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Roof replacement, repair and hail claim help for Englewood, Colorado.
Englewood Roof Code Requirements in Plain English
A legal re-roof in Englewood has to satisfy a specific list, and none of it is exotic: a permit, a layer limit, ice barrier at the eaves, drip edge, and a cricket behind any wide chimney. The list exists because most Englewood roofs sit on 1950s houses that punish shortcuts. Here is every code item in plain English, plus the one inspection quirk that makes Englewood different from some of its Front Range neighbors.
When Englewood Requires a Roofing Permit
Start with the rule that covers everything else: a re-roof in Englewood always requires a permit. Englewood is a home-rule city with its own Building Division, so the permit comes from the city, not Arapahoe County. The only exemption is small repairs. Work covering one square, meaning 100 square feet or less, can be done without a permit. Patching a whole hail-bruised slope needs a permit; replacing a handful of shingles the wind lifted does not.
The permit also has to be pulled by a contractor holding the city's D-2 roofing license, or by an owner-occupant who signs the homeowner affidavit.
The Two-Layer Limit on Englewood Re-Roofs
Code allows a maximum of two layers of roofing. One overlay on top of the original roof can be legal if the decking will carry it. A third layer is never legal, and the whole assembly comes off. On Englewood's 1950s stock this rule bites often, because plenty of houses took an overlay in the 1980s or 1990s and are sitting at the limit right now.
If your roof is at two layers, your next roof is a full tear-off, with the labor and disposal cost that comes with it. We wrote a separate guide on two-layer tear-offs in Englewood covering how the work runs and what it costs.
Ice and Water Barrier and Drip Edge on 1950s Eaves
Englewood requires ice and water barrier, a self-adhering membrane at the eaves, extending at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line. Note the wording. That is not 24 inches up from the roof edge; the membrane must reach two feet past the plane of the wall below it, which on a typical eave means protecting the first several feet of decking.
The reason is ice damming. Snow melts over the warm house, refreezes over the cold eave, and the water pooling behind the ice backs up under the shingles. Englewood's 1950s ranches often have shallow eaves and thin attic insulation, which makes damming more likely, not less. Drip edge, the metal flashing at eaves and rakes, is also required. It kicks water off the fascia instead of letting it curl back into the decking boards.
Crickets Behind Chimneys Wider Than 30 Inches
A cricket is a small peaked diverter framed on the uphill side of a chimney. It splits water and sliding snow around the chimney instead of letting everything pile against the brick. Englewood requires a cricket behind any chimney wider than 30 inches.
That catches a lot of local houses. The wide brick chimney is a signature of the 1955 Englewood ranch, and many are original, soft-mortared, and sitting mid-slope. Without a cricket, snow drifts against the uphill face, sits for weeks, and works moisture into the flashing and mortar joints. If your chimney is wide and your current roof has no cricket, expect one as a code line item on the next re-roof.
Code Editions, Wind and Snow Numbers, and the Missing Mid-Roof Inspection
Englewood adopted the 2018 I-Codes effective January 1, 2021. Per the city's code amendments, roofs are designed around a 105 mph wind speed and a 30 psf ground snow load, numbers that drive fastening patterns and decking expectations.
Here is the quirk worth knowing: Englewood explicitly does not require a mid-roof inspection. Some Front Range towns send an inspector out after underlayment goes down. Englewood inspects once, at the end, and asks for a ladder set so the inspector can get on the roof. The lighter paper trail cuts scheduling delays, but it also means nobody from the city sees your ice barrier or decking before shingles cover them. Your contractor's photos are the only record of the hidden layers, so hire one who takes them.
How Code Items Should Appear on an Englewood Roofing Bid
A bid you can trust names these items instead of burying them. Look for lines covering the permit, tear-off and the layer count assumed, ice and water barrier at eaves and valleys, drip edge on all edges, and a cricket if your chimney needs one. Vague bids that just say new roof, all materials included, are where code items quietly disappear.
You find out two winters later. A ceiling stain above a north-facing eave in February points to missing ice barrier. Fascia rotting behind the gutters points to skipped drip edge. Spalling brick on the chimney's uphill face means water sat where a cricket should be. Fixing any of these after the fact costs more than doing them during the roof.
Englewood Roofing Code FAQs
- Do I need a permit to repair my roof in Englewood? Only if the repair is bigger than one square, which is 100 square feet. Below that threshold, repairs are exempt. A full re-roof always requires a permit from Englewood's Building Division, pulled by a contractor holding the city's D-2 roofing license or by an owner-occupant on the homeowner affidavit.
- Does Englewood require a mid-roof inspection? No, and the city says so explicitly. Englewood requires only a final inspection, with a ladder set for the inspector. Because no city inspector sees the underlayment stage, ask your contractor for photos of the ice barrier, drip edge, and decking before shingles go on. Those photos become your proof.
- How many layers of shingles are allowed in Englewood? Two. If your house already carries two layers, the next roof is a full tear-off down to the decking. Many 1950s Englewood houses got an overlay decades ago, so have layers counted during the bid, not discovered mid-job. A bid should state the layer count it assumes and price tear-off accordingly.
Not sure how many layers you have, or what code will require of your next roof? We do free documented inspections with a written photo report that counts layers, checks the eaves, and looks hard at the chimney. Call (720) 907-1193, book through our contact page, or read about our roof replacement process.