A turret, a round tower or a conical cap on a Ladue house is not a gable with extra shingle on it. The roof curves, and a curve asks for cuts, flashing and a sequence that a straight slope never needs. If the quote for the rest of the house is one shingle line with the tower tacked onto the bottom, the number is probably missing much of the work that makes that roof hold. This page covers what a round or conical roof needs in the quote, what it tends to cost to do properly, and what to ask before you pick a roofer.
Town roofing
Ladue has large lots, older stone and brick houses and a good number of estate-style rooflines. Turrets sit at the corners of a front elevation, over a stair hall, over a bay or at the end of a wing. Many of these were framed long before anyone planned for a roof that has to last through repeated freezing. The tower usually takes the weather first. Wind comes around the curve and finds the seams. Snow slides off the cone and stalls at the base. Each freeze and thaw works on the joint where the tower wall meets the main roof, and that joint is where many leaks on these houses start.
A round roof also changes what the roofer can see from the ground. From a driveway a cone looks like a single surface. Up close it is a set of short courses that get narrower toward the top, each one with its own cut. The crew has to shape the shingle to the taper, often by hand, and the closer a course gets to the apex, the more waste it throws off. That is why the same tower can look simple on a screen and expensive on the day the crew arrives.
What a round roof needs in the quote
Start with the shingle cuts. Ask how the crew will cut the courses on the cone, whether by hand, with a template or with a fabricated segment system, and whether the tower is priced at the same waste factor as the flat slopes. A tower with a tight radius wastes more shingle than a broad one, and a waste line calculated for straight roofs will come up short.
Next is the base. Where the tower wall meets the roof, the flashing should step with the courses, with base flashing under the shingles and counter flashing set into the masonry or siding above. On a stone or brick tower, the joint between the roof and the wall is often the part that moves. Ask what metal the base flashing will be, what it is set into, and whether the quote includes repointing or sealing at the wall. If the answer is caulk, ask why.
Ventilation is the detail that gets missed often. A conical roof has no ridge, so a ridge vent does nothing here. Air has to leave somewhere, usually through a cap or a hidden vent near the apex, or through the wall at the base. If the quote calls for ridge vent across the whole house and says nothing about the tower, ask where the tower attic air goes. A trapped attic above a turret room runs hot in July and wet in January.
Decking matters too. Cone framing is often built from short rafters that converge at the apex, and the sheathing is cut in gores or wedges rather than full sheets. If a board is rotten or a gore is soft, replacing it costs more per piece than a flat sheet does. Ask whether decking is priced per sheet, per piece or per lineal foot, and whether that rate is in writing before the tear-off starts. The written rate is the only way to know what a soft deck will add to the bill.
Last is the cap. Many turrets end in a finial, a cap or a small ornamental piece at the apex. It may be copper, cast metal or painted steel. Confirm whether the cap is removed and reset, removed and replaced, or left alone and worked around. A cap that comes off has to be stored safely, and a cap that is reset has to be sealed correctly to the new cone. Neither step is free, and neither should be left to a vague note that says detail as needed.
What it costs
A round or conical roof is almost never a single line on the quote. It usually shows up as its own set of costs: hand or template cutting, base flashing and counter flashing, the cap, lifting equipment or scaffolding for the tower, decking if it needs replacing, and the extra shingle waste. Those are the categories to look for. If the tower is folded into a general square count, ask for the tower square footage on its own, and ask how it was measured, whether from a drone photo, a ladder walk or a tape on the roof. A drone can capture the shape of a cone but not the true pitch along the curve.
Access is a real cost, and it is easy to leave out. A tower above a second floor may need a boom lift, a scaffold tied to the wall, or an anchor system that is set and removed on the day. On a lot with mature trees or tight side yards, the equipment may have to come in from the street, and the quote should say so. Compare how each quote handles access to the tower. A quote that says the crew will work from ladders on a turret is describing a different job than one that puts up a scaffold, and the two totals should not be compared as if they were the same work.
Waste and disposal belong in the number too. The old shingles from a cone come off in small pieces, and the bin fills faster than the flat slopes would suggest. Ask whether the dumpster size assumes the tower's extra debris. A bin that fills before the cap is off is a scheduling problem, and it tends to show up later in the bill as an overage.
What to ask
- How will the courses on the tower be cut, and is the waste for those courses priced separately from the flat slopes?
- What metal is the base flashing, what is it set into, and does the quote include the wall joint at the masonry?
- Where does the tower attic air leave, and is that vent shown on the written scope?
- Is decking on the tower priced per sheet, per piece or per lineal foot, and is that rate in writing?
- Is the cap or finial removed and reset, removed and replaced, or left in place?
- What equipment reaches the tower, and is scaffolding, a lift or an anchor system included in the price?
- Does the city where the house sits require a permit for the tower work, and who books the inspection?
- Will the crew photograph the tower before the tear-off and again after the new shingles go on?
- Who comes back if the joint at the wall leaks during the first winter?
Keys puts a written scope with photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands, so the tower gets its own section on paper rather than a single line in the total. If a storm or other event is involved and an insurance claim is part of the picture, you deal with your own insurer, and Keys can attend as the contractor while you do. Under Missouri law (RSMo 407.725), a roofing contractor is forbidden from representing or negotiating your insurance claim, and is forbidden from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering your deductible; Keys does neither.
If your house has a turret, a round tower or a conical cap and you want the tower looked at on its own before you compare totals, call Keys at (314) 220-2333. Bring the list above and ask the same questions of every roofer who walks the tower, because the answers will show which quote has actually priced the curve.