The Colorado Proof Standard
Every roofing contractor in El Paso County builds to a minimum standard. A Colorado Proof Roof goes beyond that minimum — because our hail corridor, our altitude, our wind exposure, and our freeze-thaw cycles don't care what the minimum is.
Why This Matters
Most reroofs in Colorado follow the same formula: tear off the old shingles, nail down the new ones, collect the check. It passes inspection. It meets code. And in three to five years, it starts showing the cracks — lifted shingles after a wind event, a leak around a pipe boot that was reused from the old roof, granule loss that should have taken twice as long. Not because the materials failed. Because the installation did.
Code is written to establish a minimum acceptable standard — the least a roof can be and still be considered legal. It reflects what's required to pass inspection, not what's required to perform well in Colorado's specific conditions. A contractor who builds to code minimums is doing exactly what's required. A contractor who builds to a higher standard is doing what's necessary.
The Colorado Proof standard is a specification — a set of installation practices that go beyond code minimums and in many cases match or exceed manufacturer specifications. Every item on this list is something a quality contractor does as a matter of course. Every item on this list is also something that gets skipped on ordinary reroof jobs every single day.
How to use this page: Read through the standard. Then ask your contractor about each item before you sign anything. A contractor who knows their craft will walk you through every one without hesitation. One who responds with "we just do what's standard" is telling you exactly that.
The Colorado Proof Standard
Class 4 is the highest UL 2218 impact rating available — the result of a steel ball dropped from 20 feet onto a shingle sample. At that rating, the shingle shows no cracking or fracturing. It's not a luxury product. On the Front Range, it's the practical minimum for a roof that's going to hold up through multiple hail seasons.
Colorado Springs and El Paso County sit in one of the most active hail corridors in the country. The average homeowner in this area files a roof-related insurance claim significantly more frequently than the national average. Class 4 shingles reduce the likelihood of hail damage severe enough to warrant a claim — and in many cases, El Paso County insurers offer meaningful premium discounts for Class 4 installations. A standard architectural shingle on a Colorado Springs home is a compromise before the first storm hits.
Ask your contractor: "What is the UL 2218 impact rating on the shingles you're quoting?" If the answer is anything other than Class 4, ask why — and whether Class 4 is available at a reasonable premium. In most cases it is.
Standard code-compliant installation uses four nails per shingle. Four nails meets inspection requirements in most wind zones and is the default for the majority of roofing contractors in Colorado. It is not the same as six nails.
Most major shingle manufacturers require six nails per shingle to qualify for their enhanced wind warranty — typically rated to 110, 120, or 130 mph. The Front Range regularly sees sustained winds well above 60 mph with gusts that exceed 100 mph in exposed areas. A Palmer Divide wind event or a downslope flow off the mountains can hit 90–100 mph with little warning. If your shingles are rated to 130 mph under a six-nail pattern and they're installed with four nails, that wind rating simply doesn't apply to your roof. The warranty is void before the first storm.
The difference in labor time is measured in minutes on a full reroof. The difference in material cost is less than $100. The difference in performance in a high-wind event is not small.
Ask your contractor: "Are you installing with four nails or six nails per shingle, and does your installation qualify for the manufacturer's enhanced wind warranty?" If they say four nails, ask whether six is available — and why they're not defaulting to it.
Ice and water barrier is a self-adhering rubberized membrane that bonds directly to the roof deck and seals around fasteners. Unlike felt underlayment, it prevents water from getting through even if it gets under the shingles. It's the last line of defense before your decking and your home's interior.
PPRBD code requires ice and water barrier at eaves on properties above 7,000 feet in elevation, extending a minimum of 24 inches past the interior wall line — not just to the drip edge. That's the legal minimum. The problem is that inspectors can't measure how far the barrier extends once the shingles are down. Many contractors run one roll at the eave and call it done. If that roll only reaches the drip edge, it's not meeting code — and nobody will know until there's a leak.
A Colorado Proof Roof runs barrier the full 24 inches past the interior wall line at every eave — verified, not assumed. And it extends coverage to every valley, every penetration, and in exposed locations, the rake edges. Ice dams, wind-driven rain, and failing pipe boot seals don't limit themselves to low-elevation eaves. Your barrier shouldn't either.
Ask your contractor: "Where are you installing ice and water barrier, and how far past the interior wall line does it extend at the eaves?" The answer should include valleys and penetrations without prompting.
Pipe boots, step flashing, counter flashing, valley metal — these are the transition points where roofing material meets walls, chimneys, vents, and penetrations. They are also where the vast majority of roof leaks originate, and they are the most commonly reused components on a reroof job.
