Roof Installation in Gentilly Terrace, New Orleans
“Houses on hills” — California bungalows deliberately raised on terraced lots from 1909 onward. Wide eaves, low pitches and a distinctive silhouette that needs its own approach.
- Terraced lots, raised bungalows
- California bungalow architecture
- Dillard University corridor
Gentilly Terrace building stock, and what it means for a roof
Gentilly Terrace was marketed from 1909 with the slogan “houses on hills” — an unusual thing to promise in New Orleans, achieved by terracing the lots so each bungalow sits visibly raised above the street. The architecture is California bungalow: low-pitched roofs, wide overhanging eaves, exposed rafter tails, deep front porches.
That style creates a specific roofing profile. Low pitch means water moves slowly and wind-driven rain can track back under the covering; wide eaves mean a great deal of exposed soffit and rafter tail in a humid climate; and the deep porch roofs tie into the main roof at a shallower angle still. Much of Gentilly flooded in 2005 and carries mixed repair history on top of all that.
Why Gentilly Terrace 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.
Low-pitch water tracking
Shallow bungalow pitches let wind-driven rain work back up under the courses, which standard fixing patterns do not account for.
Rafter-tail and soffit rot
Wide exposed eaves in 63 inches of annual rain and constant humidity rot from the underside, out of sight from the ground.
Porch roof tie-ins
The deep front porch roof meets the main roof at a very shallow angle. It is the signature Gentilly Terrace leak.
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 Dillard University, Gentilly Boulevard, Elysian Fields Avenue and the surrounding streets. If your address is in Gentilly Terrace, it is in the service area — there is no travel surcharge anywhere inside Orleans Parish.
Roof Installation near Gentilly Terrace
Everything else we do in Gentilly Terrace
Roof Installation in Gentilly Terrace — 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 bungalow’s roof is quite flat — is that why it keeps leaking?
It is a large part of it. California bungalow pitches are shallow by design, and a shallow pitch in a wind-driven-rain climate lets water move sideways and upward under the covering rather than straight off it. The fix is rarely to change the pitch — it is to use the right underlayment and the right fixing and lapping pattern for a low slope, which many previous re-roofs on this stock simply did not do.
Roof Installation in Gentilly Terrace?
Call and we will get someone on the roof, then put what we find in writing.