Roof Repair in Tremé, New Orleans
One of the oldest African American neighborhoods in the United States, immediately behind the Quarter. Creole cottages and shotguns of real historic significance, and roofs that have to be treated accordingly.
- Historic district coverage
- Creole cottage and shotgun stock
- Louis Armstrong Park & St. Augustine
Tremé building stock, and what it means for a roof
Tremé — formally Tremé/Lafitte in the City Planning Commission’s districts — sits directly behind the Quarter across Rampart Street and is among the oldest African American neighborhoods in the country, with a building history running from the 1810s. St. Augustine Church, founded in 1841, anchors it. The housing is predominantly Creole cottages and shotguns, and a significant share of it is individually as well as district-designated.
That significance is the operative fact for roofing. Work on a designated building is a preservation act whether or not the owner thinks of it that way, and material choices that would pass without comment elsewhere are not appropriate here. Slate and tile get repaired and matched rather than swapped for something modern, and standing seam metal is generally not an accepted substitute in a local historic district.
Why Tremé 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.
Soft historic mortar
Chimneys and parapets on early brick have soft lime mortar. Flashing fixed into failing mortar lets go, and the leak reads as a roof fault.
Two centuries of alteration
Buildings this old carry additions and changes. The junctions between original and later structure are where water gets in.
Deferred maintenance load
Long-deferred small repairs compound on historic stock until the deck rather than the covering becomes the question.
Repair, or is this the start of a replacement?
This is the question worth answering before money is spent, and it is answerable from the roof rather than from the ceiling stain.
A repair is the right call when
- The covering across the field is sound — not brittle, not shedding granules by the handful.
- One identifiable detail has failed: a vent boot, a length of flashing, a valley, a slipped slate.
- The decking underneath is dry and solid where it is opened up.
- The roof has years of service left and the failure is local, not general.
A repair is throwing money away when
- The shingle cracks when it is walked and the granules are gone — common on 2006–2008 recovery-era roofs now aging out.
- There are multiple separate leaks in different parts of the roof at once.
- The deck is soft, delaminated, or showing termite galleries when it is opened.
- The same spot has been patched repeatedly and keeps returning.
Why we trace before we patch
Water almost never enters directly above where it shows up inside. It runs along the top of the decking, follows a rafter, and drops at the first obstruction — which on a long New Orleans shotgun can be a considerable distance from the entry point. Patching above the stain treats the exit, not the cause, which is why the third patch fails as reliably as the first two did.
The part of a New Orleans roof nobody photographs: what the Formosans have done to the framing
Greater New Orleans spends an estimated $300 million a year on Formosan termite control and the repairs that follow. Formosan subterranean termites are specifically known to colonize roof framing, and colonies reach into the millions. Any roofer working this city who does not open up a suspect deck and look is not doing the job.
Where we find this, we say so and we stop. Structural damage of this kind needs an entomologist and, where load-bearing members are involved, a structural engineer — alongside the roofer, not instead of one. Laying a new covering over compromised framing hides a structural problem under a twenty-year warranty, and we will not do it.
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 Louis Armstrong Park, St. Augustine Church, Basìn Street and the surrounding streets. If your address is in Tremé, it is in the service area — there is no travel surcharge anywhere inside Orleans Parish.
Roof Repair near Tremé
Everything else we do in Tremé
Roof Repair in Tremé — straight answers
Can you tell me the cost over the phone?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who will. The price of a roof repair is set by what has failed and what condition the deck is in underneath, and neither of those is visible from the ground or from a satellite image. We inspect, then quote in writing.
The same spot has been patched before and it keeps leaking. Why?
Almost always because the patch went where the water appears rather than where it enters. Water runs along the top of the decking and drops at the first obstruction, which on a long New Orleans roof can be a good distance from the entry point. We trace it properly before patching anything.
Will you tell me if a repair is not worth doing?
Yes, plainly. If the covering is brittle, shedding granules and leaking in several places, a repair is money spent on a roof that needs replacing shortly anyway. We would rather say that and lose the small job than take it and have you call us back in a year.
My house is historically significant — will you use matching materials?
Yes, and on a designated building in a local historic district it is not really optional. Slate gets matched on color, size and thickness; tile gets sourced to match rather than substituted; and where a modern material is genuinely permitted it has to match in material and color to pass review. We establish what your building’s designation actually requires before we specify anything.
Roof Repair in Tremé?
Call and we will get someone on the roof, then put what we find in writing.