-09-20. Corrections go to the editor and are actioned on verification.
Common questions about roofers in Des Moines
Who is the best roofer in Des Moines, IA?
Sonntag Roofing LLC of Dallas Center, IA scores highest in the Des Moines metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score, at 94.5 out of 100 as of September 2026. It holds President’s Club certification with a 5.0 rating across 1,015 reviews. Highest-scoring is not the same as best fit for your specific job, and the four companies behind it score within 19.0 points.
How many certified roofing contractors serve Des Moines?
10 contractors on the GAF certification registry serve the principal cities of the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA statistical area as of September 2026, of which 2 hold President’s Club status.
How much damaging hail does Des Moines get?
The Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA statistical area recorded 305 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 35 of 2 inches or larger between 2016 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Events Database. The largest hailstone reported measured 3.25 inches.
Did any contractor pay to appear on this list?
No. The Roofing Brief takes no placement fees, no lead fees and no affiliate commission from any roofing contractor. Ranking comes entirely from the published formula applied to public registry data, followed by an individual research pass on the top five.
What was the worst hailstorm in Des Moines in the last ten years?
The largest hailstone logged by the National Weather Service in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA statistical area between 2016 and 2025 measured 3.25 inches, reported near Lovington on 9 July 2021. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired. Across the decade the metro recorded 405 hail reports. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $233.0 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
When is the worst time of year for roof damage in Des Moines?
Severe-weather reports in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA statistical area cluster in May, June, July, on the NOAA record for 2016 to 2025. Scheduling discretionary work away from that window tends to get you a better crew and a faster start, because nobody is juggling emergency callouts.
Do roofers need a licence in IA?
Iowa requires contractor registration with the Iowa Division of Labor for anyone performing more than $2,000 of construction work in a calendar year. It is a registration, not a licence: there is no trade examination and no competency test of any kind. Registration requires proof of unemployment insurance and workers compensation. A contractor whose principal place of business is outside Iowa must additionally file a $25,000 surety bond before it can register. That bond exists specifically because out-of-state contractors are harder to pursue, and it is a fund a wronged Iowa customer can claim against.
What should I check before hiring a roofer in Des Moines?
Ask where the contractor’s principal place of business is. If it is outside Iowa, it must have filed a $25,000 bond, and you should confirm that before signing. Storm-chasing crews that follow hail across state lines are exactly who that bond requirement was written for.
Is Des Moines a hard market to find a good roofer in?
Des Moines takes 305 damaging-hail reports of an inch or larger a decade, and Iowa’s response to that is one of the more quietly useful rules in the country. Iowa registers contractors rather than licensing them, with no trade exam at all, but a contractor whose principal place of business is outside Iowa must file a $25,000 surety bond before it can register. That requirement exists specifically because out-of-state storm chasers are hard to pursue after they leave, and the bond is a fund a wronged Iowa homeowner can claim against. So the first question here is not whether the contractor is registered. It is where its principal place of business is, and if the answer is out of state, whether the bond is filed.
Roofer rankings for other metros
The Roofing Brief scores certified roofing contractors in the 400 largest U.S. metropolitan and micropolitan areas on the same formula.
- Best roofers in Cedar Rapids, IA, about 103 miles from Des Moines
- Best roofers in Davenport, IA, another IA metro on the same formula
- Best roofers in Provo, UT, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Deltona, FL, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Omaha, NE, also scored, about 128 miles away
- Best roofers in Lincoln, NE, also scored, about 168 miles away
- Best roofers in Rochester, MN, also scored, about 178 miles away
See the full index of all 400 metro roofer rankings, or read how to find and vet a roofing contractor anywhere in the country.
Cite this analysis
The Roofing Brief. “Best Roofers in Des Moines, IA: The Roofing Brief Contractor Score.” Published September 2026. Inputs: GAF certification registry; NOAA Storm Events Database 2016-2025; U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates; Better Business Bureau and independent review-platform records for each ranked contractor.