How We Protect Your Property and Tenants on Every Job
Working on an occupied Chicago multi-unit building means working above people who live there. We take that seriously. Debris management, access control, and site protection on occupied residential buildings follow protocols that keep the work area safe and separated from tenant living areas throughout the project. We coordinate with building management on tenant notification and access scheduling as a standard part of project planning.
On single-family Chicago homes, every job site is swept with industrial magnetic rollers before we leave. No debris left on the property. One of our team walks the property with you before the job is called done.
OUR PROMISE ON EVERY JOB
We have kids and pets too. Every Huuso residential job site is swept with industrial magnetic rollers before we leave. For multi-unit buildings, we maintain site safety and tenant access throughout the project. Our crew does a final walkthrough with you or your building manager before any job is complete.
Meet Kevin Reifsteck — Your Chicago Roofer
Kevin Reifsteck manages Huuso Exteriors’ Chicago and Cook County operations. He is a licensed roofing contractor (IL #104.019083), CRCA member, and U.S. military veteran. Kevin is personally present on Chicago job sites throughout every project — not managing from the suburbs.
Working in Chicago means understanding how Chicago buildings age, how Chicago winters stress roofing systems, and how the City of Chicago’s permit and inspection process works differently from the suburban municipalities Huuso Exteriors also serves. Kevin brings that understanding to every Chicago assessment — whether it is a flat roof membrane replacement on a Beverly single-family home, a two-flat roof in Pilsen that needs drain and scupper work, or a commercial building in Bridgeport with a storm claim in progress. When you call about your Chicago property, Kevin handles it from inspection through sign-off.
Call 855-625-7663 and ask for Kevin.
Meet Our Owners
Huuso Exteriors is owned and operated by Tim Reifsteck, Kevin Reifsteck, and Bryan Reifsteck. Before founding Huuso, the three brothers built one of the largest restoration and construction companies in the United States — with project experience that included large-scale commercial and residential work throughout Chicagoland. They named the company Huuso because it means Honor. In a city as large and competitive as Chicago, where property owners have abundant contractor choices and have often been let down by them, that principle is demonstrated job by job.
Chicago Neighborhoods We Serve
Huuso Exteriors serves residential and commercial property owners throughout Chicago’s neighborhoods. Below are the areas where we have active project history and where our team is regularly working. If your neighborhood is not listed, call 855-625-7663 — our service area throughout Chicago is broader than any list captures.
South and Southwest Side
Beverly, Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Bridgeport, Clearing, Garfield Ridge, Archer Heights, Brighton Park, Ashburn, Chicago Lawn, West Lawn, Marquette Park, Back of the Yards, Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Chatham, Burnside, Roseland, Pullman. The south and southwest side neighborhoods include Chicago’s largest concentration of single-family brick homes — bungalows, ranches, and two-stories — alongside significant multi-unit residential and commercial inventory. This is a neighborhood roofing market we know well.
Northwest Side
Norwood Park, Jefferson Park, Forest Glen, Dunning, Portage Park, Galewood, Belmont Cragin, Montclare, Elmwood Park, Schorsch Village. Chicago’s northwest side neighborhoods carry a mix of flat-roof multi-unit buildings and pitched single-family homes. The northwest side has historically been one of Chicago’s most active residential roofing markets, and we have project experience throughout these neighborhoods.
North Side and Near North
Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Bucktown, Logan Square, Roscoe Village, Lakeview, Avondale, Pilsen. The north and near-north neighborhoods include Chicago’s highest concentration of active renovation and investment — greystone rehabilitation, two-flat restoration, courtyard building updates — where property owners are making significant investments and need roofing contractors who match the quality of those investments. We serve this market with the same premium material options and owner-presence standard we bring to the suburban estate markets.
West Side
Humboldt Park, Austin, West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, South Lawndale (Little Village), Near West Side. Chicago’s west side neighborhoods include significant inventory of older flat-roof residential buildings that need assessment and repair. We serve west side property owners and investors with honest flat roof assessments and the full scope of repair and replacement services.
