Harrison Roof Repair, Replacement and Storm Damage
Our second office, built to serve the northern Ozarks. Ice, snow, and steep-country weather hit harder here than anywhere else in Arkansas.
Our Harrison Office on Capps Road
We opened our Harrison office at 1410 Capps Rd because the northern Ozarks need a roofer who stays. Too many crews drive up from the NWA metro after a storm, collect checks, and disappear. We wanted a permanent presence in Boone County, a place you can walk into, a crew that knows the roads and the roofs.
Our primary shop is on Highway 62 in Garfield, near Beaver Lake. Harrison is our second location, and it cuts our response time to Boone, Marion, Newton, and Searcy counties by more than an hour. When ice shuts down Highway 7 or 65, we are already here.
American Exteriors has been in business since 1998, over 25 years. Every roof we install comes with a transferable lifetime workmanship warranty. That warranty follows the house, not the owner, so it holds value if you sell.
The 2009 Ice Storm and What It Taught Us
January 27 through 29, 2009. One to two inches of ice accretion across north Arkansas. Roughly 300,000 residences lost power. Some did not get it back for nearly three weeks.
Harrison sat in the worst of it. Trees snapped under the weight and fell across roofs. Power lines came down on houses. Ice built up along eaves and backed water under shingles that had been fine the day before. When the melt finally came, the leaks showed up everywhere, in bedrooms, in attics, running down interior walls.
That storm changed how we approach roofing in this part of the state. Every full replacement we do in the Harrison area now gets ice-barrier underlayment along the eaves, in the valleys, and around penetrations. This is a self-sealing membrane that prevents ice-dam leaks even when water pools behind a frozen ridge. Arkansas code calls for it in areas that average below-freezing January temperatures, and Harrison qualifies. January's mean temperature here is 34.9°F, close enough to the threshold that cold snaps regularly push well below it.
Harrison has also taken direct tornado hits. An F3 struck the city on April 19, 1973, killing one person and injuring 40. The February 5, 2008 "Super Tuesday" EF-4 carved a track of over 120 miles through the Ozarks. In May 2024, a tornado passed through Bellefonte and Olvey southeast of Harrison, killing one person. This area gets every kind of severe weather Arkansas has to offer. We build roofs with that in mind.
Ice Dams and Why They Form Here
An ice dam forms when heat escaping through the roof melts snow on the upper slope. The meltwater runs down toward the eave, where the roof surface is colder because it overhangs unheated air. The water refreezes at the eave and builds a ridge of ice. More meltwater pools behind that ridge with nowhere to go, and it backs up under the shingles.
Harrison gets more snow than any other region of Arkansas. That snow sits on roofs longer here because temperatures stay below freezing for days at a time. The older homes near the courthouse and along the streets south of the square are the most vulnerable. Many were built in the 1920s through 1950s with little or no attic insulation. Heat pours through the ceiling, melts snow from below, and the dam cycle starts.
Two things stop ice dams. First, ice-barrier underlayment along the eaves, the self-sealing membrane we install on every job. It does not prevent the dam from forming, but it stops the water from entering the house when it backs up. Second, proper attic insulation and ventilation. When the attic stays cold, the snow does not melt from underneath, and the cycle never starts. We can inspect your attic during a roof evaluation and tell you where the heat is escaping.
Snow Load on Ozark Roofs
Fresh snow weighs about 1.25 pounds per square foot per inch of depth. Wet, compacted snow can weigh three or four times that. When Harrison gets an eight-inch snowfall, which happens, a 2,000-square-foot roof is holding 10 tons or more.
Most residential roof framing in this area is designed for 15 to 20 pounds per square foot of live load. A single heavy snow event will not collapse a properly built roof. But years of wear on the framing, water intrusion that softens the decking, termite damage to trusses, added weight from a reroof layered over old shingles, reduce that margin. We have pulled off second layers during tear-offs and found decking so soft you could push a finger through it.
A full tear-off lets us inspect every square foot of decking and replace what needs replacing. We do not roof over existing layers. If the decking is compromised, we replace it before anything else goes on. You cannot build a reliable roof on a rotten foundation.
Where We Work in Harrison
Downtown Harrison
The blocks around the Boone County Courthouse and the town square. Harrison was founded in 1869 and named for Marcus LaRue Harrison, the surveyor who platted the town. Boone County was created the same year, Arkansas's 62nd county. The courthouse, built in 1909, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The homes within a few blocks of the square are some of the oldest in the county, with roof structures dating to the early 1900s. Many have original wood decking instead of plywood, steep pitches, and minimal attic ventilation. These roofs need careful inspection before any work begins.
Hilltop
The elevated neighborhoods north and west of downtown, above the Crooked Creek floodplain. Harrison sits on Crooked Creek, the town had a post office as early as 1836, well before its official founding, and a levee protects downtown from flooding. The Hilltop areas sit above all of that, but the elevation brings higher wind exposure. Ridgeline homes take gusts that the sheltered valley streets do not. We pay close attention to ridge caps, hip caps, and starter strips on these roofs.
Along Capps Road
The corridor around our office, running east from Highway 65. A mix of 1980s and 1990s homes and newer construction. Roof stock here is mostly architectural shingles on plywood decking, standard work, but the age means many of these roofs are approaching or past the 25-year mark. This is our backyard, and we drive these streets every day.
South Toward the Buffalo River
Harrison is the gateway to the Buffalo National River and a stopping point for traffic headed to Branson. The rural properties south of town along Highway 7 and Highway 43 sit on wooded, hilly terrain. Longer driveways, steeper lots, and heavier tree cover define the roofing challenges here. Debris accumulation in valleys and gutters is constant, and moss growth on north-facing slopes is common in this shaded, humid environment.
Boone County Permits
Roofing work inside Harrison city limits requires a building permit. We handle the permit application, pay the fee, and schedule the inspection. You do not need to go to the building department yourself.
The permit process confirms that the work meets Arkansas residential building code, including the ice-barrier underlayment requirement, ventilation standards, and proper fastening patterns. Unpermitted work can create problems when you sell the house or file an insurance claim. We pull permits on every job where one is required.
Harrison averages 45.20 inches of precipitation per year. That is a lot of water hitting your roof over its lifetime. Proper installation to code is not a technicality, it is the difference between a roof that lasts and one that leaks in five years.
Call Us for a Free Inspection
We are on Capps Road. Call (479) 398-6262 or book a free inspection online. We will get on your roof, document what we find with photos, and give you a written estimate. If the roof is fine, we will tell you that too. No pressure, no sales pitch.
Get Your Free Roof Inspection
We look at your roof for free, tell you what we find, and let you decide. No pressure, no obligation.