Huuso Exteriors is a licensed (IL #104.019083), veteran-owned roofing company serving DeKalb, IL and all surrounding DeKalb County communities. We handle roof repair, roof replacement, storm damage, siding, windows, and full home reconstruction for residential homeowners and rental property owners alike — all backed by a 10-year workmanship warranty. Call 855-625-7663 for a free inspection.
DeKalb is different from most of the communities we serve. It is not a suburb with corporate parks and retail corridors — it is a real city with a real history, a working downtown, and a character shaped by both the agricultural heritage of DeKalb County and the presence of Northern Illinois University. The people who own homes here are committed to this community in a way that is different from the commuter suburbs closer to Chicago.
That commitment shows in the housing. DeKalb has residential neighborhoods built across a wide span of eras — late 19th and early 20th century homes near the downtown core, post-war construction through the mid-century period, and more recent development on the edges of the city. The mix creates a genuine range of roofing needs, from historic structures that require care and precision to standard suburban builds where straightforward replacement is the right call.
DeKalb also has a significant rental property market driven by Northern Illinois University’s student population. Rental property owners in DeKalb have specific roofing needs — they need a contractor who works efficiently, documents the work clearly for insurance and property management purposes, and does not create problems with tenants during a project. We understand that segment and serve it well.
Every Huuso Exteriors project in DeKalb is personally supervised on-site by one of our owners. Licensed (IL #104.019083), bonded, insured, and present from the first assessment through the final walkthrough. Call 855-625-7663 for your free inspection
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When a DeKalb homeowner or property owner reaches the point where replacement is the right answer, the quality of the installation is what determines how the next 25 years go. We take that seriously on every job regardless of the size of the home or the complexity of the project.
As an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, Huuso Exteriors offers Duration Shingles with SureNail Technology and non-prorated warranty coverage up to 50 years. That designation is audited and earned — a number of the roofing companies advertising in DeKalb County cannot offer it. If a competitor is promising the same warranty terms, ask for their Preferred Contractor number before you sign.
Our process is the same on every DeKalb job. Full deck inspection before any material comes off. Complete removal and proper disposal of old materials. Ice and water shield at every eave, valley, and penetration — especially important on DeKalb’s older homes where inadequate underlayment has been standard since original construction. Shingles installed per manufacturer specifications. Final owner walkthrough before we call it done. If we find problems underneath, we address them. That is the job.
We install Malarkey, Owens Corning, CertainTeed, GAF, IKO, and Brava. Financing options are available for qualified customers — ask during your free assessment.
We will always be straight with you about whether your DeKalb roof needs repair or replacement. Not every roofing problem requires a full tear-off, and pushing a replacement when a repair is the right answer is not something we do.
We handle leak repairs, damaged and missing shingle replacement, flashing repairs at chimneys, skylights, valleys, and all penetrations, complete tear-offs, and full re-roofing. We also address gutters, fascia, soffits, and siding as part of a comprehensive exterior assessment. One company, one call, complete scope.
For DeKalb’s older homes and rental properties, targeted repairs — particularly flashing work and isolated section replacement — often make strong financial sense. A well-executed repair can extend a roof’s useful life significantly at a fraction of replacement cost. We assess each situation on its merits and give you the honest answer. Call 855-625-7663.
DeKalb County sits on open agricultural terrain with limited natural windbreaks. Storm systems that track across northern Illinois carry real force through this area, and wind and hail events in DeKalb can be more severe than comparable storms hitting the more urbanized suburbs closer to Chicago. If a storm damages your DeKalb roof and water is entering your home, call 855-625-7663 immediately. Emergency roof repair response is available around the clock.
For damage assessments, our FAA-certified drone inspection evaluates your complete roofline from above with high-resolution detail. We document every point of impact — shingles, flashings, gutters, and any decking compromise visible from above. You get a complete written report with photos before you make any decisions about filing a claim. For rental property owners, this documentation is also valuable for your property records and insurance portfolio.
