Short answer: As of October 2026 The Roofing Brief ranks no roofer in the Iowa City metro. Only two manufacturer-certified firms with five or more reviews appear in the directory nearby, and neither qualifies: one is based outside the metro and publishes no service area, and the other is a commercial roofer that does not install asphalt shingles. Instead this page lists four local roofers with an Owens Corning credential, and explains Iowa’s storm-contract law, which voids a contract if the roofer offers to cover your deductible.
The Roofing Brief searched the GAF certification registry across the principal cities of the Iowa City, IA statistical area. No roofing contractor based inside the metro clears the evidence floor this ranking applies, which is manufacturer certification plus at least five independent customer reviews, so this page ranks nobody rather than pad a list. What it does instead is set out the contractors we could verify individually against the credential that actually exists here. On the afternoon of 31 March 2023 six tornado segments crossed Johnson and Washington counties in under an hour, tearing roofs off homes in Hills and on Iowa City’s southeast side. Yet the federal storm record puts the decade’s hail, wind and tornado damage in the two counties at just $29,000, and Iowa only registers contractors, with no test. What Iowa does have is one of the stronger storm-contract laws in the country. No certified roofer qualifies for a ranking here.
The conditions an Iowa City roof has to be specified for
Iowa registers contractors; it does not license roofers. Under Iowa Code chapter 91C anyone earning $2,000 or more a year from construction must register with the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, showing workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance compliance. There is no exam. A contractor based outside Iowa must also file a $25,000 bond or show it is prequalified for state transportation work, but that bond secures Iowa taxes and unemployment contributions, not homeowners. Failing to register carries administrative penalties of up to $500, then $5,000.
Iowa’s storm-contract law is the real protection. Iowa Code 103A.71 bars a residential contractor repairing catastrophe damage from advertising or promising to rebate any part of your deductible and from representing or negotiating with your insurer, and requires a signed notice of contract obligations and rights in bold type. If the contractor breaks either rule or fails to give the notice, the contract is void and you owe nothing under it. Separately, Iowa Code 515.137A lets you cancel an assignment of insurance benefits for any reason within five business days, with refunds due within ten.
Iowa’s building code is a local option: the state code applies only where a city or county adopts it, and where it does, the 2024 International Residential Code has been the edition since September 2025. We could not read Iowa City’s or Coralville’s permit pages, so ask the city or the roofer whether a reroof needs a permit at your address.
Across 2016 to 2025 Johnson and Washington counties logged 99 hail reports, 65 of an inch or more and none of two inches, 144 thunderstorm wind reports, 77 of them at 58 knots or more, and 18 tornado segments. The 10 August 2020 derecho measured 69 mph at Iowa City Airport before the power failed, with 80 mph or more estimated in the north of the county. Johnson County’s homes are young, with a median year built of 1992, and 52.8 percent of homes in the city of Iowa City are rented.
Iowa City roofers with a manufacturer credential
No certified roofer qualifies for a ranking in the metro, so none is ranked. These four hold an Owens Corning credential and are based in Johnson or Washington County. They are not scored and we are not recommending them; Iowa’s registration lookup could not be queried, so check each one’s registration yourself.
| Company | Verified credential |
|---|---|
| Century Roofing Co. | Owens Corning Preferred on Commercial Drive, Iowa City; a residential specialist serving Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin and Hills, which says it has served Iowa City since 1991. Its two BBB profiles give different start dates. |
| Five Star Home Improvement, LLC | Top tier in Owens Corning’s network on James Street, Coralville; BBB accredited since 2012 at A+, with five complaints closed in three years. |
| Superstorm Restoration | Top tier in Owens Corning’s network in Tiffin, Johnson County. We found no BBB profile and verified nothing beyond the Owens Corning listing, so treat it as a lead. |
| Brenneman Builders Plus | Owens Corning Preferred in Riverside, Washington County; publishes Iowa contractor registration C135176; BBB A+, not accredited, trading since 2013. |
The 144 wind reports that shape an Iowa City 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 2 counties of the Iowa City, IA statistical area over ten years, with the dates, the stone sizes and the towns they landed on. Over that decade the metro logged 99 hail reports, 144 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports and 18 tornadoes. The database’s property-damage fields are left blank for most of these reports, so it carries no usable loss total for this metro and we do not quote one.
