Short answer: As of October 2026, the five highest-scoring roofing contractors in the Janesville-Beloit, WI metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score are DMR Exteriors (79.4), Martin Exteriors (77.9), Guardian Home Improvement (72.5), Avondale Roofing (70.7), Buckshot General Contracting (67.2). Each is certified by a manufacturer whose register we checked by hand, each rating has been tested against a source outside that register, and nobody bought a place on this page.
The Roofing Brief scored 7 certified roofing contractors serving the Janesville metro on a published, reproducible formula, then researched each of the top five individually to confirm its record. In fourteen months Rock County had Wisconsin’s first February tornadoes, an EF2 that tore across Janesville’s south side and alone accounts for three-quarters of the decade’s recorded storm damage, and a hail warning tagged destructive for baseball-size stones. Yet a Janesville reroof needs a city permit only when the roof structure changes. Nine certified firms appear in the directory for Janesville and Beloit; two are excluded, one on a lapsed Illinois roofing licence, and five are ranked.
Hail, codes and what they cost a Janesville homeowner
Wisconsin has no roofing-specific licence. To pull a permit on a one- or two-family home a contractor must hold a Dwelling Contractor certification from the Department of Safety and Professional Services and hold or employ a certified Qualifier (SPS 305.31); the certification needs a bond of at least $5,000, which caps job size, or $250,000 of liability cover, and the Qualifier needs 12 hours of approved coursework, not a trade exam. Janesville’s permit page says contractors must hold the state credentials, and an owner who occupies the home can pull their own permit.
The City of Janesville requires a permit for reroofing only when the roof’s structural members will be altered, except in the Courthouse Hill Historic District, where reroofing needs a permit and Historic Commission review. Beloit prices roofing as a residential alteration at $50 plus $5 per $1,000 above $1,999. Wisconsin’s code allows no more than two layers and requires ice dam protection on shingle roofs over heated space at slopes of 4:12 or less.
Wis. Stat. 100.65 governs every storm claim here: no promise to pay or rebate your deductible, no contractor negotiating your claim for you, a detachable cancellation form, and the right to cancel before the end of the third business day after a written denial of all or part of the claim. Several firms below are based in Illinois, where a roofer also needs an exam-based state licence; we checked those on the Illinois register.
Across 2016 to 2025 Rock County logged 57 hail reports, 48 of an inch or larger and eight of two inches or more, 74 thunderstorm wind reports and 11 tornadoes, five of them in 2024 alone, with $33.3 million of recorded damage. Janesville’s median home was built in 1972 and Beloit’s in 1957, and 40.6 percent of Beloit’s occupied homes are rented.
The 5 best roofers in Janesville, WI
Scored 2026-10-07. The metro mean rating used as the Bayesian prior for Janesville is 4.667, across a pool of 7 certified contractors.
| Rank | Company | TRB Score | Certification | Rating (reviews) | Adjusted | In business since | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DMR Exteriors | 79.4 | Master Elite | 5.0 (82) | 4.874 | 2020 | Janesville, WI |
| 2 | Martin Exteriors | 77.9 | President’s Club | 4.6 (243) | 4.611 | 2006 | Roscoe, IL |
| 3 | Guardian Home Improvement | 72.5 | Master Elite | 4.9 (57) | 4.791 | 2020 | Edgerton, WI |
| 4 | Avondale Roofing | 70.7 | Master Elite | 4.7 (148) | 4.692 | 1988 | Edgerton, WI |
| 5 | Buckshot General Contracting | 67.2 | Master Elite | 4.7 (83) | 4.687 | not published | Brodhead, WI |
1. DMR Exteriors: TRB Score 79.4
DMR Exteriors is based in Janesville, WI, in business since 2020, led by Dan Riemer and Michelle Riemer, owners, BBB accredited since 24 March 2026, A+ rating, no complaints, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 34.9 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 10.4 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 10.0 | 10 |
| Total | 79.4 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Accredited since March 2026 with an A+ rating; business started 26 February 2020; owner Dan Riemer; no complaints.. BBB business profile
- DMR Exteriors LLC of Janesville holds an active limited (residential) roofing contractor licence, 104-020839, issued March 2026, with no discipline.. Illinois IDFPR roofing licence register
- Service area names Janesville, Beloit, Brodhead, Milton, Edgerton, Clinton and Shopiere in Wisconsin and South Beloit and Rockton in Illinois; publishes a Wisconsin Dwelling Contractor number.. Company website
What they actually do. Residential roof replacement and repair, siding, gutters and windows, with remote estimates.
