In this post
Mobile is a wind town, not a hail townWhat wind does to a roof before it leaksWhat Mobile County code requires on a roof replacementWhat to ask a roofing contractor in MobileWho issues the roof permit in MobileRepair or roof replacement after a wind eventCommon questionsWe cover Mobile out of the Pensacola office, over the bay on I-10. It is the biggest city on our board and the one with the longest storm record, and the one where a roof is hardest to judge from the driveway.
Over the two years to August 24, 2026, National Weather Service spotters and gauges filed 51 separate severe weather reports within 15 miles of Mobile, roughly three times what a typical town on our list picks up. The interesting part is not the size of that number. It is the shape of it.
Mobile is a wind town, not a hail town
Of those 51 reports, 22 were thunderstorm wind damage, meaning somebody watched trees or a structure come down. Another 16 were measured gusts and 10 were tornadoes. Hail accounted for 3 reports. Go east to Pace or Cantonment and hail is the headline. In Mobile it is a footnote.
The strongest gust on the record is 67 mph, measured 1 mile N of Fairhope on May 29, 2025, 14 miles out across the bay. Two of the next three were logged at Mobile Regional Airport, 62 mph on August 20, 2026 and 61 mph on August 18, 2026, 8 days apart. The closest tornado report to the middle of town was 8.1 miles out, at the University of South Alabama on December 29, 2024. Further back, Hurricane Sally passed about 30 miles away on September 16, 2020 carrying 98 mph winds at its closest point, and Tropical Storm Gordon about 34 miles out in 2018.
What wind does to a roof before it leaks
Hail bruises the mat under the granules. The roof looks untouched from the driveway, then sheds granules over the next few seasons and ages years in months.
Wind works at edges instead. It gets under the first course at the eave, at a rake, at the ridge, or at anything standing up off the deck, and it lifts. A 60 mph gust does not take a roof off. It breaks the seal strip on a course of shingles so they no longer lie flat, and the next storm gets into the gap. From the ground nothing has changed. The first anyone knows is a stain on a ceiling, two or three storms later.
That is the failure we find most often in Mobile. 22 reports of wind strong enough to bring a tree down, in two years, is a lot of chances at a seal strip. It is also why the honest answer here is often a repair rather than a roof replacement, and why the only way to tell those two apart is for somebody to get on the roof and walk it.
What Mobile County code requires on a roof replacement
The same conclusion sits in Mobile County's adopted building code, built on the 2018 International Residential and Building Codes with local amendments. For one and two family dwellings it sets a minimum ultimate design wind speed of 160 mph. Inside the city limits, the City of Mobile's own design load summary puts it at 159 mph for the same category of building.
Those are design numbers for the whole house, the gust an engineer plans the structure around. You will not find them on a bundle of shingles. For the shingles themselves the county names a test class instead, ASTM D7158 Class H, which is the highest class in that test.
The roofing amendments follow from that, and they are what actually shapes a roof replacement here. On a re-roof, all existing covering has to come off down to the bare deck, so nobody lays new shingles over old ones and nobody avoids looking at the decking. Damaged decking has to be replaced. If the deck was put down with staples, ring shank nails have to be added, because staples are not permitted for roof decking here at all.
Then the deck has to be sealed. The county requires a sealed roof deck on every new roof and every re-roof, by one of 4 approved methods, so that if the covering comes off the water still stays out of the house. Asphalt shingles have to be Class H and go on with 6 nails each rather than 4. They cannot hang more than 1/4 inch past the drip edge, because an overhang is something for the wind to grab.
The shingle we recommend in Mobile is the IKO Dynasty. It is Class H, so it meets the county's rule, and Florida's product approval lists it for design wind speeds up to 194 mph, well past Mobile County's 160. IKO also backs it with a limited wind warranty up to 130 mph, under IKO's terms. The standard architectural shingle in IKO's own line carries 110. What makes the difference is a wider reinforced band where the nails go, which is what holds a shingle down when wind gets under it.
A roof that went on before those amendments very likely has none of it. No sealed deck, 4 nails a shingle, possibly stapled decking underneath. That is the real reason roof age matters in Mobile, more than the age of the shingles.
What Mobile County requires on a re-roof
- Tear off to the bare deck. No new shingles over old ones.
- Replace any damaged decking.
- Add ring shank nails where the deck was stapled. Staples are not allowed for decking.
- Seal the roof deck, by one of 4 approved methods.
- Shingles in the highest wind test class, ASTM D7158 Class H.
- 6 nails per shingle, not 4.
- No more than 1/4 inch of overhang past the drip edge.
What to ask a roofing contractor in Mobile
Every question below comes straight off the county's own amendment list, so any roofing company quoting a roof replacement in Mobile should answer it without looking anything up. A vague answer is information too.
- Is the quote a full tear off to the bare deck, or a layover over the old shingles? A layover is not permitted on a re-roof here.
