Why Des Moines Roofers Need a Better Lead Source
Des Moines has a mix of older neighborhoods with aging roofs and newer developments with composition shingles that wear at different rates. The 2025 and 2026 storm seasons brought hail and wind events to Polk County, including hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter on April 18, 2026, and July 3, 2026, and wind gusts of 74 mph on July 11, 2025. These storms create real roofing opportunities, but only if you can find the homes that actually need work.
Shared marketplaces like Angi and Thumbtack don't tell you which Des Moines neighborhoods have the most weathered roofs or which homes have active damage. They just hand you a list of people who filled out a form—often the same list they gave to your competitors. Roofbird gives you a way to be proactive: you decide where to work, and Roofbird tells you which blocks are worth your time.
- Self-sourced leads: Roofbird ranks every roof, and you choose which ones to act on.
- Local storm data: Roofbird factors in hail and wind events from the last 18 months.
- No per-lead fees: one-off credit packs from $49, no subscription.
Step 1: Roofbird Tells You Where to Scan in Des Moines
Before you draw anything, Roofbird reads the Des Moines neighborhoods you search—whether that's the Beaverdale area, West Des Moines, Ankeny, or a specific ZIP code—and ranks the blocks by housing era, roof wear, hail history, and walkability. It counts homes from building footprints, not estimates, and flags scattered acreage that would kill your canvassing efficiency.
This is the one thing a national marketplace can't do: it doesn't know your territory. Roofbird does. It suggests only blocks that clear the bar for potential leads, and if nothing in view is worth the trip, it says so plainly. No wasted mornings driving through neighborhoods where roofs are all new.
- Search any Des Moines area—town, suburb, ZIP, or street.
- See housing era, roof wear percentage, home count, and hail history per block.
- Draw your own polygon or use Roofbird's suggested scan areas.
Step 2: Every Roof Read from Two Angles
Roofbird reads both the top-down satellite tile and a ground-level Street View of the façade, combining them into one assessment. The street view catches granule loss, algae streaking, curling shingles, and patched sections that a top-down view might miss. It also compares the roof to its neighbors—if the houses on either side have been re-roofed and this one hasn't, that's a signal.
Each lead includes a 0-100 priority score, a plain-English verdict, roof material, estimated roof age (read off the shingles, not the building's age), wear signs, both images, estimated squares, and a job-value range. You also get a ready-to-say door pitch.
- Combined satellite and street-level reads for accuracy.
- Neighbor comparison: if the street has re-roofed, it's flagged.
- No hidden formula: the score is explained in plain terms.
Step 3: Two Scores: Need vs. Now
Roofbird separates 'needs a roof' from 'will decide now.' The NEED score is based on roof condition and age alone. The NOW score reflects whether something is forcing a decision on this specific home: active damage like a tarp or missing shingles, hail damage on this roof, a recent purchase, patching attempts, or neighbors who have re-roofed.
Neighborhood hail does NOT raise the NOW score, because every home in the scan shares it. That's why Roofbird's ranking is trustworthy: it doesn't invent urgency. If a Des Moines home has no trigger, Roofbird says so. Where a hail event is on record, Roofbird shows an estimated claim window based on Iowa's typical notice deadline—but always verify with the carrier.
- NEED score: roof condition and age.
- NOW score: active damage, recent purchase, or other triggers.
- Claim window countdown for hail events, clearly marked as an estimate.
Step 4: Homeowner Details, DNC-Scrubbed
Opening a house costs 1 credit and brings the full property record: owner name, whether they live there, estimated market value, year built, last sale date, beds/baths, square footage, lot size, stories, garage, property tax, and mortgage lender. It also estimates the owner's equity, because equity determines whether someone can say yes.
Opening a house completely costs 1 credit and adds the street address, owner name, phones and email. Every number is DNC-scrubbed and labeled 'clear,' 'DNC,' or 'verify.' Manual dialing only, no texts or auto-dialers. A failed lookup is refunded; a nobody-listed answer is charged.
- Free property records on every lead.
- DNC-scrubbed contacts: know before you call.
- No credit charged for missing contacts.
Step 5: Work the List Like a CRM
Roofbird gives you card view or a table with sticky headers, filters, and one-click opening of any house. Filter by owner-occupied vs. absentee, live trigger, active damage, claim window open, minimum need score, roof age, equity, and contact state (including 'callable'). Export or print door-hanger PDFs for your route.
Low-quality roofs are dropped before they reach your list, so you don't spend credits on them. Re-scanning an area surfaces new homes instead of the same roofs again.
- Filters for every data point Roofbird knows.
- Export or print door-hanger PDFs on every pack.
- No wasted leads: low-quality roofs are excluded.