Why it ranks here. The only firm in the pool based in Janesville itself, owner-run by Dan and Michelle Riemer, with a perfect 5.0 across 82 GAF reviews at the Master Elite tier. It publishes both its Wisconsin Dwelling Contractor number and an Illinois roofing licence on its site, which few roofers do, and the Illinois register confirms the licence, issued this year for its South Beloit and Rockton work. Its service list covers the whole metro. The business dates from 2020, and the longer experience quoted in some directories is the owner’s own.
Best fit for: Janesville and Beloit homeowners who want an owner-run local firm that publishes its credentials and covers both sides of the state line.
What we would want clarified. A young business, trading since 2020, with BBB accreditation only since March 2026 and a moderate review base. Its Wisconsin credential number could not be checked on the state register, so confirm it on the permit. 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 (608) 931-6062, 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. Martin Exteriors: TRB Score 77.9
Martin Exteriors is based in Roscoe, IL, in business since 2006, led by Justin Martin, President and founder, BBB accredited since 30 March 2018, A+ rating, three complaints closed in three years, and holds President’s Club standing on the GAF certification registry.
Certifications held: President’s Club (GAF), CertainTeed ShingleMaster. Certification by more than one manufacturer is uncommon and requires meeting each programme’s separate standards for insurance, training and track record.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 35 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 24.5 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 13.0 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 5.5 | 10 |
| Total | 77.9 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Martin Exteriors, Inc. holds an active unlimited roofing contractor licence, 104-017824, issued December 2017, with no discipline.. Illinois IDFPR roofing licence register
- Accredited since March 2018 with an A+ rating; incorporated 11 December 2006; president Justin Martin; three complaints closed in the last three years.. BBB business profile
- Named on the Financial Times list of the Americas’ fastest-growing companies in 2022; founded 2006 by Justin Martin.. Roofing Contractor magazine
What they actually do. Residential roof replacement, commercial and flat roofing, siding and gutters.
Why it ranks here. A Roscoe, Illinois firm about seven miles south of Beloit, at GAF’s President’s Club tier with 243 reviews, that keeps dedicated service pages for Beloit and Janesville. Its Illinois unlimited roofing licence is active with no discipline, and BBB has accredited it since 2018. It also publishes a Wisconsin credential number, which we could not check. It is ranked on our Rockford page as well.
Best fit for: Beloit and south-county homeowners who want a fast-growing, Illinois-licensed firm with a large review record and dedicated Wisconsin service pages.
What we would want clarified. Its 4.6 rating is the lowest of the five ranked here, BBB now shows three complaints in three years, and its own site’s founding year of 2003 conflicts with the 2006 incorporation we use. 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 (815) 624-6278, 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. Guardian Home Improvement: TRB Score 72.5
Guardian Home Improvement is based in Edgerton, WI, in business since 2020, led by Joni R. Harmon, owner, BBB accredited since 3 February 2022, A+ rating, one complaint closed in three years, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 31.6 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 9.6 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 7.2 | 10 |
| Total | 72.5 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Guardian Home Improvement, Edgerton: accredited since February 2022 with an A+ rating; business started 1 February 2020; owner Joni R. Harmon; serves southern and middle Wisconsin; one complaint closed in three years.. BBB business profile
What they actually do. Roofing, siding, gutters and gutter protection, and windows.
Why it ranks here. An Edgerton firm inside Rock County, about 11 miles north of Janesville, owned by Joni Harmon, with a 4.9 rating across 57 GAF reviews at the Master Elite tier and a clean BBB record apart from one closed complaint. It is not the New Berlin company Guardian Professional Contracting Services, which also trades under a Guardian Home Improvements name and claims more than 30 years; directory listings mix the two, and we found nothing linking them. We found no website for the Edgerton firm, and the obvious domain is for sale.
Best fit for: North-county homeowners around Edgerton, Milton and Janesville who want a small local firm with a clean record.
