Historic Roof Restoration in Baton Rouge, LA
In Spanish Town and Drehr Place, a visible roof change must be submitted to the Historic Preservation Commission before the building permit. In the city's other historic districts, it does not. Our scope starts by determining which type of district the house is in.
Baton Rouge has several National Register historic districts, and an owner in any of them could reasonably assume that a new roof needs the commission's blessing. Two of them work that way: Spanish Town and Drehr Place, the local historic districts. There, the roof on a contributing house is a public-review item. In Beauregard Town, Roseland Terrace or Kleinert Terrace, the National Register listing by itself puts no local hearing between a reroof and the permit counter.
Is the House Under Local Review?
How can I tell whether my house sits in a local district or is only on the National Register?
The Planning Commission office administers the Historic Preservation Commission and can tell you whether your address is under review and whether the house is contributing.
In Spanish Town, does replacing worn shingles with the same shingle need a certificate?
The certificate covers exterior changes visible from a public street, with an exception for ordinary maintenance and repair. Whether a matching reroof falls inside that exception is for Planning Commission staff to say, so ask them before the job is booked.
Could a Drehr Place house switch from shingles to standing-seam metal or composite slate?
Treat that as a change of material, which means a full application. Drehr Place has its own guidelines, and the commission reviews against them. Our scope specifies the maker, profile, and color for the file, and the guidelines expect samples or brochures to accompany it. Approval rests with the commission.
Our Beauregard Town House is over a century old. Who reviews the new roof?
Beyond the regular building permit, nobody at the commission level under the current designations, unless the building is itself a local landmark; Planning can confirm that for your address. You choose the material, and we can still restore the roof in kind if you want the house to read as it did.
Is there a way to test an idea with the commission before final drawings?
Yes. An Opinion of Appropriateness reviews the general concept from a description, photos, and sketches. It suits a larger roof change, such as a material switch on a contributing house, before money is spent on a full specification.
Will Epic file my historic tax-credit application?
No. Louisiana's historic tax credit programs are administered by the State Historic Preservation Office, and either the owner or a consultant applies. Our dated photos and written scope can be included in that application.
Two Local Districts, and the Rest Without Local Review
The city-parish adopted its Historic Preservation Ordinance in August 2004. That ordinance created the Historic Preservation Commission, seven members appointed by the Metro Council, and placed its administration in the Planning Commission office. The commission reviews properties within a historic zoning overlay and judges each application against the architectural guidelines for that district.
Spanish Town is the older of the two local districts. It was laid out in 1805, making it the city's oldest neighborhood, and it was added to the National Register in 1978. Drehr Place is the other, with its own guidebook. The other National Register districts include Beauregard Town, Roseland Terrace, Main Street, LSU, Kleinert Terrace and Southern University. There, unless the building is itself a designated local landmark, the listing honors the neighborhood without adding a commission step to a homeowner's roof.
Beauregard Town draws the most questions. It was added to the National Register in 1980, and when the Planning Commission voted to designate it a local district in 2022, the bid was denied. Designations can change, so ask the Planning Commission office about the current status of your address before a scope is written.
Historic roofs in Baton Rouge are therefore split into two kinds of jobs. In Spanish Town and Drehr Place, the scope has to be something you can submit. Elsewhere, restoring in kind is a choice you make for the house or for a tax-credit file, and we scope it either way.
The Certificate, the Hearing and the Building Permit
For a roof that requires a certificate, the order is set by the ordinance: only drawings approved by the commission may go to the Building Official during permit review. A Spanish Town or Drehr Place job with us runs in four steps.
Record the roof as it stands:
We inspect by drone and from the attic, photograph each slope, and note the roof's form: slope, height, orientation to the street, dormers, cornices, brackets and chimneys. The Spanish Town guidelines ask owners to keep all of those.
Build the application:
The guidelines ask for type, style, color, manufacturers' names and materials, backed by samples, catalogs or brochures, and they warn that thin applications can delay review. Our written scope names each product, its maker and color, ready for you to file with the Planning Commission office by that meeting's deadline.
The public hearing:
The applicant gives a short overview, the public may comment, and the commission approves, denies, or defers. Extra information on a deferred file is due at least a week before the next meeting. If the commission says no, the file can go back with changes, or to the Metro Council on appeal within ten days.
Permit, then tear-off:
With the certificate issued, we apply for the building permit on the approved drawings and set the start date. Jumping the order is a violation: the ordinance sets fines of not less than $100 per offense, and each day the violation continues counts as a separate one.
On the roof itself, the Spanish Town guidelines require that the character of the original roofing and its details be preserved, that original chimneys remain on the house, and that rooftop utilities be hidden from the street or screened. A reroof there keeps a chimney the house no longer uses, and we plan vent and equipment placement on the slopes the street cannot see, where the framing allows.
High Wind Over Spanish Town or Drehr Place
Storm damage does not wait for a hearing date, and the Spanish Town guidelines allow for that. Planning Commission staff may approve a material change to a contributing house without a certificate when the repair is an emergency caused by fire, extreme weather or an unforeseen accident. Staff may also approve alterations and maintenance on non-contributing buildings in a district, as long as the work fits the district's mass, scale and materials.
So our first visit after a storm is about holding the roof and building the record staff will want to see. We cover the opening, photograph the damage with dates attached, and note what material was there and how it was laid, so that an emergency request describes the damage and the permanent repair can match what was lost. Storm visits are scheduled during business hours. Before the permanent work starts, call Planning; staff decides what the emergency path covers.
Where the damage reaches the decking or framing, it becomes storm damage roof repair in Baton Rouge, and the repair is sized to the depth of the damage. A repair of that size on a district house still goes back through staff or the commission, depending on what changes.
Free Inspections for Older Baton Rouge Roofs
Book a free inspection of a Baton Rouge historic roof by calling 225-396-8122. The written estimate takes 2–5 business days, nothing is owed at the consultation, and a full replacement includes our 5-year transferable workmanship warranty. For houses outside the two local districts, roof replacement in Baton Rouge and roof repair in Baton Rouge cover the standard work. The same salvage-first approach runs through all our historic roof restoration work, and any other job in the city falls under Baton Rouge roofing.
137 Girod Street, Suite 3, Mandeville, LA 70448