The biggest hail to fall on Iowa City in a decade
| Date | Stone size | Reported near | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 July 2020 | 1.75 in | North Liberty | Johnson |
| 11 July 2020 | 1.75 in | North Liberty | Johnson |
| 11 July 2020 | 1.75 in | North Liberty | Johnson |
| 25 June 2024 | 1.75 in | Solon | Johnson |
| 31 March 2023 | 1.75 in | North Liberty | Johnson |
| 7 May 2023 | 1.5 in | Oasis | Johnson |
The largest stone on record for this metro fell on 11 July 2020 near North Liberty, measured at 1.75 inches. That is ping-pong-ball sized, enough to bruise asphalt shingles and shorten a roof’s life without necessarily looking dramatic from the ground.
Wind. The strongest thunderstorm gust logged in the metro was 75 knots, about 86 mph, near Riverside on 16 May 2019. Asphalt shingles begin lifting at roughly 67 mph when they are correctly nailed, and considerably below that when they are not.
Tornadoes. 18 tornadoes touched down in these counties over the decade, the strongest rated EF3 near West Chester on 31 March 2023.
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 16 May 2019 event near Riverside, reproduced verbatim:
A slow, south moving cold front and an outflow boundary from morning thunderstorms over northern Illinois, combined with a hot and humid environment to produce widespread showers and thunderstorms across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois overnight. Several thunderstorms became severe, and produced large hail and damaging winds. Quarter sized hail was reported across Clinton and Iowa counties, while destructive winds of 70-90 MPH were reported Iowa and Washington Counties. In addition, torrential rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches were reported along the Interstate 80 corridor as storms slowly moved across the area. This lead to flash flooding across many major roadways, including…
A roof in this metro is built against events like that one, as recorded by the agency that recorded it rather than by a contractor selling the repair.
When it happens. Severe weather reports cluster in May (92), July (59), March (24). The worst years on record were 2024 (60), 2017 (52), 2023 (51). If you are scheduling non-urgent work in Iowa City, 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. Iowa City sees enough damaging hail that a Class 4 impact-rated shingle is worth pricing, though not automatically worth buying. Get both quotes and weigh the premium against any insurance discount.
31 March 2023, and the law that governs the repairs
NWS Quad Cities called 31 March 2023 a historic tornado outbreak: a record 29 tornadoes in its area that day, 13 rated EF2, one EF3 and one EF4, the first EF4 in its service area since 1995. Six of them touched Johnson and Washington counties between 3:19 and 4:06 in the afternoon.
An EF2 began southwest of Hills at 3:53. In western Hills, NWS found roofs completely torn off and siding stripped from several homes; it went on to destroy siding and roofs on several homes on the far southeast side of Iowa City before lifting past Herbert Hoover Highway. Another EF2 formed just southwest of Coralville, damaged a warehouse on James Street, lifted part of the roof off a retail building, then crossed the Coralville Reservoir and lifted the roof off a home east of North Liberty. A third, northwest of Solon, reached about 130 mph.
The strongest of the day for the metro had produced EF4 damage near Keota, wiping one house off its foundation, before it crossed Washington County as an EF3, toppled a 325-foot cell tower west of Wellman and weakened into southwest Johnson County. None of these six tornadoes carries a damage figure in the federal database, which is why its $29,000 decade total is no guide to what Iowa City roofs have been through.
After a storm like that, Iowa law shapes the roofing contract. A contract to repair catastrophe damage is void if the roofer offers to cover your deductible, negotiates with your insurer for you, or fails to give you the signed notice of contract obligations and rights. If you sign over your insurance benefits, you have five business days to cancel for any reason.
Out-of-state crews arrive after storms like this one, and they must register in Iowa and post a bond, but that bond protects the state’s tax collection, not your roof. The checks that protect you are the registration, the signed notice, the contractor’s own insurance, and a refusal to let anyone but you deal with your insurer.