What we would want clarified. No website and a short track record, trading since 2020, so confirm its Dwelling Contractor numbers, insurance and that you are dealing with the Edgerton firm rather than the similarly named Milwaukee-area company. 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 (608) 561-6303, 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. Avondale Roofing: TRB Score 70.7
Avondale Roofing is based in Edgerton, WI, in business since 1988, led by Ryan P. Collett, owner, BBB accredited since 7 October 2021, A+ rating, no complaints closed in three years, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 27.7 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 11.8 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 7.2 | 10 |
| Total | 70.7 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Avondale Roofing, Edgerton: accredited since October 2021 with an A+ rating; business started 1988; owner Ryan P. Collett; no complaints.. BBB business profile
- Avondale Roofing holds an active unlimited roofing contractor licence, 104-018944, at its Edgerton address, issued April 2021, with no discipline.. Illinois IDFPR roofing licence register
- Lists Janesville, Beloit and Edgerton among the cities it serves and Rock County among its counties.. Company website, Wisconsin
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing, repairs, seamless gutters, siding and roof snow removal.
Why it ranks here. A Chicago-founded roofer, dating from 1988 by both BBB and its own account, now run by Ryan Collett, who joined in 2020 and took ownership in 2021, from hubs in Edgerton and Des Plaines, Illinois. Its site names Janesville, Beloit and Rock County, roofing is its core trade, and its current Illinois licence and BBB file are both clean. The Illinois register also holds an older, lapsed licence for an Avondale Roofing Inc of Northbrook, reprimanded in 2016 for subcontracting to an unlicensed roofer; we could not confirm that it is the same business Collett acquired.
Best fit for: Homeowners who want a roofing-first firm with a Rock County base and a current Illinois licence.
What we would want clarified. New ownership since 2021, and it describes itself as expanding nationwide, so it is a multi-market operator rather than a purely local roofer; ask who will manage your job from the Edgerton hub. 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 (855) 819-7663, 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. Buckshot General Contracting: TRB Score 67.2
Buckshot General Contracting is based in Brodhead, WI, led by Chad Yates, Owner and President; Scott Schober, General Manager, BBB accredited since 29 June 2007, A+ rating, and holds Master Elite standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 24 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 27.5 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 10.5 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 5.2 | 10 |
| Total | 67.2 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Accredited since June 2007 with an A+ rating; business started 1991; four locations including Brodhead and Madison and Edmond, Oklahoma; owner Chad Yates; storm and hail damage restoration.. BBB business profile
- Headquartered in Madison with an office in Centerville, Iowa; works Dane County daily and the wider region, including Janesville, for storm work; publishes Wisconsin credential DC-080900045; offers FORTIFIED roof installation.. Company website
What they actually do. Storm and hail restoration, residential and commercial roofing, siding, gutters and insurance claim documentation.
Why it ranks here. A storm restoration contractor with BBB accreditation since 2007, a Master Elite listing and 83 reviews, operating from Madison and Brodhead in Green County, with an Iowa office and storm deployments it says span 24 states. Its site has service pages for Janesville and Beloit, but says it covers them for storm work, with Dane County its daily territory. It photographs damage, meets adjusters and files supplements with the homeowner approving the numbers, which Wisconsin allows; it also works for insurers as a scoping contractor. Its founding year conflicts (its site says 1979, BBB 1991), so we record none.
Best fit for: Homeowners with a large hail or wind claim who want a firm practised at documenting damage for the insurer, or who want a FORTIFIED roof.
What we would want clarified. A multi-state storm operator that serves Janesville after storms rather than year-round, based outside the metro; ask who handles warranty calls later. It also works for insurance carriers, so ask how it handles that on your claim; under Wisconsin law it may document damage but may not negotiate your claim for you. 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 (866) 642-5600, 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.
Other roofers serving Janesville and Beloit
Five certified firms are ranked here. These four are based in Janesville or Beloit with an Owens Corning credential. They are not scored and we are not recommending them; ask each for its Dwelling Contractor numbers, which the state’s search would not let us check.
| Company | Verified credential |
|---|---|
| Aurum Contracting | Owens Corning Platinum Preferred on Prairie Ave in Beloit; BBB accredited since 2016 at A+, trading since 2014; one complaint closed in three years. Storm restoration and exteriors. |
| H & H Exteriors, LLC | Owens Corning Preferred on Commercial Dr in Janesville; BBB A+, not accredited, trading since 2012; no complaints. Also does remodelling and commercial roofing. |
| Distinct Exteriors LLC | Owens Corning Preferred on W Russell Rd in Janesville, with 11 GuildQuality reviews averaging 4.82; no BBB profile found. |
| Advanced Construction of Janesville LLC | Owens Corning Preferred on N Parker Dr in Janesville; BBB profile, not accredited. Also does egress windows, remodelling and excavating. |
What 2.75 inch hail does to a Janesville 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 1 county of the Janesville-Beloit, WI statistical area over ten years, with the dates, the stone sizes and the towns they landed on. Over that decade the metro logged 57 hail reports, 74 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports and 11 tornadoes. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $33.3 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
The biggest hail to fall on Janesville in a decade
| Date | Stone size | Reported near | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 April 2025 | 2.75 in | Evansville | Rock |
| 18 April 2025 | 2.75 in | Fulton | Rock |
| 18 April 2025 | 2.75 in | Edgerton | Rock |
| 18 April 2025 | 2.5 in | Edgerton | Rock |
| 18 April 2025 | 2.0 in | Evansville | Rock |
| 18 April 2025 | 2.0 in | Mallwood | Rock |
The largest stone on record for this metro fell on 18 April 2025 near Evansville, measured at 2.75 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 70 knots, about 81 mph, near Beloit on 5 April 2023. Asphalt shingles begin lifting at roughly 67 mph when they are correctly nailed, and considerably below that when they are not.
