Roofing for McClellanville homes: replacement, leaks and storm damage. In McClellanville, the 2021 IRC is in force and the median home was built in 1984. Any permit the job needs is ours to pull.
McClellanville runs to about 2.2 square miles and roughly 690 people. It sits about 34 miles northeast of downtown Charleston. The community dates back to 1926. We cover ZIP code 29458.
Inside the town's Historic District, any alteration to an existing building needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Architectural Review Board, though like-for-like repairs that do not change the look can be signed off by the Zoning Administrator. The town's design manual accepts asphalt or fiberglass shingles on all buildings and prefers low-profile metal such as rolled seam or low standing seam; snap-lock seams and modern pan roofing are not considered appropriate.
No completed roof in McClellanville is logged in our job records yet.
The historic district holds about 105 mostly wood-frame buildings from about 1860 to 1935, mainly central-hall farmhouses plus Carpenter Gothic, Queen Anne and Italianate houses.
McClellanville is a small shrimping and fishing village on Jeremy Creek, surrounded by the Francis Marion National Forest, with town limits reaching the Intracoastal Waterway beside the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. It began in the late 1850s-1860s as a pineland summer retreat for planters. Hurricane Hugo's eyewall passed directly over the village in 1989, destroying homes, toppling century-old oaks and pushing a storm surge into town.
From this stretch of building, houses in McClellanville sit on plywood or OSB, were first roofed in three-tab shingles, and are mostly on their second roof now. Trouble tends to be at the penetrations rather than across the field: the rubber collar on a pipe boot splits years before the shingles give out, and it is the leak we trace most often. Ridge vents were hit and miss in these decades, and OSB that stays damp for a season softens in a way plywood does not, something you feel underfoot rather than see from the yard.
McClellanville has 357 homes in the Census Bureau's count and a median year built of 1984. 54 of them (15%) went up before 1940 — the 2nd-highest pre-1940 share of the 28 places on this site — and 100 (28%) in 2000 or later. The 1970s were the busiest decade, adding 63 of today's homes (18%). That is above Charleston County's 5%.
The Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development puts the service life of an asphalt shingle roof at about 20 years. On that yardstick the 257 homes in McClellanville built before 2000 (72%) have outlived at least one roof, and 29% (102 homes) go back before 1970, two roof lives and more. First replacements are arriving on the 55 homes built in the 2000s, while the 45 built since 2010 are mostly still on the roof they were built with. At that age it pays to know whether the last roof was torn off or laid over the one before it, because a second layer hides the deck.
By building type: 348 detached houses (97%), 0 attached (0%). 96% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 4% rented. Read together, those figures point toward deck and flashing checks on pre-war board sheathing and first replacements on 2000s builder-grade shingles.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 54 | 15% | |
| 1940s | 21 | 6% | |
| 1950s | 18 | 5% | |
| 1960s | 9 | 3% | |
| 1970s | 63 | 18% | |
| 1980s | 34 | 10% | |
| 1990s | 58 | 16% | |
| 2000s | 55 | 15% | |
| 2010s | 30 | 8% | |
| 2020 or later | 15 | 4% |
Census ACS 2020–2024, tables B25034, B25035, B25024 and B25003: 357 homes, 286 occupied. Survey estimates.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged no reports of hail 1 inch or larger within 5 miles of McClellanville’s center from 2016 through 2025. That is a gap in the reports rather than proof that no hail fell: reports come from spotters and the public.
Town code makes it unlawful to erect, modify, repair or add to any building in McClellanville without first getting a permit from the Town. The Town's fee schedule does not list roofing separately. Building permits carry a $50 application fee and start at $75 for work valued up to $5,000, and a Town zoning permit for residential repairs or alterations costs $50. Fees double when work starts before a required permit is issued.
McClellanville enforces the 2021 IRC. Town code says the town enforces the mandatory codes prescribed by the South Carolina Building Codes Council; statewide, that is the 2021 South Carolina Residential Code until January 1, 2027.
The published number is 843-887-3712. Town code refers to a Town Building Official, and SAFEbuilt provides the Town's building inspection services. The department page is here.
Design wind here is set by location, not one figure for the whole area: across greater Charleston the published ultimate design wind speeds run 133–150 mph, depending on where a house stands. The building department for McClellanville can tell you which figure applies. What it does to a roof is in the roofing code guide.
McClellanville borders Francis Marion National Forest, Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, Jeremy Creek and Intracoastal Waterway.
Also in Charleston County:
| City | Re-roof permit | Code | Median built |
|---|---|---|---|
| McClellanville | Not published | 2021 IRC | 1984 |
| Adams Run | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1984 |
| Awendaw | Yes | 2021 IRC | 2001 |
| Charleston | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1995 |
| Unincorporated Charleston County | Yes | 2021 IRC | — |
| Edisto Island | Yes | 2021 IRC | — |
| Folly Beach | Yes | 2021 IRC | 1990 |
All 22 Charleston County cities side by side →
Town code makes it unlawful to erect, modify, repair or add to any building in McClellanville without first getting a permit from the Town. The Town's fee schedule does not list roofing separately. Building permits carry a $50 application fee and start at $75 for work valued up to $5,000, and a Town zoning permit for residential repairs or alterations costs $50. Fees double when work starts before a required permit is issued.
McClellanville enforces the 2021 IRC. Town code says the town enforces the mandatory codes prescribed by the South Carolina Building Codes Council; statewide, that is the 2021 South Carolina Residential Code until January 1, 2027.
Median year built 1984, by the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates. Of 357 homes, 257 were built before 2000 and 54 before 1940, so most roofs in McClellanville are not the first one the house has had.
It can. McClellanville has McClellanville Historic District. Inside a designated district, changing a visible roof material or color can need preservation review before the permit is issued. Like-for-like replacement usually raises fewer questions, but we check before quoting.
Not yet: no completed roof in McClellanville is in our job records, so this page shows no job count.
Researched 2026-10-24; housing, Census ACS 2020–2024; hail, NOAA SPC. Sources: www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · en.wikipedia.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.mcclellanvillesc.org · www.nationalregister.sc.gov · en.wikipedia.org · www.scstatehouse.gov · data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
