Storm Damage Roof Repair in French Quarter, New Orleans
Creole townhouses built after the fires of 1788 and 1794, most of them slate or clay tile behind a parapet. Every exterior change here answers to the Vieux Carré Commission, and we plan the job around that from day one.
- Vieux Carré Commission jurisdiction
- Slate and clay tile, repaired not replaced
- Courtyard and gallery access planned
French Quarter building stock, and what it means for a roof
The Quarter is the oldest building stock in the city and almost none of it is original to the French colonial period — the great fires of 1788 and 1794 took most of that. What stands today is largely Spanish-influenced Creole townhouses raised after those fires: two to four stories of brick or stucco, built to the front property line, with courtyards behind and cast-iron galleries over the banquette.
Roofs here mix slate, clay tile and low-slope sections hidden behind parapets and party walls, often all on one building. That matters because the Vieux Carré Commission — which governs the Quarter under its own enabling legislation, separately from the rest of the city’s historic districts — treats what is visible from the street as a preservation question, not a contractor’s choice. Standing seam metal is generally not accepted as a substitute for an existing slate or tile roof here.
Why French Quarter 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.
Slipped and broken slate
Individual slates work loose long before the roof as a whole is finished. The correct answer on a Quarter roof is usually a matched replacement slate, not a tear-off.
Parapet and party-wall flashing
Buildings share walls on both sides. Water entering at a neighboring parapet shows up inside your top floor, which changes whose repair it actually is.
Hidden low-slope sections
Behind the visible pitched front there is often a flat rear over the service wing. It is the part nobody sees and the part that usually leaks first.
What hurricane damage actually looks like
Gulf Coast storm damage is a wind-uplift story. Most of it is invisible from the street, which is exactly why claims get underpaid.
Lifted but not missing
Wind breaks the seal strip and lifts a shingle without taking it away. It lies back down looking normal and lets water under from then on.
Ridge and rake loss
Uplift starts at the edges. Ridge caps and rake courses go first, and they are the hardest lines to see from ground level.
Displaced slate and tile
On historic roofs wind slips units rather than removing them. A handful of moved slates opens the underlayment to driven rain.
Flashing pulled open
Chimney, wall and valley flashing works loose under sustained wind load and stays open afterwards.
Debris strike
Live oak limbs are the usual culprit here. A strike can fracture decking without leaving an obvious hole in the covering.
Wind-driven rain intrusion
Water forced horizontally under courses and into vents, with no covering damage visible at all afterwards.
How the claim runs
- Inspect and document. Photographs of every damaged element, dated, with the damage mechanism described in writing.
- You file. The claim is yours to file — we give you the documentation to file it with.
- Adjuster meeting. We meet your adjuster on the roof and walk them through what we found, so the scope is agreed on the roof rather than argued afterwards.
- Repair and close out. The approved scope is carried out and documented for the file.
What we cannot do for you
We are not your insurer and we are not public adjusters. We cannot promise a claim outcome, tell you your policy covers something, or negotiate on your behalf. What we can do is document what the storm did, accurately and thoroughly, so the decision is made on evidence. Anyone promising you a guaranteed approval before they have been on the roof is telling you what you want to hear.
The season, and what it asks of a roof
Gulf Coast roof failure is a wind story, not a hail story. The damage that matters is uplift — seals broken, edges lifted, water driven under what is left.
The window for finding lifted edges, tired flashing and loose ridge caps while there is still time to fix them calmly and at a normal price.
Peak season. Demand spikes, good crews book out, and the roofs that get attention first are the ones already on somebody’s list.
Nobody credible puts a crew on a roof while it is still blowing. We take the call, log the address, and move the moment conditions allow.
Make safe, dry in, document for the claim, then diagnose properly in daylight. In that order, and not all in one visit.
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 Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, The Cabildo and the surrounding streets. If your address is in French Quarter, it is in the service area — there is no travel surcharge anywhere inside Orleans Parish.
Storm Damage Roof Repair near French Quarter
Everything else we do in French Quarter
Storm Damage Roof Repair in French Quarter — straight answers
Can you guarantee my insurance claim gets approved?
No, and anyone who does is telling you what you want to hear. We are not your insurer and we are not public adjusters. What we do is document what the storm actually did, thoroughly and with dated photographs, so the decision gets made on evidence rather than on a guess.
My roof looks fine from the street — can there still be storm damage?
Frequently, yes. Gulf Coast wind damage is mostly uplift: seals broken and shingles lifted then laid back down, ridge and rake courses started, flashing pulled open. Almost none of that is visible from ground level, which is exactly why this damage gets missed and claims get underpaid.
How soon after a storm should I have it looked at?
As soon as it is safe. Documentation is strongest close to the event, and an opening that is left through the next rain turns a roof claim into a roof-and-interior claim.
Does the Vieux Carré Commission have to approve my French Quarter roof?
If the work is visible — the slate or tile field, the ridge, coping, or anything facing the street — then yes, it goes through the Vieux Carré Commission, a separate body from the HDLC with its own authority under the Louisiana Constitution. A re-roofing permit from the Department of Safety and Permits is required as well, and historic-district properties take additional review time before that permit is issued. We build that time into the schedule rather than discovering it mid-job.
Storm Damage Roof Repair in French Quarter?
Call and we will get someone on the roof, then put what we find in writing.