Tornadoes. 11 tornadoes touched down in these counties over the decade, the strongest rated EF2 near Magnolia on 8 February 2024.
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 5 April 2023 event near Beloit, reproduced verbatim:
A NWS storm survey concluded that straight line winds up to 80 mph caused a path of tree damage from the west side of Beloit through the east side of Beloit. Numerous large trees were uprooted in a starburst pattern. A set of bleachers at Beloit Memorial High School were damaged and a wall was pushed in at a manufacturer.
That account is the design case for a roof here, and it comes from the agency that recorded it rather than by a contractor selling the repair.
When it happens. Severe weather reports cluster in July (34), June (23), May (21). The worst years on record were 2024 (32), 2025 (29), 2022 (16). If you are scheduling non-urgent work in Janesville, 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. Hail is not the governing risk in Janesville. Weight your decision toward wind rating, ventilation and flashing detail rather than paying extra for impact-rated shingles.
Fourteen months of extremes
Rock County logged 11 tornadoes in the decade, and five of them came in 2024. The first arrived on 8 February. NWS Milwaukee notes that before 2024 Wisconsin had never recorded a tornado in February; that evening an EF2 with 130 mph peak winds tracked 26.2 miles from south of Evansville to Lake Koshkonong. In Rock County it hit 30 homes east of Evansville, destroying two and doing major damage to ten, and flattened barns and outbuildings northwest of Edgerton.
On 22 June 2024 an EF2 with 115 mph peak winds crossed the south side of Janesville in eleven minutes, on a 6.21 mile path up to 700 yards wide, one of eight tornadoes in southern Wisconsin that evening. The survey describes wind-event roof damage: shingle loss, occasional loss of roof decking, peeled siding, fascia and soffit, breached garage doors and well over 1,000 trees down. One house northwest of Burbank Park lost its roof and part of its second storey, with the roof found more than a block away. NOAA records $24.8 million of damage for that single tornado, about 74 percent of everything recorded for Rock County’s hail, wind and tornadoes in ten years.
Hail followed in 2025. On 18 April NWS Milwaukee issued a severe thunderstorm warning carrying the destructive damage tag for northern Rock County, naming Evansville and Edgerton and warning of extensive damage to roofs, siding and vehicles. The county logged 11 hail reports that morning, including 2.75-inch stones at Evansville, Fulton and Edgerton, the largest in its decade.
The permit rules after those storms differ town by town. Evansville told residents emergency repairs could go ahead without waiting for a permit, and that a permit is generally needed when more than half the exterior material is replaced or the work exceeds $1,000. Janesville takes a lighter touch: no reroof permit unless structural members change, outside the Courthouse Hill Historic District.
So in Janesville the permit office will usually not see your roof, and the checks fall to you. After a wind event, ask how the roofer will handle decking found loose or damaged and how the edges will be fastened; after hail, ask for photographs of the damage before anything is filed. And whatever a storm crew offers, Wisconsin law bars it from negotiating your claim or touching your deductible.