- Which of the 4 approved sealed roof deck methods are you using, and is it in the price?
- Are the shingles Class H, the wind class the county requires, and what wind warranty does the manufacturer put on them? Are they going on with 6 nails each rather than 4?
- What happens if the decking turns out to be stapled or rotten once the old covering is off, and how is that priced?
- Who pulls the permit, and is this address inside the city limits or out in the county?
- What is the Alabama license number?
Who issues the roof permit in Mobile
Plenty of addresses with a Mobile mailing address sit outside the city limits, and the permit follows the line, not the mail. Inside the city it comes from Build Mobile at 205 Government Street. Outside it, from Mobile County Inspection Services, who put it plainly on their own site: almost any work done in Mobile County, residential or commercial, requires a permit, and roofing is not among their exceptions.
The county also requires anyone doing roof work on a home reaching 2,500 dollars to hold a license from the Alabama Homebuilders Licensure Board. Worth checking before any roofer gets on your roof. Ours are FL CCC 1336714 and AL 40969, and we pull the permit, not you.
Repair or roof replacement after a wind event
If you are in or around Mobile and nobody has been on your roof since 2024, there is a fair chance one of those 22 wind events worked something loose up there. It will not show from your driveway. That is the whole problem with wind damage.
A look costs nothing. Somebody walks every slope and photographs the flashing, the valleys, the vents and the decking wherever it shows, and you keep the photos either way. If a repair is the honest answer, we say so. If it is a roof replacement, the options go in writing before anybody leaves.
More on the town is on our Mobile roofing page. What happened this week is on the weekly weather report.
Roof replacement in Mobile, AL: common questions
How much does a roof replacement cost in Mobile, AL?
There is no honest number until somebody has measured your roof, so we do not publish one. What moves it: the size of the roof and how cut up it is, the pitch, how many layers of old covering have to come off, how much decking has to be replaced once it is off, the sealed roof deck Mobile County requires on every re-roof, the Class H shingles and 6 nails per shingle the amendments call for, and which material you pick. Two houses on the same street can be a long way apart on all of those. You get your number in writing at the visit, with the warranty on each option.
Do I need a permit to replace a roof in Mobile, AL?
Yes, and which office issues it follows the city limit line rather than your mailing address. Inside the city limits it is Build Mobile at 205 Government Street. Outside them it is Mobile County Inspection Services, whose own site says almost any work in the county, residential or commercial, requires a permit, and does not list roofing among the exceptions. We pull the permit, not you.
How long does a roof replacement take in Mobile?
It is one sequence: tear off to the bare deck, replace any bad decking, seal the deck, then the new covering. A straightforward single family house is short. A steep cut up Midtown or Spring Hill roof with dormers, valleys and chimneys takes longer, and so does a deck that turns out to need replacing once the old covering is off. Weather stops work. Your written estimate names the days before anything starts, and there is a project manager on the job while it runs.
Do I need a new roof or just a repair after wind damage?
Often a repair, and we will tell you when it is. Wind rarely takes a roof off in one go. It breaks the seal strip along an edge or a ridge so a course of shingles no longer lies flat, and caught early that is repairable. What turns it into a roof replacement is the age of the roof, how much of it is loose rather than one section, and what the decking underneath looks like. The only way to know which one you have is for somebody to walk the slopes and photograph them.
Does a roofing contractor in Mobile need a license?
Mobile County requires anyone doing roof work on a home reaching 2,500 dollars to hold a license from the Alabama Homebuilders Licensure Board. Ask any roofer for the number and check it before they get on your roof. Action Roofing holds FL CCC 1336714 and AL 40969.
Sources
- Severe weather reports, Mobile, 15 mile radius, 24 months. NOAA National Weather Service Local Storm Reports via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, and NOAA HURDAT2 best track for the named storms. Pulled 2026-09-30.
- Mobile County adopted codes and roofing amendments. Design wind speed, re-roofing, sealed roof deck, decking attachment and the contractor licensing threshold all read in this document.
- Mobile County Inspection Services, what requires a permit. Read 2026-09-30.
- City of Mobile Building Code Summary, revised November 2024. Ultimate design wind speed by risk category.
- IKO Dynasty contractor sell sheet. ASTM D7158 Class H, the reinforced nailing band and the 130 mph limited wind warranty, which is issued by IKO under IKO's terms.
- Florida Product Approval FL30310-R6, IKO asphalt shingles. Maximum basic wind speed listed for Dynasty.
- IKO Cambridge, IKO's standard architectural shingle. 110 mph limited wind warranty as standard, read on IKO's contractor sell sheet.
- Build Mobile. Office address and counter hours.
Action Roofing, 40 years in business. Residential and commercial roofing from Destin, FL to Mobile, AL, out of 3802 W Navy Blvd, Pensacola. Licensed FL CCC 1336714 and AL 40969, bonded and insured, 5-star rated on Google.