We manage insurance claims from initial filing through final adjuster settlement. Our founders spent 15+ years in the restoration industry before starting Huuso Exteriors and have managed storm claims across northern Illinois thousands of times. We document accurately, we file completely, and we work with your adjuster until you receive the full coverage your policy entitles you to.
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DeKalb’s commercial and institutional roofing market is anchored by Northern Illinois University, one of the largest universities in Illinois. The university’s campus buildings, supporting commercial properties, and the mix of retail, light industrial, and agricultural-related facilities throughout DeKalb County all carry roofing systems that require contractors experienced with a range of commercial applications.
Beyond NIU, DeKalb has a meaningful industrial presence, a vibrant downtown with mixed-use commercial buildings, and an agricultural services sector that includes facilities across DeKalb County. These properties often have large flat or low-slope roofing systems that have seen years of northern Illinois weather.
Huuso Exteriors handles commercial roofing throughout DeKalb and DeKalb County. Our crews work with TPO, PVC, EPDM, metal, rubber, and built-up systems, using GenFlex, Mule-Hide, and Firestone. We pull all required City of DeKalb permits before work begins, work around your business or institutional schedule, and deliver projects without disrupting operations. Emergency repair, maintenance programs, full replacements, and insurance claim assistance are all available. Call 855-625-7663.
A roof is where most contractors stop. When water damage reaches the wall assembly, when storm damage strips siding alongside shingles, when a DeKalb property owner is looking at a situation that requires restoration and reconstruction — those contractors hand you a list of other people to call.
Huuso Exteriors is built differently. Before founding this company, Tim, Kevin, and Bryan Reifsteck built one of the largest restoration and construction companies in the United States. Every service listed below is work we have done thousands of times. One company, one set of people accountable for the full outcome.
James Hardie fiber cement siding (HardiePlank), LP SmartSide engineered wood, Variform vinyl, and Norandex vinyl throughout DeKalb and DeKalb County. Storm damage, aging siding, and full exterior updates all within our scope. Every installation includes proper moisture barriers and flashing. Owner-supervised, 10-year workmanship warranty on every job.
For DeKalb homeowners and rental property owners dealing with aging windows — whether in an older downtown home or a student rental near NIU — HUUSO brand replacement windows deliver genuine energy efficiency at a price that competes with the national chains. Bring us any written quote. We aim to beat it. Financing options available for qualified customers.
DeKalb’s older housing stock is particularly susceptible to the kind of slow-leak water intrusion that goes undetected for months. A failing flashing on a 1920s home does not always announce itself immediately — it works through the wall cavity, into the framing, and eventually into the finished space. We handle the complete scope: emergency tarping, damage assessment, full remediation, and rebuild under one company. For rental property owners, this comprehensive approach means a single point of contact and documented accountability throughout.
Structural reconstruction after storm damage, planned additions to established DeKalb homes, and construction projects on rental or investment properties — our team manages from permit through final walkthrough. The Reifsteck brothers’ depth in large-scale restoration and construction is available to DeKalb property owners of every type.
If you own rental properties near Northern Illinois University or elsewhere in DeKalb, your roofing needs are different from a typical homeowner’s. Timing matters — you cannot do a full tear-off during the middle of a semester when tenants are in residence and finals are approaching. Documentation matters — your insurance company, your property management records, and your tax documentation all depend on clear, professional records of what work was done and when. And efficiency matters — downtime on a rental property is lost income.
We work with DeKalb rental property owners specifically. We schedule projects to minimize tenant disruption, provide complete written documentation of all work performed suitable for insurance and property records, and handle insurance claims for storm-damaged rental properties the same way we handle them for owner-occupied homes. If you own multiple rental properties in DeKalb County, ask about our scheduling approach for multi-property projects. Call 855-625-7663.
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Whether we are working on an owner-occupied DeKalb home or a rental property with tenants present, our job site safety and cleanup standards do not change. Driveways, landscaping, and outdoor spaces are protected before any work begins. The site stays clean and organized throughout the project.