The 2023 outbreak and Iowa’s storm-contract law
| Item | Figure or rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tornadoes in the NWS Quad Cities area, 31 March 2023 | 29, including 13 EF2, 1 EF3 and 1 EF4 | NWS Quad Cities |
| Tornado segments in the metro that afternoon | 6 | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Hills and southeast Iowa City | Roofs completely torn off; siding stripped | NWS Quad Cities survey |
| Recorded hail, wind and tornado damage, 2016 to 2025 | $29,000 | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Derecho, 10 August 2020 | 69 mph measured at Iowa City Airport | NWS Quad Cities |
| Contractor registration | Required at $2,000 a year; no exam | Iowa Code 91C |
| Out-of-state bond | $25,000; secures taxes, not homeowners | Iowa Code 91C.7 |
| Deductible rebate or claim negotiation | Prohibited; contract void | Iowa Code 103A.71 |
| Signed storm-contract notice | Required; contract void without it | Iowa Code 103A.71(4) |
| Cancelling an assignment of benefits | Five business days | Iowa Code 515.137A |
Source: NWS Quad Cities event summaries and surveys; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; Iowa Code 91C, 103A.12, 103A.71 and 515.137A; 481 IAC 301.8; Iowa DIAL contractor registration; Owens Corning contractor locator; BBB business profiles; US Census Bureau ACS 2020 to 2024.
What an Iowa City homeowner should ask for in writing
Licensing is required in IA. Iowa requires contractor registration with the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing for anyone earning $2,000 or more a year from construction work. 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, or a statement that cover is not required. A contractor based outside Iowa must also file a $25,000 surety bond or show it is prequalified for Iowa DOT work; that bond secures the contractor’s Iowa taxes and unemployment contributions, not homeowners. Iowa Code 103A.71 bars a residential contractor from rebating your insurance deductible or negotiating your claim, and requires a signed notice on any storm repair contract; if the contractor breaks either rule, the contract is void and you owe nothing under it.
Check here: Iowa DIAL contractor registration. Check the registration on the state’s lookup and ask where the contractor is based. After a storm, insist on the signed notice Iowa Code 103A.71 requires, and refuse any offer to cover your deductible: it voids the contract.
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.
Who else is certified in Iowa City
0 certified roofing contractors serve the principal cities of the Iowa City, IA statistical area, of which 0 hold the top President’s Club tier. The pool carries 0 customer reviews between them at a mean rating of 4.45. The statistical area had a 2024 population of 182,711, a change of 4.16% against the 2020 census base, per the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
How these Iowa City rankings were produced
Every contractor in the Iowa City, 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 0 certified contractors, of whom 0 hold President’s Club standing and 0 Master Elite, against a metro mean rating of 4.45. No contractor cleared the floor, so the alternatives listed above were instead researched individually against Better Business Bureau records, state licence registers and manufacturer directories. Where that research turned up something awkward it is on the page, and no placement was paid for.
Set aside in Iowa City. Contractors that would otherwise have scored into the top no were removed for the reason stated. The score is computed from public data, but where the research pass finds evidence undermining an input to that score, the score is set aside.
- Evans Home Repair Inc, which scored 56.6: Excluded because we could find no evidence it serves Iowa City: it is based in Conroy, Iowa County, outside the metro, and its website is a placeholder with no service area. Its BBB record is clean, accredited since 2009 at A+.
- T&K Roofing & Sheet Metal Inc, which scored 40.9: Excluded as a commercial roofer: its own services page says it does not offer asphalt shingles, and BBB describes it as a commercial and industrial installer. It is also based in Ely, Linn County, in the Cedar Rapids metro. Its record is clean, and it has traded since 1962.
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: October 2026. Scoring run: 2026-10-06. Corrections go to the editor and are actioned on verification.
What Iowa City homeowners want to know
Who are the best roofers in Iowa City, IA?