Old rubber pipe boots crack and harden as the petroleum content breaks down over time. Colorado's UV intensity at altitude accelerates this process significantly — a boot that might last 20 years at sea level may show signs of cracking in 10 to 12 years here. Step flashing rusts. Counter flashing lifts. Reusing any of these components on a new roof means building on a foundation with an unknown remaining lifespan. You've just paid for a new roof. Every piece of metal and rubber under and around it should be new too.
A Colorado Proof installer replaces every pipe boot, every piece of step flashing, and every piece of counter flashing as a matter of course — not as an add-on, not as an upsell. It's included because a new roof with old flashings isn't a complete job.
Ask your contractor: "Are pipe boots and step flashing included in the replacement, or is that extra?" If it's extra, ask why — and get the answer in writing in the contract scope.
15 lb felt underlayment meets code. It's also the cheapest underlayment option available, and it shows. Felt absorbs moisture, which causes it to wrinkle and buckle — creating ridges that telegraph through the finished shingles and can compromise the seal at the nail line. It tears easily in wind, which matters when a job takes more than one day and the roof is exposed overnight. And at Colorado's high altitude, UV degradation happens faster than at lower elevations.
Synthetic underlayment is lighter, stronger, more tear-resistant, and significantly more water-resistant than felt. It lays flat, it stays put in wind, and it doesn't absorb moisture. Most major manufacturers require synthetic underlayment to qualify for their enhanced warranty tiers. It costs more than felt — typically $0.05 to $0.10 per square foot more on installed price — and it's worth every cent of it.
Ask your contractor: "What underlayment are you using?" Synthetic vs. felt should be specified in the bid. If it's not listed, ask.
Starter strip is a pre-adhesived shingle course installed at the roof's edges before the field shingles go down. It provides a sealed base layer at the most vulnerable edges of the roof — the points where wind gets underneath shingles and where water is most likely to back up.
Code requires starter strip at the eaves. Manufacturers specify it at rakes as well — and for good reason. Wind doesn't only attack from below at the eave. On the Front Range, where downslope winds hit from changing directions, rake edges see significant uplift forces. Starter strip at the rake provides the same sealed base layer that the eave gets, extending protection to the full perimeter of the roof.
It's a small amount of additional material and almost no additional labor. It's skipped regularly.
When the old roofing comes off, the deck is exposed for the first time in years — sometimes decades. What's revealed tells the story of every leak, every ice dam, every ventilation problem the roof ever had. Soft spots, rot, delamination, and damaged OSB don't show from the outside. They show when a contractor walks every sheet after tear-off.
A code-compliant installation requires that the deck be solid and able to hold fasteners. It doesn't specify who checks, or how thoroughly. On a fast-moving crew with a production schedule, a soft spot that would have been found on a careful walkthrough gets covered up with new shingles. Eighteen months later there's a fastener pullout and a lifted shingle and nobody can trace it back.
A Colorado Proof installer walks every sheet of decking after tear-off, marks anything questionable, and replaces it before installation begins. The per-sheet replacement cost should be specified in your contract upfront — not discovered as a surprise add-on mid-job.
Ask your contractor: "How do you handle damaged decking, and what is your per-sheet replacement price?" Get it in writing before work begins.
Attic ventilation is required by code, specified by manufacturers as a warranty condition, and routinely done wrong on re-roofs across El Paso County. The reason is simple: "replace what's there" is faster than "calculate what's needed." And inspectors don't always catch ventilation deficiencies that were baked in from the original installation.
The IRC Section R806 standard — which PPRBD enforces — requires a balanced system: 50% of net free ventilating area as intake at the soffit and 50% as exhaust at the ridge. The required total net free ventilating area is calculated from attic square footage. A roof that passes visual inspection can still be significantly under-ventilated, or imbalanced, or both.
An under-ventilated attic runs 20–30°F hotter in summer, accelerating shingle degradation from the underside. It traps moisture in winter, leading to condensation and decking damage. It creates conditions for ice dams even on roofs with good ice barrier installation. And it voids most shingle manufacturer warranties.
A Colorado Proof installer calculates the required net free ventilating area for your specific attic, verifies that intake and exhaust are balanced, and installs accordingly — not according to whatever was already there.
In El Paso County, any roofing work over 100 square feet requires a permit — whether performed by a licensed contractor or a homeowner. The permit must be obtained before work begins. Under PPRBD rules, stocking materials on the driveway or roof is considered the start of a project. Materials staged before a permit is issued result in a triple permit fee and a stop work order.
Beyond the regulatory requirement, the permit process is what triggers the inspection — and the inspection is what creates the documented record that the work was done to code. That record matters when you sell your home, when you file an insurance claim, and when something goes wrong and you need to establish that the work was properly done and properly documented.
A contractor who suggests skipping the permit to save time or money is saving their time and spending your risk. A Colorado Proof contractor pulls the permit in their own name before materials ever touch your property.
At a Glance
Use this when evaluating any contractor's bid. Every item should have a clear answer before you sign.