Rock County’s 2024 to 2025 storms and the rules on a reroof
| Item | Figure or rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tornadoes, Rock County, 2016 to 2025 | 11, five of them in 2024 | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| First February tornadoes in Wisconsin | 8 February 2024; EF2, 130 mph, 26.2 miles | NWS Milwaukee |
| Janesville EF2, 22 June 2024 | 115 mph; 6.21 miles; $24.8 million | NWS Milwaukee via NOAA NCEI |
| Share of decade’s recorded damage | About 74 percent from one tornado | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Largest hail | 2.75 inches, Evansville, Fulton and Edgerton, 18 April 2025 | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Janesville reroof permit | Only if structure is altered, or in Courthouse Hill Historic District | City of Janesville Home Improvements brochure |
| Beloit roofing permit fee | $50 plus $5 per $1,000 above $1,999 | City of Beloit fee schedule, BMC 9.28 |
| Permit credential | Dwelling Contractor plus Qualifier | Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305.31 |
| Cancellation after a claim denial | Before the end of the third business day | Wis. Stat. 100.65(5) |
| Median year built, Janesville and Beloit | 1972 and 1957 | ACS 2020 to 2024, B25035 |
Source: NWS Milwaukee tornado surveys and warning archive (via Iowa Environmental Mesonet) and NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; City of Janesville residential permit page, Home Improvements brochure and fee sheet; City of Beloit fee schedule; City of Evansville hailstorm FAQ; Wis. Stat. 100.65 and 101.654; Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305.31 and 321.28; Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation open licence register; Owens Corning contractor locator; BBB business profiles; US Census Bureau ACS 2020 to 2024.
The checks worth making in Janesville
Licensing is required in WI. Wisconsin does not issue a roofing-specific licence, but anyone pulling a building permit for work on a one- or two-family dwelling must hold a Dwelling Contractor certification from the Department of Safety and Professional Services, and the company must also hold or employ a Dwelling Contractor Qualifier. An owner who lives in the home may pull their own permit.
The Qualifier credential requires at least 12 hours of an approved course in dwelling construction, with course tests, and renews every two years on 12 hours of continuing education; the code describes its purpose as proof of continuing education. The business certification requires general liability insurance of at least $250,000 per occurrence or a surety bond: $25,000 for an unrestricted certification, while a smaller bond, down to $5,000, limits the contractor to jobs no larger than the bond. Under Wis. Stat. 100.65 a contractor may not promise to pay or rebate your insurance deductible, may not negotiate your claim for you, and must give you a cancellation form; you may cancel within three business days of a written denial of all or part of the claim. Each violation carries a forfeiture of $500 to $1,000.
Check here: Wisconsin DSPS Dwelling Contractor information. Ask for both credentials: a Dwelling Contractor certification without a Qualifier cannot legally pull your permit. The Uniform Dwelling Code requires ice dam protection on shingle and shake roofs only where the slope is 4:12 slope or less over heated space, running at least 30 inches up the slope and 12 inches past the inner face of the wall, so on steeper roofs it is a choice, not a rule.
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.
The shape of the Janesville contractor market
7 certified roofing contractors serve the principal cities of the Janesville-Beloit, WI statistical area, of which 1 hold the top President’s Club tier. The pool carries 869 customer reviews between them at a mean rating of 4.667. The statistical area had a 2024 population of 165,461, a change of 1.08% against the 2020 census base, per the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
How these Janesville rankings were produced
Every contractor in the Janesville-Beloit, WI 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 7 certified contractors, of whom 1 hold President’s Club standing and 6 Master Elite, against a metro mean rating of 4.667. The top five were then researched individually against Better Business Bureau records, state licence registers and manufacturer directories. Anything unflattering that research surfaced appears above alongside the rest, and no company bought its position.
Set aside in Janesville. Contractors that would otherwise have scored into the top five 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.
- Apex General Contracting, which scored 84.4: Excluded on its licence, as on our Rockford page. Apex is based in South Beloit, Illinois, a state that licenses roofers directly, and the state register shows its only roofing licence, 104-015794, as not renewed and expired on 31 December 2025, with reprimands and fines in 2015 and 2017 for aiding the unlicensed practice of roofing. It was acquired by Atlanta-based RAFTRx in August 2025, which may explain a licence in transition, and its BBB file now shows 15 complaints closed in three years. We will correct this if it is relicensed under a number we could not find.
- Sims Exteriors & Remodeling Inc, which scored 76.4: Excluded on service area. This Stoughton remodeller has a long, clean BBB record, but its published list of areas served reaches Rock County only at Edgerton and Evansville and names neither Janesville nor Beloit, where most of the metro’s homes are.
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: 2026-10-07. Corrections go to the editor and are actioned on verification.
Questions Janesville homeowners ask
Who is the best roofer in Janesville, WI?
DMR Exteriors of Janesville, WI scores highest in the Janesville metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score, at 79.4 out of 100 as of October 2026. It holds Master Elite certification with a 5.0 rating across 82 reviews. Highest-scoring is not the same as best fit for your specific job, and the four companies behind it score within 12.2 points.
