FORTIFIED Roofing in Kenner, LA
Kenner roofs have taken hurricane winds from more than one direction, and hail there has been reported to be baseball-sized. A FORTIFIED roof here comes down to two choices: wind details built alike on every edge, and whether to add the optional hail supplement.
The recent hurricanes did not leave Kenner unscathed, and in April 2015 the city's hail reports reached baseball size.
That record splits a Kenner FORTIFIED decision in two. The wind side of the standard covers the whole roof, so each eave and rake gets the same treatment. The hail side is an add-on you choose or skip, and it deserves its own thought. Epic Roofing builds both, and each one is photographed for the evaluator as it goes on.
Kenner's Shifting Hurricane Winds and Its Baseball Hail
Set the readings from the airport station, inside the city limits, side by side. Zeta's top gust on October 28, 2020, came from the north-northwest. Ida's, on August 29, 2021, came out of the south-southeast after its strongest sustained wind blew from the east, in a station record flagged incomplete. On September 11, 2024, Francine gave the station the highest land-gust reading the weather service listed for that storm.
Any eave or rake on a Kenner house can end up as the windward edge. On a FORTIFIED build here, there is no back side to go light on.
Hail is the other half of the record. The April 15, 2015 report, a photo sent to a TV station, put Kenner's stones at baseball size. Every Kenner report logged since has been smaller; the latest, in March 2025, reported quarter-size hail near the airport.
Two Decisions on a Kenner FORTIFIED Roof: Wind Details and the Hail Supplement
The first decision is made the moment you choose FORTIFIED roofing. Its wind details apply across the roof: the deck nailed to a heavier schedule and sealed, drip edge lapped over the underlayment, and the starting row of shingles bonded down along the eaves and rakes. There is no version of the standard that treats the street side as more important than the yard side. That suits the Kenner record above.
The second decision is optional and belongs to you. FORTIFIED offers a hail supplement that calls for stronger shingles, rated in IBHS testing to withstand hail up to 2 inches in diameter. The baseball-size Kenner report was bigger than that. So the supplement is aimed at golf-ball hail and smaller, the range of every Kenner report since, and no rating promises an unmarked roof, least of all against a stone that size. After that storm, some owners will want it; others will decide the base standard is enough.
Two practical points follow. The supplement must be settled before shingles are ordered, since it changes the product applied to the roof. And insurers treat a hail-rated FORTIFIED roof in different ways, so ask your insurer what applies to your policy.
Choosing the Hail Line on a Kenner Roof
Does a FORTIFIED designation address hail on its own?
No. The base designation is built around wind and water: keeping the roof fastened down in high winds and the deck sealed if the covering is lost. Hail enters the picture only through the optional supplement and its impact-rated shingles.
Since the 2015 report was bigger than the two-inch rating, why add the supplement at all?
A rating describes what the shingle withstood in testing. The Kenner hail reports we know of since 2015 topped out at about an inch and a half, under that line, and the supplement is meant for storms like those. It is your call, and the estimate prices the supplement on its own line.
Kenner permits its own roofs. Does that change anything about going FORTIFIED?
The permit comes from the city's inspection department instead of the parish, and we handle it. The FORTIFIED steps are the same either way: an IBHS evaluator reviews the photo file and the finished roof, and IBHS issues the designation or holds it back.
Was Kenner part of the grant's Round 9?
Yes. Kenner is located in Jefferson Parish, and Jefferson was eligible for Round 9. Grants range up to $10,000 and go to registered households selected at random; the state posts each round on fortifyhomes.la.gov. Nothing begun before program approval can be funded, and the program tells owners to sit tight until they are picked, then call a contractor. Picked owners choose from the program's approved list, and Epic is on it. A Kenner owner can also build FORTIFIED without a grant.
With or without the hail supplement, what does a Kenner FORTIFIED reroof cost?
Start from the base reroof, the same job as a standard Kenner roof replacement, somewhere between $13,000 and $23,000 when a Kenner house covers 2,000 to 2,500 square feet; pitch, valley count, and whatever decking tear-off turns up set the figure. The FORTIFIED work and, if you choose it, the hail supplement appear as their own lines. You pay no deposit for the estimate, and a replacement's 5-year workmanship warranty passes to a buyer. With GoodLeap or Hearth financing, the replacement, its FORTIFIED upgrades and a Class 4 impact-resistant shingle can be paid over time, beginning with a soft-pull pre-qualification on request that does not touch your credit.
Hail damaged our roof. Can the replacement be built FORTIFIED?
Yes, if the whole roof is coming off; the standard applies to a full reroof, not a patch, and scattered strikes go to hail damage roof repair in Kenner instead. If a claim is open, what the insurer pays for is between you and your carrier, so ask your agent. We supply photos and a written scope and meet the adjuster if you invite us. Louisiana RS 22:1684 bars roofers from serving as public adjusters, so we do not negotiate or settle claims.
Kenner Photos From Every Side
The evaluator reads much of the roof through photos taken while each layer is still exposed. On a Kenner job, four items carry the weight of the wind-and-hail decision:
Each slope, from every side:
Drone photos cover every slope, so you and the evaluator can see the same details went on each one.
Drip edge over the underlayment:
One shot per eave and rake, close enough to count the nails.
The bonded starter:
The starter at the eaves and rakes, adhered as the standard requires, photographed before the first course goes over it.
Shingle labels:
The packaging and rating label for the shingle that went on, including the impact-rated product when the hail supplement is part of the job.
Deck nailing and the sealed seams are photographed at tear-off too. The crew that installs those layers works for Epic, as it does across our Kenner roofing work, not for a subcontractor, and the same people take the photos. Behind them are Joey Noto's three IBHS FORTIFIED credentials, state clearance to build grant-funded Fortify Homes roofs, and a record of more than 30 FORTIFIED roofs.
If a storm has already opened the roof, Kenner roof repair or storm damage roof repair in Kenner can keep the house dry until the full FORTIFIED reroof is scheduled.
Settle the Wind Work, Then Decide on Hail
Ring 225-396-8122 and book the free estimate. Within 2–5 business days, a written estimate arrives that prices the base reroof, the FORTIFIED wind items, and the hail supplement on separate lines. Read the hail line last; it is the one you can leave off.
137 Girod Street, Suite 3, Mandeville, LA 70448
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