When the job is done, the full property is swept with industrial magnetic rollers — every nail, every metal fragment — before we leave. This matters for owner-occupied homes with kids and pets. It matters even more for rental properties where you are responsible for the safety of tenants who were not present during the work. One of our team members then walks the complete property with you or your designated representative before we consider the job finished.
Most roofing companies that show up in a DeKalb County search result are one of two things: a small local operation with limited credentials and no real warranty backing, or a larger company based in the Chicago suburbs that treats DeKalb as a secondary market they will service when it is convenient. We are neither.
Huuso Exteriors is a licensed, veteran-owned company with credentials that hold up to verification: Illinois Roofing Contractor License #104.019083, Owens Corning Preferred Contractor status, NRCA and CRCA membership, BBB accreditation, and FAA Drone Certification. Every one of those can be checked independently. Most of our competitors in DeKalb County cannot produce the same list.
The workmanship warranty difference is real. Industry standard among local roofers is 1 to 5 years. We offer 10 years in writing on every job. When Kevin Reifsteck puts his name on a project in DeKalb, he means it — because he is personally on that job site supervising the work, not reviewing reports from another county.
For rental property owners specifically, our combination of thorough documentation, flexible scheduling around tenant occupancy, and insurance claim expertise makes us a practical choice that the typical local roofer is not equipped to be. And for every customer — homeowner or property owner — our free Huuso Roof Care Program means the relationship does not end when the crew drives away.
We are the roofers who tell you what your roof actually needs, back the work for a decade, and come back to check on it for free. In a market where a lot of contractors make promises and then disappear, that track record is what differentiates us. Call 855-625-7663 and ask for Kevin.
Kevin Reifsteck manages Huuso Exteriors’ DeKalb County operations. He is a licensed roofing contractor (IL #104.019083), a U.S. military veteran, and the person who answers the phone when a DeKalb homeowner calls about their roof. Kevin is not a manager who delegates to a field crew and checks in by phone — he is on job sites, evaluating the work personally, and accountable for the outcome.
DeKalb County’s mix of older residential housing, rental properties, and institutional buildings requires a roofer who can assess a 1910 downtown home with the same competence they bring to a 1990s ranch on the edge of the city. Kevin has that range. He understands storm damage documentation for insurance claims, residential replacement across every home era, and the specific needs of rental property owners who need work done efficiently with minimal tenant disruption. When you call about your DeKalb project, you are talking to Kevin from the first call through the day the job is done.
Call 855-625-7663 and ask for Kevin.
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. They chose the name Huuso because it means Honor — a principle they apply to every project, every customer conversation, and every business decision. Their mission is to bring legitimate quality and real accountability to roofing and exterior work in DeKalb and the surrounding communities, without shortcuts and without misleading anyone about what their property actually needs.
We have worked throughout DeKalb and know the range of conditions that different parts of the city present. From the historic residential blocks near downtown to the neighborhoods adjacent to NIU campus to the newer development on the city’s edges, our team understands what each area looks like from a roofing perspective. We serve DeKalb’s primary ZIP code: 60115.
The residential neighborhoods surrounding downtown DeKalb contain some of the oldest housing in DeKalb County, with homes dating from the late 1800s through the early 20th century. These properties carry architectural features — steep pitches, decorative gables, original-era flashings, and complex valley configurations — that require a roofer with experience on older structures. We approach historic DeKalb homes individually, assess the condition of the deck and flashings honestly, and recommend what actually needs to be done. Free inspection with no obligation.
The residential areas surrounding Northern Illinois University represent a significant concentration of rental properties in DeKalb. These homes — many built in the 1950s through 1970s and now serving as student housing — present specific roofing challenges: deferred maintenance from owner-occupant to rental conversion, wear from higher occupancy turnover, and the timing constraints that come with academic semester calendars. We work with NIU-area rental property owners on scheduling, documentation, and insurance claims throughout the year.
DeKalb’s mid-century residential development through the 1950s and 1960s produced a large inventory of well-built homes that are now in the 60 to 70 year range. Many are on their second roof, and some of those second roofs are themselves aging toward replacement. The combination of original-era construction underneath and aging modern shingles on top requires a careful assessment approach — we check both what is visible on the surface and what the deck and flashings are doing underneath.