Commercial and Industrial Corridors
We serve commercial and industrial properties throughout Chicago’s neighborhood commercial corridors and industrial districts — Milwaukee Avenue, Western Avenue, Archer Avenue, Pulaski Road, Cicero Avenue, and the south and west side industrial areas. If you manage commercial or industrial property in Chicago and need roofing services, call 855-625-7663.
Roofing Tips for Chicago Homeowners
The Parapet Wall Is the Most Neglected Waterproofing Boundary on Your Flat Roof
Chicago property owners who have had their flat roof membrane replaced sometimes find themselves with a new leak the first winter after installation — not because the membrane failed, but because the parapet wall was never properly addressed. The parapet wall is the low wall that runs around the perimeter of a Chicago flat roof. It has a cap flashing on top and a base flashing where it meets the membrane. When the cap flashing fails — through corrosion, sealant deterioration, or freeze-thaw cycling that lifts the metal off the masonry beneath it — water enters the top of the parapet and travels down inside the wall, completely bypassing the new membrane below. A responsible flat roof contractor addresses parapet cap flashing as part of every membrane replacement, not as an optional add-on. We inspect parapet condition on every Chicago flat roof assessment and include cap flashing replacement in our scope recommendation when it is warranted.
Your Roof Drains Are the Most Important Maintenance Item on a Chicago Flat Roof
On a Chicago flat roof, the drains are not a detail — they are the central functional element of the entire roofing system. A drain that is clogged with leaves, debris, or years of accumulated sediment backs water up across the membrane surface during a heavy rain. Standing water on a flat roof creates hydrostatic pressure at every membrane seam, penetration, and base flashing. It accelerates membrane aging, promotes biological growth on the surface, and eventually finds any vulnerability in the system. Drain cleaning is not an annual convenience — it is structural maintenance on a flat roofing system. We check drain condition and flow on every Chicago flat roof inspection and include drain cleaning in our Huuso Roof Care Program’s scheduled return visits. If you do not know when your drains were last cleaned, the answer is probably too long ago.
How Chicago’s Freeze-Thaw Cycles Destroy Roofing Systems — and What You Can Do
Chicago sees genuine freeze-thaw cycling throughout a typical winter — temperatures that drop below freezing overnight, rise above during the day, and repeat this cycle dozens of times between November and March. Every freeze-thaw cycle stresses roofing materials in ways that moderate climates simply do not produce. EPDM rubber membranes contract in cold and expand in warmth, cycling the seams with every temperature change. Metal flashings expand and contract against masonry at different rates, gradually breaking the sealant bonds that keep them watertight. Water that penetrates a micro-crack in a sealant freezes, expands, and makes the crack larger. By March, the cumulative stress of 30 or 40 freeze-thaw cycles has produced damage that was not there in October. Post-winter inspection — not just pre-winter — is the inspection that catches what a Chicago winter created. We include post-winter assessment as an option in our Huuso Roof Care Program and specifically recommend spring inspection for Chicago flat roof systems that are more than 10 years old.
What Every Chicago Two-Flat Owner Should Know Before Their Next Roof Project
If you own a Chicago two-flat, the roofing decision involves considerations that single-family homeowners do not face. The permit process at the City of Chicago Department of Buildings for multi-unit residential buildings has specific requirements beyond what a single-family permit requires. Your insurance policy may have specific requirements for roof replacement that affect your coverage if the work is not done by a licensed contractor with appropriate insurance. And if you have tenants occupying the building during the project, the work needs to be coordinated to minimize disruption and maintain habitability throughout. We have done many Chicago two-flat roofing projects. We know the DOB process, we coordinate with tenants professionally, and we produce the documentation that your insurance carrier and property records require. Call 855-625-7663 and ask for Kevin.
Scuppers — The Flat Roof Drainage Element Chicago Homeowners Forget About
Many Chicago flat roofs drain not through interior drains but through scuppers — horizontal openings through the parapet wall that allow water to exit the roof surface through the wall rather than through a pipe system. Scuppers are simpler than interior drains and less prone to blockage, but they require their own maintenance. When scupper openings are partially blocked by debris, or when the scupper flashing has separated from the membrane at the interior face, water backs up across the roof surface exactly as it would with a clogged interior drain. We inspect scupper condition and flashing integrity on every Chicago flat roof assessment. If your building has scuppers and you have not had them professionally assessed in the past two years, it is worth scheduling a free inspection.