No certified roofer qualifies for a ranking in Iowa City, so The Roofing Brief ranks none. It lists four local roofers with Owens Corning credentials instead: Century Roofing, Five Star Home Improvement, Superstorm Restoration and Brenneman Builders Plus. Iowa registers contractors without testing them, so check the registration, insist on the signed notice Iowa Code 103A.71 requires after a storm, and refuse any offer to cover your deductible.
How many certified roofing contractors serve Iowa City?
0 contractors on the GAF certification registry serve the principal cities of the Iowa City, IA statistical area as of October 2026, of which 0 hold President’s Club status.
How much damaging hail does Iowa City get?
The Iowa City, IA statistical area recorded 65 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 0 of 2 inches or larger between 2016 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Events Database. The largest hailstone reported measured 1.75 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 every verified alternative listed.
What was the worst hailstorm in Iowa City in the last ten years?
The largest hailstone logged by the National Weather Service in the Iowa City, IA statistical area between 2016 and 2025 measured 1.75 inches, reported near North Liberty on 11 July 2020. That is ping-pong-ball sized, enough to bruise asphalt shingles and shorten a roof’s life without necessarily looking dramatic from the ground. Across the decade the metro recorded 99 hail reports. The database’s property-damage fields are left blank for most of these reports, so it carries no usable loss total for this metro and we do not quote one.
When is the worst time of year for roof damage in Iowa City?
Severe-weather reports in the Iowa City, IA statistical area cluster in May, July, March, on the NOAA record for 2016 to 2025. Outside those months local crews are not triaging storm damage, so lead times are shorter and scheduling is easier.
Do roofers need a licence in IA?
Iowa requires contractor registration with the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing for anyone earning $2,000 or more a year from construction work. 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, or a statement that cover is not required. A contractor based outside Iowa must also file a $25,000 surety bond or show it is prequalified for Iowa DOT work; that bond secures the contractor’s Iowa taxes and unemployment contributions, not homeowners. Iowa Code 103A.71 bars a residential contractor from rebating your insurance deductible or negotiating your claim, and requires a signed notice on any storm repair contract; if the contractor breaks either rule, the contract is void and you owe nothing under it.
What should I check before hiring a roofer in Iowa City?
Check the registration on the state’s lookup and ask where the contractor is based. After a storm, insist on the signed notice Iowa Code 103A.71 requires, and refuse any offer to cover your deductible: it voids the contract.
31 March 2023, and the law that governs the repairs?
NWS Quad Cities called 31 March 2023 a historic tornado outbreak: a record 29 tornadoes in its area that day, 13 rated EF2, one EF3 and one EF4, the first EF4 in its service area since 1995. Six of them touched Johnson and Washington counties between 3:19 and 4:06 in the afternoon.
Is Iowa City a hard market to find a good roofer in?
On the afternoon of 31 March 2023 six tornado segments crossed Johnson and Washington counties in under an hour, tearing roofs off homes in Hills and on Iowa City’s southeast side. Yet the federal storm record puts the decade’s hail, wind and tornado damage in the two counties at just $29,000, and Iowa only registers contractors, with no test. What Iowa does have is one of the stronger storm-contract laws in the country. No certified roofer qualifies for a ranking here.
Is wind or hail the bigger risk to a roof in Iowa City?
Wind, by a wide margin. The Iowa City, IA statistical area logged 144 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports against 65 hail reports of an inch or more between 2016 and 2025. Wind damage shows up at the rake, ridge and edge rather than across the field of the roof, so the fastening schedule and edge detail matter more here than the impact rating of the shingle.
Why is Evans Home Repair Inc not on this list?
Excluded because we could find no evidence it serves Iowa City: it is based in Conroy, Iowa County, outside the metro, and its website is a placeholder with no service area. Its BBB record is clean, accredited since 2009 at A+..
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 23 miles from Iowa City
- Best roofers in Davenport, IA, about 48 miles from Iowa City
- Best roofers in Des Moines, IA, another IA metro on the same formula
- Best roofers in Burlington, NC, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Kingston, NY, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Rochester, MN, also scored, about 170 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 Iowa City, IA: The Roofing Brief Contractor Score.” Published October 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.