Hungerford, where US 59, Highway 60 and FM 1161 meet
Hungerford is a census designated place of 390 people in northeastern Wharton County, where U.S. Route 59, State Highway 60 and FM 1161 intersect. Hungerford’s roofs, shops and farmhouses sit in open country where wind and hail reach every slope, and that shapes most of the work here.
Working in Hungerford
In the 1820s the land here was part of colonist Alexander Jackson’s land grant. The New York, Texas and Mexican Railway came through the newly surveyed town in 1882, and most businesses from the nearby village of Quinan moved over. By 1885 Hungerford had 200 residents, several churches, a steam cotton gin, a gristmill and a school. In 1908 it became headquarters of the J. D. Hudgins Ranch.
In the 1980s most business in Hungerford was seasonal, built around hunting and the cotton, grain and pecan harvests, and U.S. Route 59 was rerouted to bypass the town in the late 1980s. The 2020 census counted 390 people. Students are split between the Boling and Wharton Independent School Districts, West Bernard Creek is the nearby water, and Kendleton, East Bernard, Iago, Beasley and Boling are the neighbors. That is where the record stops; nothing in it describes the houses, barns or lots in Hungerford today.
Hungerford has no city government. That takes city permit rules off the table for a re-roof or remodel here; Wharton County rules for floodplain, septic and culverts, and state rules, can still reach a particular property. We check which of those touch your address before the first day of work, and that answer is part of the written scope. We also ask about anything that sits near West Bernard Creek, since a structure near water is the likeliest to run into a floodplain question.
Because so little is published about Hungerford’s present-day buildings, we make no assumptions about yours until we have seen it. A first visit covers the house roof and anything else on the property you want looked at, a barn, a shop, a carport. We photograph each, tell you which ones need work and which can wait, and price them separately. Gulf Coast weather reaches this far inland: spring hail, summer wind ahead of thunderstorms, and the remains of tropical storms. We order material only after that visit, measured off your roof, so nothing extra gets hauled out and back.
The jobs that come up here
Roof replacement is the answer for a house roof worn out across its slopes, and when hail or wind is the cause, hail damage roof replacement or wind damage roof replacement narrows the job to what one storm did, with photos before anything is torn off. On a house this far from Houston, we order everything off the measurements from the first visit so the install happens in one push. If you need only a few shingles and a sealed vent, we will write that and be done, and the photos will show why. Hail on a metal outbuilding roof usually leaves dents without leaks, and we say so when cosmetic dents are all a storm left behind.
R-Panel metal roofing is the practical roof for a barn or equipment shed: exposed-fastener panels that go on quickly and can be replaced one at a time. Barndominium shell construction puts up the slab, frame, roof and walls of a steel building and leaves the interior to you, a good fit for an owner who wants to finish the inside on their own schedule. A shell is also a way to stage a building you cannot finish all at once, as long as the under-slab plumbing is planned for the final layout. Bathroom renovation handles the house bath that needs new surfaces in the same layout. For a barn roof, we also check the purlins and framing for rust or rot before new panels go on, since new metal on a failing frame does not last.
- Barndominium shell construction A shell is the outside of the building and nothing more: frame, roof, wall panels, exterior doors and windows, closed up tight against the weather.
- 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.
- R-Panel metal roofing R-panel is the ribbed, screw-down steel panel you see on shops, barns and plenty of barn-style homes around Houston.
Plenty of roofs we look at need a repair or nothing at all. If that is yours, you will hear it from us first.
Hungerford is unincorporated. What rules apply to a new barn?
No city permit rules apply, since there is no city. Wharton County floodplain, septic and culvert rules and state rules can, depending on the lot, and we look them up before anything is ordered. A barn near West Bernard Creek gets the floodplain question first.
Why is there so little here about Hungerford itself?
Because what matters on a job here is the building in front of us, and we judge that on site. What we know is the history and the roads. What we can tell you about your property comes from walking it with you. If you know something about your property’s history, tell us; it helps.
What is a barndominium shell, and does it make sense near Hungerford?
A shell is the slab, steel frame, roof and walls, closed in and weathertight, with the interior left unfinished. It makes sense if you want to finish the inside yourself or in stages. We tell you what has to be planned before the pour so finishing later is easy. A shell also gets its gutters and downspouts at the start, so the slab stays dry while it waits.
Can you roof a barn and a house on the same Hungerford property?
Yes, and we price them separately. The barn usually gets R-Panel and the house gets shingles or standing seam, and you decide the order based on which one is leaking. Both can be done in the same trip if the material arrives together.
Does U.S. Route 59 bypassing Hungerford make it hard for you to get there?
No. State Highway 60 and FM 1161 still meet in town, and a supply truck finds it fine. We plan deliveries for the morning of the install so the material is not sitting out overnight. If your property is off FM 1161 or Highway 60, a landmark or a gate color helps the driver.
Close by
We also work in Kendleton, East Bernard, Iago, Beasley, Boling. The whole list is on the Wharton County page.
We are based in Cypress and work across twelve counties around Houston. Leland Cannon retired from the Army as a First Sergeant; Geoff Schardien served in the Air Force. The scope you get is in writing, and the person who wrote it answers the phone.