How many certified roofing contractors serve Janesville?
7 contractors on the GAF certification registry serve the principal cities of the Janesville-Beloit, WI statistical area as of October 2026, of which 1 hold President’s Club status.
How much damaging hail does Janesville get?
The Janesville-Beloit, WI statistical area recorded 48 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 8 of 2 inches or larger between 2016 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Events Database. The largest hailstone reported measured 2.75 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 the top five.
What was the worst hailstorm in Janesville in the last ten years?
The largest hailstone logged by the National Weather Service in the Janesville-Beloit, WI statistical area between 2016 and 2025 measured 2.75 inches, reported near Evansville on 18 April 2025. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired. Across the decade the metro recorded 57 hail reports. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $33.3 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
When is the worst time of year for roof damage in Janesville?
Severe-weather reports in the Janesville-Beloit, WI statistical area cluster in July, June, May, on the NOAA record for 2016 to 2025. Booking non-urgent roof work outside those months usually means shorter lead times, because local crews are not simultaneously triaging storm callouts.
Do roofers need a licence in WI?
Wisconsin does not issue a roofing-specific licence, but anyone pulling a building permit for work on a one- or two-family dwelling must hold a Dwelling Contractor certification from the Department of Safety and Professional Services, and the company must also hold or employ a Dwelling Contractor Qualifier. An owner who lives in the home may pull their own permit. The Qualifier credential requires at least 12 hours of an approved course in dwelling construction, with course tests, and renews every two years on 12 hours of continuing education; the code describes its purpose as proof of continuing education. The business certification requires general liability insurance of at least $250,000 per occurrence or a surety bond: $25,000 for an unrestricted certification, while a smaller bond, down to $5,000, limits the contractor to jobs no larger than the bond. Under Wis. Stat. 100.65 a contractor may not promise to pay or rebate your insurance deductible, may not negotiate your claim for you, and must give you a cancellation form; you may cancel within three business days of a written denial of all or part of the claim. Each violation carries a forfeiture of $500 to $1,000.
What should I check before hiring a roofer in Janesville?
Ask for both credentials: a Dwelling Contractor certification without a Qualifier cannot legally pull your permit. The Uniform Dwelling Code requires ice dam protection on shingle and shake roofs only where the slope is 4:12 slope or less over heated space, running at least 30 inches up the slope and 12 inches past the inner face of the wall, so on steeper roofs it is a choice, not a rule.
Fourteen months of extremes?
Rock County logged 11 tornadoes in the decade, and five of them came in 2024. The first arrived on 8 February. NWS Milwaukee notes that before 2024 Wisconsin had never recorded a tornado in February; that evening an EF2 with 130 mph peak winds tracked 26.2 miles from south of Evansville to Lake Koshkonong. In Rock County it hit 30 homes east of Evansville, destroying two and doing major damage to ten, and flattened barns and outbuildings northwest of Edgerton.
Is Janesville a hard market to find a good roofer in?
In fourteen months Rock County had Wisconsin’s first February tornadoes, an EF2 that tore across Janesville’s south side and alone accounts for three-quarters of the decade’s recorded storm damage, and a hail warning tagged destructive for baseball-size stones. Yet a Janesville reroof needs a city permit only when the roof structure changes. Nine certified firms appear in the directory for Janesville and Beloit; two are excluded, one on a lapsed Illinois roofing licence, and five are ranked.
Why is Apex General Contracting not on this list?
Excluded on its licence, as on our Rockford page. Apex is based in South Beloit, Illinois, a state that licenses roofers directly, and the state register shows its only roofing licence, 104-015794, as not renewed and expired on 31 December 2025, with reprimands and fines in 2015 and 2017 for aiding the unlicensed practice of roofing. It was acquired by Atlanta-based RAFTRx in August 2025, which may explain a licence in transition, and its BBB file now shows 15 complaints closed in three years. We will correct this if it is relicensed under a number we could not find..
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 Rockford, IL, about 30 miles from Janesville
- Best roofers in Madison, WI, about 35 miles from Janesville
- Best roofers in Kenosha, WI, about 58 miles from Janesville
- Best roofers in Milwaukee, WI, about 59 miles from Janesville
- Best roofers in Racine, WI, another WI metro on the same formula
- Best roofers in Oshkosh, WI, another WI metro on the same formula
- Best roofers in Amherst, MA, a metro of comparable size
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 Janesville, WI: 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.