Roof Installation in Freret, New Orleans
Early-1900s bungalows and shotguns along the Freret Street corridor, much of it renovated in the last fifteen years. Newer coverings over older structure — and the two do not always match.
- Freret Street corridor
- Heavily renovated stock
- Bungalows and shotgun doubles
Freret building stock, and what it means for a roof
Freret is a neighborhood of early-twentieth-century bungalows and shotgun doubles that has seen sustained reinvestment along the Freret Street commercial corridor since the late 2000s. A large share of the housing has been renovated in that window, which means a lot of relatively recent roof coverings.
Recent covering is not the same as sound roof, and Freret is where we see that distinction most often. Renovation-driven re-roofs are sometimes done to a budget and to a schedule, laid over decking that was never properly assessed, with flashing details rushed at the awkward junctions. The shingle can be twelve years old and the problem underneath it ninety.
Why Freret roofs fail the way they do
Three things we see repeatedly on this stock — not a generic list, and not the same three as the next neighborhood over.
Renovation-era shortcuts
Fast re-roofs during a flip skip deck replacement and reuse old flashing. It holds for a decade, then it does not.
Added dormers and pop-tops
Renovations that added roof volume created new junctions, and those tie-ins are the usual leak on a renovated house.
Ventilation changes
Insulating a bungalow attic without matching the ventilation traps humidity against the deck — a serious problem in this climate.
Tying new roof into old without causing a problem
Installation is not replacement. The roof has not failed — the building is changing. Different buyer, different risk, different sequence.
- Warranty continuity. Cutting new work into an existing membrane can void the warranty on the part you are keeping. That gets established before anything is opened up, not after.
- Elevation work. Raising a house above base flood elevation lifts it into faster wind. A specification that suited it at grade may not suit it eight feet up.
- Additions and pop-tops. New roof volume meeting an old roof creates junctions that did not exist before. Those tie-ins are where a new-build roof leaks first.
- Rooftop decks and galleries. Traffic-rated assemblies over occupied space are a different system from a roof nobody walks on, and the drainage has to be designed rather than assumed.
- Historic-district infill. New construction inside an HDLC or VCC district is reviewed on how it reads against its neighbors, roof included.
- GC sequencing. Dry-in timing drives everybody else on site. We schedule against the trades that follow us, not in isolation.
Replacement is a different job
If the roof you have has failed and you are replacing like for like, that is a replacement, and it runs differently — different survey, different cost drivers, different conversation about tear-off and decking. See roof replacement instead, and if you land on the wrong one, say so on the call and we will point you at the right one rather than quoting you for the wrong job.
A re-roofing permit is required in Orleans Parish — and three different commissions may review it
Residential re-roofing permits are applied for through the Department of Safety and Permits. Properties inside a historic district require additional review time before the permit is issued.
Four stages, no surprises
Inspection
Someone goes onto the roof. Not a drive-by, not a satellite image — the covering, the flashing, the valleys and the deck condition, looked at directly.
Diagnosis
What has failed and why, traced to the actual entry point rather than the spot where water shows up inside.
Written scope
What we found, what we propose, and what it costs, in writing with photographs. No number quoted cold over the phone.
The work
Carried out to the agreed scope, dried in each day, site cleared, and documented for your records and your insurer.
Working around Freret Street, Napoleon Avenue, Samuel Square and the surrounding streets. If your address is in Freret, it is in the service area — there is no travel surcharge anywhere inside Orleans Parish.
Roof Installation near Freret
Everything else we do in Freret
Roof Installation in Freret — straight answers
We are working with an architect and a GC — can you coordinate?
That is the normal arrangement on installation work. Dry-in timing drives the trades that follow us, so we schedule against the program rather than in isolation, and we talk to whoever is running the job.
Will new work void the warranty on the existing roof?
It can, which is why it gets established before anything is opened up. Cutting new work into an existing membrane without checking the warranty terms is a common and expensive mistake on additions and rooftop decks.
We are elevating the house — does that change the roof?
It can change the specification. Raising a building above base flood elevation also lifts it into faster wind, and an assembly that was adequate at grade may need enhanced fixing once it is up. This matters most in Lakeview, Gentilly and the Lower Ninth.
My roof was replaced about ten years ago — should it be leaking already?
Not if it was done properly, which is the useful thing to establish. In Freret we see a lot of renovation-era re-roofs where the covering went on over decking and flashing that were left as found. The shingle itself may have another fifteen years in it while the flashing at a valley or a chimney has already failed. We check the details before assuming the field is at fault.
Roof Installation in Freret?
Call and we will get someone on the roof, then put what we find in writing.