St. Louis, MO — Midwest Storm Corridor Gateway
St. Louis Brick Homes Have
$300M+ in Lessons Carriers Still Haven't Learned
The June 2017 metro St. Louis storm caused over $300 million in insured losses in a single event. The adjusters who came through after that storm — many of them out-of-area catastrophe adjusters who'd never seen a 1940s Clayton brick home — wrote scopes that missed chimney flashing, ignored wood decking conditions, and skipped every code upgrade line item. St. Louis contractors who knew what to fight for recovered thousands more per job. Contractors who didn't are still leaving it on the table.
The inner suburbs — Clayton, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Ladue — have the highest-value, most supplement-rich housing stock in the Missouri market. Brick construction from the 1920s through 1950s means chimney flashing is a major line item on every job. Wood decking conditions must be documented before tear-off. And Missouri Building Code requires current-code compliance on every permitted replacement — which means code upgrades are mandatory, not optional. State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, American Family, and Missouri Farm Bureau all omit them. We don't.
What We Recover in St. Louis
The historic inner-suburb housing stock creates supplement opportunities that don't exist in newer construction markets. These are the line items St. Louis carriers miss consistently — and the ones where your margin is hiding.
Chimney Flashing on Brick Homes
The 1920s–1950s brick homes in Clayton, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, and Ladue almost universally have step flashing and counterflashing at the chimney that must be replaced on a roof replacement. Carriers write chimney flashing at inadequate pricing or omit the counterflashing entirely, treating it as an optional add-on rather than a required component of a proper installation. On a large historic-district brick home, chimney flashing can add $800–$2,500 to the approved scope. We document every chimney on every St. Louis job before tear-off.
Wood Decking Documentation and Replacement
Older inner-suburb St. Louis homes have board decking — 1×6 or 1×8 boards — under the original roofing. Carriers write a flat decking allowance that doesn't account for the actual condition of board decking under decades-old materials. We photograph the decking before it's covered, document every deteriorated board, and supplement for actual replacement square footage. On older St. Louis homes, actual decking replacement scope frequently exceeds the carrier's initial allowance by $1,000–$2,500.
Starter Strip — Code-Required at Eaves and Rakes
Missouri Building Code requires starter strip at both eaves and rakes on all new shingle installations. Missouri Farm Bureau and Allstate routinely omit rake starter strip from initial St. Louis scopes, treating it as a cosmetic add-on. It is a code-required installation component. We include full perimeter starter strip with the specific Missouri code citation on every St. Louis supplement.
Gutter Documentation and Full Replacement
Historic St. Louis homes have half-round gutters and K-style gutters that are damaged in hail events but frequently excluded from carrier scopes. Adjusters inspect from the ground or from the roof and miss granule impact, denting, and joint failure in older gutter systems. We document gutter condition systematically during the pre-tear-off inspection and supplement for any storm-damaged gutter sections that the carrier excluded.
Code Upgrades — Missouri Building Code Compliance
A permitted roof replacement in Missouri must comply with current building code requirements — synthetic underlayment, proper drip edge, ventilation ratios, and IWS in required climate zones. St. Louis inner-suburb homes built in the 1920s–1950s fail multiple current code requirements. Carriers write the replacement scope as if the existing system was already code-compliant. We document every deficiency and supplement every required upgrade as a mandatory code item, not an optional improvement.
O&P on Multi-Trade Coordination
The historic inner suburbs of St. Louis frequently require coordination of multiple trades on a single job — roofer, chimney mason, gutter installer, painter for soffit and fascia work. When a general contractor manages this coordination, O&P is owed. State Farm and Farmers fight O&P on residential claims across Missouri. We document the multi-trade coordination requirement and cite the Xactimate guideline language that mandates O&P when GC-level management is required.
St. Louis Carrier Intelligence
Missouri Farm Bureau
Missouri Farm Bureau has rigid internal guidelines around chimney flashing scope on brick homes and fights starter strip code requirements on every St. Louis claim. Their supplement review process requires specific documentation formats — we know their requirements and build our MFB supplements to match. Their adjusters in St. Charles County and Jefferson County tend to be more thorough than the St. Louis County team but slower to approve supplement line items.
State Farm — St. Louis
State Farm deployed significant cat adjuster resources after the 2017 St. Louis storm and processed thousands of claims under time pressure. Their out-of-area adjusters consistently missed chimney flashing and code upgrade items on inner-suburb brick homes. The standard State Farm St. Louis scope on a historic inner-suburb home is routinely $3,000–$6,000 below what the job actually requires. We document the gap on every claim.
Allstate — St. Louis
Allstate's St. Louis market operation is known for scope limitation on initial estimates and a structured supplement review process that requires detailed justification for every line item. Their review timelines are long — plan for 3–4 weeks on complex chimney flashing and decking supplements. We document everything up front and follow up weekly to move Allstate St. Louis supplements through their review queue.
American Family — St. Louis
American Family is a significant player in the suburban St. Louis market — Chesterfield, Ballwin, Manchester, Wildwood — where newer construction creates different supplement opportunities than the historic inner suburbs. Their desk adjusters respond well to manufacturer documentation on IWS and starter strip. We include manufacturer installation instructions as attachments on every AmFam St. Louis supplement — it shortens their review timeline significantly.
Why St. Louis Contractors Choose TEC
The historic housing stock in St. Louis's inner suburbs requires supplement expertise that most supplement companies don't have. Chimney flashing, board decking, code upgrades on pre-war construction — this is our specialty, and it's where the biggest supplement dollars are hiding on every St. Louis job.
Licensed Insurance Adjusters — we know Missouri Farm Bureau's documentation requirements and carrier-specific tactics.
Chimney flashing expertise: step flashing, counterflashing, and cricket documentation on every brick-home job.
Pre-tear-off photo documentation protocol for board decking on historic inner-suburb St. Louis homes.
Missouri Building Code citations on every code upgrade line item — specific sections, not general arguments.
3x weekly follow-up on all open supplements until approved and paid.
Guarantee: 2 claims/week × 12 months = 6-figure added margins, or we write a $5,000 check.
Ready to recover what carriers miss on every St. Louis historic-home claim?
Send us your next St. Louis storm claim. Chimney flashing, decking, code upgrades — all documented within 24 hours.
Guarantee: 2 claims/week × 12 months = 6-figure added margins or $5,000 check.