Central Roof Repair · Code notes
Kentucky’s residential code assigns one design wind speed to the entire state — a basic ultimate wind speed of 115 mph — and a ground snow load county by county, which is 15 psf across almost all of Central Kentucky. Those two numbers sit behind how a roof is supposed to be built here.
Homeowners often assume design criteria vary with how windy their neighborhood feels, or that the hills get a lighter snow number than the flat counties. Kentucky’s adopted table says otherwise, and it is a short, readable table. Here is what it actually contains for the counties we work in, straight from the state’s own document.
What is Kentucky’s design wind speed?
115 mph, statewide. Table R301.2(1) of the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Third Edition (August 2024) states: “Basic ultimate wind speed, Vult, shall be 115 mph (51.4 m/s) for all Kentucky counties.”
The same table adds a sentence that matters on hill ground: “Topographic effects shall be investigated.” Kentucky does not hand ridge tops and hollows a different wind speed — it tells the designer to look at the terrain on top of the statewide number. If your house sits on an exposed ridge or at the crest of a hill, that sentence is the one that applies to you.
What is the ground snow load for Central Kentucky counties?
15 psf for every county we routinely work in. The table lists ground snow load, pg, in pounds per square foot, county by county, and the Central Kentucky and Gorge-region counties are all at the lower of the state’s two values.
| County | Ground snow load (psf) |
|---|---|
| Fayette | 15 |
| Madison | 15 |
| Clark | 15 |
| Jessamine | 15 |
| Scott | 15 |
| Woodford | 15 |
| Bourbon | 15 |
| Montgomery | 15 |
| Estill | 15 |
| Powell | 15 |
| Menifee | 15 |
| Wolfe | 15 |
| Lee | 15 |
Statewide, the table uses two values: 15 psf for most counties and 20 psf for a set that includes Boone, Boyd, Bracken, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Greenup, Henry, Kenton, Knott, Martin, Mason and Trimble, along with Floyd, Leslie and Letcher. Three counties also carry elevation footnotes — above 2,600 feet in Bell and Harlan, and above 2,500 feet in Letcher, the table requires values “based on site-specific case studies or by other approved means of rational analysis.”
Kentucky gives every county the same design wind speed. What it varies is the instruction to look at your terrain.
What else does that table set for every Kentucky county?
Three statewide classifications worth knowing, because they explain material and detailing choices a homeowner may otherwise read as upselling.
- Weathering: SEVERE. The table classifies weathering probability for concrete as SEVERE for all Kentucky counties. That is a freeze-thaw statement, and freeze-thaw is the same mechanism that works on a roof’s flashings, mortar and masonry chimney crowns.
- Termite infestation probability: MODERATE TO HEAVY. Statewide. Relevant to roofs because termite damage and chronic moisture tend to be found in the same places — fascia, rafter tails, sheathing edges at a long-term leak.
- Seismic design category is set by its own table, R301.2.2.1, rather than by a single statewide value.
Do these numbers apply to a repair or a reroof?
Not automatically, and that distinction is the building official’s to make, not a contractor’s. These are design criteria for construction under the residential code. What a specific repair, reroof or addition has to meet depends on the scope of work and the code sections your jurisdiction applies to it.
What the numbers are genuinely useful for is calibration. When someone tells you that a Central Kentucky roof does not need wind-rated fastening because “we don’t get real wind here,” the state’s own design value for your county is 115 mph. And when a quote treats a ridge-top house the same as one in a sheltered subdivision, “topographic effects shall be investigated” is a fair thing to raise.
For which rulebook governs your project in the first place, see which roof code rulebook applies in Lexington, and for the permit question on a reroof, see reroof permits under Central Kentucky’s state code.
How this changes what we look at on a roof
On an exposed site, the parts of a roof that fail first are the edges and the penetrations — the places where uplift gets a grip and where water gets a path. A statewide 115 mph design value and an explicit instruction to investigate terrain are a reasonable justification for paying attention to edge detailing on a hillside house rather than treating it as optional. None of that is a prediction about any particular roof; it is a reason to look in a specific order. For the related code requirement at the roof edge itself, see Kentucky’s drip edge rule.
Is the design wind speed the same as a wind gust in a storm?
No. A basic ultimate wind speed is a design value used in structural design, not a forecast or a measurement of a particular storm. Kentucky sets it at 115 mph for all counties.
Why would two neighboring counties have different snow loads?
The table assigns ground snow load by county, with most Kentucky counties at 15 psf and a group — largely northern and eastern — at 20 psf. Three counties carry elevation footnotes requiring site-specific analysis above 2,500 or 2,600 feet.
Where can I read the table myself?
It is Table R301.2(1) in the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Third Edition (August 2024), published by the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction at dhbc.ky.gov.
Last updated: October 1, 2026
By Marcos Gil, REALTOR® — Keller Williams Commonwealth · KY Real Estate License No. 296259 · Call or text (859) 310-1209.
Central Roof Repair is owned by Marcos Gil, who also publishes marcosgilrealty.com and investinthegorge.com. This note is general information about Kentucky’s adopted design criteria. It is not an inspection, a diagnosis of any particular roof, a code ruling, or a promise about any result.
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