DeKalb’s newer residential development on the northern and eastern edges of the city features more recent construction with roofing that is aging more gracefully than the older stock — but still benefits from professional inspection after significant storm seasons. We serve homeowners throughout all of DeKalb and the surrounding DeKalb County communities including Genoa, Cortland, and Sycamore.
If you own rental properties near Northern Illinois University, your homeowner’s insurance policy should be written as a landlord policy, not a standard homeowner’s policy. This matters for roofing because the coverage terms for storm damage, replacement cost versus actual cash value, and the claim process differ between policy types. Before you need to file a storm damage claim on a rental property, verify that your policy covers replacement cost rather than actual cash value — the difference can be tens of thousands of dollars on a full roof replacement. We work with landlord policy claims regularly and can help you understand the coverage picture before a storm makes the question urgent.
DeKalb County’s agricultural landscape means significantly less urban windbreak than you get in Chicago’s suburbs. Storm systems that cross this open terrain carry full force — wind speeds and hail impact can be meaningfully higher in DeKalb than in more urbanized communities for the same storm event. If you moved to DeKalb from a denser suburb and are assessing your roof’s condition, factor in this wind exposure difference when thinking about how much useful life your current shingles have. We factor it into every material recommendation we make for DeKalb properties.
If you are buying a home in DeKalb — whether as a primary residence or as a rental investment — schedule a dedicated roof inspection with a licensed roofing contractor before closing. General home inspectors assess dozens of systems and are not always equipped to identify the specific indicators of deck condition, flashing integrity, or actual shingle life remaining that a specialist finds. On older DeKalb homes in particular, what is underneath the surface matters as much as what is on top of it. A roof inspection report from Huuso Exteriors gives you documentation you can use in negotiations or to plan a near-term capital expenditure accurately. Call 855-625-7663 to schedule.
On DeKalb homes from the early and mid 20th century, storm damage claims sometimes surface pre-existing conditions that the insurance company will attempt to exclude from the settlement. The adjuster may cite ‘wear and tear’ or ‘pre-existing deterioration’ to reduce or deny portions of the claim. When we prepare a storm damage assessment for an older DeKalb home, we document the specific storm-caused damage separately and clearly from any pre-existing conditions, making it harder for an adjuster to conflate the two. That documentation discipline is something many homeowners learn the value of after their first claim — we build it in from the start.
Any legitimate roof replacement in DeKalb requires a City of DeKalb building permit. DeKalb County has its own inspection requirements that differ from the collar counties surrounding Chicago. Huuso Exteriors pulls every required permit and manages all inspections as part of our standard process at no additional charge. For rental property owners, the permit and inspection record is also useful documentation for your property files. Our Illinois Roofing Contractor License is #104.019083, verifiable at the IDFPR website.
We install brands whose performance we can stand behind in DeKalb County conditions — open terrain, real hail seasons, and northern Illinois winters.
Our recommendation for DeKalb homeowners and property owners who want performance above the code minimum. Malarkey’s NEX polymer modified asphalt delivers above-standard impact resistance and durability — particularly relevant in DeKalb County where open terrain means full-force storm exposure. Their products also help reduce smog. Our honest answer when customers ask what goes on our own homes.
As an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, Huuso Exteriors offers Duration Shingles with SureNail Technology and non-prorated warranty coverage up to 50 years. The Preferred Contractor designation is independently audited. It is the strongest residential roofing warranty available in DeKalb County.
Premium residential roofing with a strong designer collection. CertainTeed’s range of profiles and colors works well with the architectural variety of DeKalb’s housing stock from historic homes to mid-century construction.
North America’s largest roofing manufacturer. GAF Timberline shingles are a reliable, proven product across the full range of DeKalb home types and price points.
Quality performance shingles with solid warranty backing. A dependable option for DeKalb homeowners and rental property owners seeking reliable protection at a competitive price.