The City of Chicago Permit Process — What to Expect
Every legitimate roof replacement in Chicago requires a City of Chicago Department of Buildings permit. The DOB permit process is more involved than suburban municipal permits — it requires licensed contractor documentation, is subject to inspection at specific project milestones, and for multi-unit residential buildings, may require additional documentation related to the building’s occupancy status. Any contractor who tells you Chicago permits are not required, or who asks you to pull the permit yourself, is a contractor you should not hire. Huuso Exteriors handles all City of Chicago permit applications, inspection coordination, and DOB compliance documentation as part of our standard service. Our Illinois Roofing Contractor License is #104.019083, verifiable at the IDFPR.
When to Call Us Before You Call Your Insurance Company
After any storm event that may have damaged your Chicago property, call Huuso Exteriors before you file a claim. Our Full Storm Report documents every damage point — membrane impact, seam displacement, parapet and drain conditions, pitched roof sections, gutters, siding — in a format ready for your insurance carrier. For Chicago flat roofs, storm damage often presents in ways that are not visible from ground level or even a surface walk — drone assessment finds what cannot otherwise be confirmed. Filing a claim with a professional Full Storm Report in hand consistently produces better outcomes than filing with only an adjuster’s initial estimate. The report is free. Call 855-625-7663.
Roofing Materials We Install in Chicago
FLAT AND LOW-SLOPE SYSTEMS
EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer — Rubber Roofing)
The most common residential flat roof membrane in Chicago and the system we repair and replace most frequently on Chicago two-flats and single-family homes. EPDM is durable, cost-effective, and performs well through Chicago’s freeze-thaw cycling. Its primary vulnerability is seam adhesive degradation over time and puncture at penetrations. We use fully-adhered EPDM on all Chicago residential flat roof replacements — ballasted and mechanically attached systems are not appropriate for Chicago residential applications. GenFlex and Firestone EPDM systems.
TPO (Thermoplastic Polyolefin)
White-surface energy-efficient membrane with heat-welded seams that outperform adhesive-bonded EPDM seams in long-term watertightness. TPO is increasingly specified for Chicago residential flat roofs and is our first recommendation when energy efficiency is a priority or when previous EPDM seam failures have been the recurring problem. Mule-Hide and Firestone TPO systems.
Modified Bitumen
Torch-down two-ply modified bitumen is found on many older Chicago multi-unit residential buildings and is still an appropriate choice for buildings where the existing system is modified bitumen and overlay or replacement in kind makes sense. We assess whether a modified bitumen overlay is appropriate or whether a full tear-off and system change is the better long-term decision based on the existing system’s condition.
Built-Up Roofing (BUR)
Multi-ply gravel-surface built-up roofing is found on many older Chicago commercial and residential buildings. When in good condition, BUR is extremely durable. When it needs replacement, the tear-off and disposal is a significant undertaking. We assess BUR systems accurately and recommend repair, overlay, or tear-off based on the specific condition of the system rather than a default recommendation.
PITCHED ROOF MATERIALS — CHICAGO RESIDENTIAL
Owens Corning — Preferred Contractor
As an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, we offer Duration Shingles with SureNail Technology and non-prorated warranty coverage up to 50 years. The strongest residential roofing warranty in our Chicago market, backed by independently audited installation standards. For Chicago single-family homes and the pitched sections of Chicago multi-unit buildings, this is the appropriate level of manufacturer protection.
Malarkey
Our top performance recommendation among asphalt shingles. NEX polymer modified asphalt delivers above-standard impact resistance and long-term durability in Chicago’s climate conditions. Their newest products also help reduce smog. Our honest answer when Chicago homeowners ask what goes on our own homes.
CertainTeed, GAF, IKO, Brava
CertainTeed’s premium architectural collection and GAF’s Timberline series provide proven performance across Chicago’s pitched residential market. IKO offers reliable mid-range protection. Brava premium composite tile for Chicago’s architecturally distinctive renovation projects in the north and near-north neighborhoods where profile and aesthetic are part of the investment decision.
