Thompsons, a town of 156 people beside Smithers Lake
Thompsons is a very small town, 156 people at the 2020 census, and four of every ten acres inside its limits are water. Smithers Lake and the W.A. Parish Power Plant take up most of the western half, and the people of Thompsons live on what is left.
Working in Thompsons
Thompsons sits south of the Brazos River in east central Fort Bend County, twelve miles southeast of Richmond, the county seat. The town covers 8.3 square miles, and 3.4 of them are water, about 41 percent. Smithers Lake, an artificial impoundment, shares most of the western half of town with the W.A. Parish Power Plant. Sienna, Arcola and Fresno are the nearest neighbors, and students are zoned to Lamar Consolidated ISD schools, including George Ranch High School.
For a town this small spread over this much ground, the houses are well apart and the work is rural work. A house here may stand alone with little around it to break the wind, which puts more strain on the roof’s edges, ridges and fasteners during summer storms and Gulf systems. The climate is humid subtropical, with hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters, and that combination keeps an attic hot and damp for months. Good ventilation and a properly flashed roof matter more here than any upgrade on the shingle itself. When Hurricane Harvey flooded Fort Bend County in 2017 as the Brazos overflowed, the river’s south side was part of that story, and a builder here should remember it.
Thompsons is an incorporated town, so permit questions for a house inside the limits start with the Town of Thompsons, and property outside the town has no city permit, leaving county floodplain, septic and driveway rules and state rules as the ones to check. With a large lake on the map, a building site should be checked for flood-zone requirements with the county before anything new is designed. For a roof, the practical points are distance and access: a long drive from Cypress and a house that may sit well back from the road, which is why the first visit covers everything at once. There is not much more written about Thompsons, and we will not fill the gap with guesses. If you live here and know something about the town we have missed, tell us; we would rather learn it from you.
The jobs that come up here
On a rural house in Thompsons, roof replacement and asphalt shingle replacement are the everyday jobs, and metal roof replacement makes sense for an owner who wants the next roof to be the last one they buy. Standing seam metal roofing is the cleaner-looking metal option for a house, with hidden fasteners. Wind damage roof replacement applies when a summer storm has torn or creased shingles across a slope, and we photograph it before anything is removed. If the damage is limited to a corner, a repair is the honest answer. Hail damage roof replacement is the separate job after a spring storm that bruised the whole roof, and it starts with documentation. Ventilation is part of every re-roof we write here.
For land in and around town, R-Panel metal roofing covers sheds and shops, and a family that wants to build can start with barndominium planning, which is where flood requirements, the slab height and the building’s orientation to the summer sun get settled before any steel is ordered. We will not guess at a lakeside slab height; the county’s answer sets it. Barndominium site preparation and concrete slab foundations come right after planning, and on low ground near water they get more attention than anything else we build. Large barndominiums suit a household that wants living space, a garage and a shop under one roof. Inside existing houses, bathroom renovation and veteran ADA remodeling are the jobs we would expect most.
- Asphalt shingle replacement Replacing an asphalt roof is a day of controlled demolition followed by careful building.
- Hail damage roof replacement Hail damage on a shingle is a bruise in the mat, soft when you press it, usually with the granules knocked off in a rough circle.
- Metal roof replacement A metal replacement usually starts one of two ways: a worn shingle roof and an owner who wants something longer-lived, or an old metal roof leaking at its screws.
Plenty of roofs we look at need a repair or nothing at all. If that is yours, you will hear it from us first.
Is Thompsons too small for you to bother with?
No. A town of 156 people still has roofs that leak and bathrooms that need work. We plan the trip so one visit covers the inspection, the measurements and the photos. Smaller problems, like a few lifted shingles, get an honest answer on the phone first.
Does living near Smithers Lake change how a Thompsons house should be roofed?
Not the roof itself, beyond the wind and humidity every house here deals with. It matters more for new building, where flood-zone requirements can set slab height. Check with the county before you design. A house facing open water can also take more wind, which makes careful edge nailing worth asking about.
Who do I ask about permits for a house inside the Town of Thompsons?
The town comes first, since Thompsons is incorporated. Outside the town limits no city permit applies, but a new slab near Smithers Lake can bring county floodplain rules into it. We confirm which applies for your lot.
Can you put a garage, shop and house under one roof near Thompsons?
Yes, that is what a large barndominium does well. We plan the slab with thicker sections where vehicles and equipment sit, separate the living space with an insulated wall, and size the roof framing for the full span.
How do I keep a Thompsons attic from cooking all summer?
Balance the ventilation: enough intake at the eaves and enough exhaust at the ridge. Add insulation on the attic floor, and keep bath and kitchen fans vented outside instead of into the attic. We check all of it during a re-roof. In heat like this, a radiant barrier under the roof deck can help too.
Close by
We also work in Sienna, Sugar Land, Fifth Street, Arcola, Fresno. The whole list is on the Fort Bend County page.
Two owners, both veterans, one phone number. We inspect, photograph and tell you what the job really needs, including when it needs nothing yet. Military families and first responders take 10% off.