Premium composite tile for DeKalb’s larger and more architecturally distinguished homes, particularly the historic downtown residences where profile authenticity contributes to the character of the property. Brava delivers the look of slate, shake, or barrel tile without the weight, fragility, or maintenance demands of natural materials.
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The standard for DeKalb homeowners who want siding that handles northern Illinois winters without rotting, warping, or requiring frequent maintenance. Fire resistant, holds paint longer than wood or vinyl, and built for the climate. A particularly good choice for older DeKalb homes where moisture management has been a recurring issue.
Engineered wood siding with excellent impact resistance and a natural wood aesthetic. For DeKalb’s historic homes where vinyl siding looks architecturally out of place, LP SmartSide provides the warmth of a wood character with significantly better performance in moisture and cold conditions.
Quality vinyl across a broad range of profiles and colors. Durable, low maintenance, and available in a comprehensive palette that works across DeKalb’s housing stock.
Reliable performance vinyl with solid warranty coverage. A cost-effective option for rental property owners seeking dependable exterior protection at a competitive price point.
Targeted roof repairs in DeKalb typically range from $300 to $2,500 depending on scope and materials. Full residential roof replacements generally run between $7,500 and $22,000 depending on roof size, pitch, material choice, and whether a full tear-off is required. City of DeKalb permit costs are included in our estimates. Financing options are available for qualified customers. For storm-damaged roofs, we work directly with your insurance company. Call 855-625-7663 for a free on-site assessment.
The best roofers in DeKalb hold a verifiable Illinois Roofing Contractor License, offer a real workmanship warranty, supervise every job they sell, and can handle both residential homeowners and rental property owners. Huuso Exteriors holds IL #104.019083, is an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, BBB Accredited, FAA Drone Certified, and NRCA and CRCA member. Every project is owner-supervised. We offer a 10-year workmanship warranty, emergency roof repair response, and a free ongoing Huuso Roof Care Program for every customer. Call 855-625-7663.
Yes. We work with DeKalb rental property owners on scheduling around tenant occupancy, complete written documentation of all work performed for insurance and property records, and insurance claim management for storm-damaged rental properties. For multi-property owners in DeKalb County, ask about our approach to coordinating multiple projects efficiently. Call 855-625-7663.
Yes. When storm or hail damage hits your DeKalb home or rental property, we conduct a thorough inspection using FAA-certified drone technology, prepare a complete damage report, and manage your insurance claim from filing through final adjuster settlement. Our founders spent 15+ years in the restoration industry and have managed storm damage claims across northern Illinois. We document accurately and fight for the full coverage your policy provides.
Yes. We provide dedicated roof inspection reports for real estate transactions in DeKalb, including both owner-occupied purchases and rental property acquisitions. A specialist roof inspection before closing can identify deck condition, flashing integrity, and actual remaining shingle life that a general home inspector may not assess in depth. We provide written inspection reports suitable for use in purchase negotiations or investment planning. Call 855-625-7663.
The Huuso Roof Care Program is a free ongoing roof inspection program for every Huuso Exteriors customer at no charge, ever. After your project is complete, we return on a scheduled basis to inspect your roof, identify developing issues before they become costly, and keep your warranty documentation current. For rental property owners, enrolled properties also have documented professional inspection records on file. Enrollment is automatic with every completed project.
Yes. Huuso Exteriors holds Illinois Roofing Contractor License #104.019083 and is fully bonded and insured. We are an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, NRCA and CRCA member, BBB Accredited, and FAA Drone Certified. Our DeKalb County manager Kevin Reifsteck is individually licensed and a U.S. military veteran. All credentials are independently verifiable at the IDFPR website.
Whether you own a home in DeKalb, a rental property near NIU, or a commercial building anywhere in DeKalb County — Huuso Exteriors handles the full scope. Free inspection. Honest assessment. 10-year warranty. Financing available. Call 855-625-7663 or fill out the form below. Ask for Kevin.
Licensed Roofers | IL #104.019083 | DeKalb County | Residential and Rental Properties | 24/7 Emergency