Roof Replacement in the Downtown Louisville, Ohio Historic District
The oldest houses in Louisville, Ohio, stand within a few blocks of Main and Chapel. Their roofs are steeper, more cut up and more layered than anything else in town, and replacing one takes a different plan than a ranch roof does.
Quick facts
- Where
- The blocks around Main Street and Chapel Street: Gorgas, Broad, Mill, Walnut, Lincoln Avenue and the courts between them.
- Housing era
- Late 1800s through the 1930s. Property data puts the median house on Gorgas Street at 1923.
- Typical roofs
- Steep gables, cross gables, dormers, porch roofs and brick chimneys over board decking.
- Permit office
- City of Louisville Planning and Zoning, 215 South Mill Street, inside the same few blocks.
Where is the Louisville Historic District?
The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. The register describes it as roughly bounded by Chapel Street, Lincoln Court, St. Louis Court, Nickelplate Street, East Gorgas Street and Center Court, and it lists its styles as Mid-19th Century Revival and Late Victorian. It takes in the downtown blocks along East Main Street, close to the Umbrella Alley art installation. St. Louis Church at 300 North Chapel Street, completed in 1870, carries its own register listing from 1979.
The houses this page is about sit on the residential streets in and just past that core: East and West Gorgas, Broad Street, Mill Street, Walnut Street, Lincoln Avenue and Washington Avenue. Louisville was settled in 1834 and became a village in 1872, and census estimates still count about 790 homes in the city that were built before 1940. Many of them are on these streets.
What kind of roofs do these older Louisville houses have?
A house from 1900 or 1920 was framed for a roof that sheds snow fast. Expect a main gable somewhere between steep and very steep, often crossed by a second gable, with one or two dormers lighting an upstairs bedroom. The front porch has its own roof at a much lower pitch. There is at least one brick chimney, and it usually comes through the slope, not the ridge.
Under the shingles, houses of this age were decked with sawn boards laid side by side, not plywood. The boards may have gaps between them, and a century of nail holes. On top, there are commonly two layers of asphalt shingles, because for decades the cheap way to reroof was to nail a new layer over the old one.
What if the house still has slate?
Then this is the wrong service. Only asphalt shingle roofs are handled through this site. An original slate roof in fair condition is worth showing to a slate specialist before anyone talks about tearing it off.
What makes a tear-off different on a downtown lot?
- Pitch. A steep roof cannot be walked. It is worked from roof jacks and planks, with every bundle handed up, so it takes longer per square than a ranch.
- Board decking. Each board is checked once the shingles are off. Split or rotted ones are replaced. Where the gaps are too wide to hold nails, the deck may need sheathing laid over it. Ask how any quote prices that, since nobody can see the boards beforehand.
- Two layers. Twice the weight comes off, and it has to go somewhere.
- Tight access. Lots are narrow and many back onto the service lanes the city calls courts: Center Court, Lincoln Court, St. Louis Court, Bauman Court, Beucler Court and Everhard Court. Where the dumpster sits and how shingles reach the roof are settled before install day.
- Dormers and valleys. Every dormer adds two short valleys and two walls of step flashing. Those joints are where an old roof leaks first, and they get new metal, not reused metal.
- Finished attics. A bedroom under the rafters leaves little room for insulation or airflow, which is a recipe for ice dams. Membrane at the eaves matters more here than anywhere.
Chimney work has its own page: skylight and chimney flashing in Louisville.
Do trees matter on these blocks?
Old lots tend to have old trees. Where a maple or an oak has grown up over the house, the shaded slope stays wet after rain, moss takes hold between the tabs and seeds pack into the dormer valleys. Trimming branches back from the roof before a replacement is cheap protection for the new shingles. The inspection photos will show which slope the shade is aging.
Who issues roof permits downtown?
The City of Louisville. Planning and Zoning works out of City Hall at 215 South Mill Street, a short walk from most of these houses, and the city's permit requirements sheet lists a building permit for reroofing a one, two or three family home. Contractors also have to register with the city before a permit is issued.
A National Register listing, by itself, does not limit what a private owner does to a private house with private money. Whether any local rule applies to your address is a question for Planning and Zoning, and it is worth asking before you choose a shingle color.
For the color question, the architectural shingles page has a few plain rules. For a single leak on a roof with life left, see roof repair in Louisville. To find out where an old roof stands, start with a free roof inspection.
Questions about roofs on older Louisville houses
Does living in the historic district limit which shingles I can use?
The National Register listing alone does not restrict a private owner's choice of roofing. Ask Louisville Planning and Zoning at 215 South Mill Street whether any local rule covers your address before the color is ordered.
Can new shingles be nailed to old board decking?
Yes, when the boards are sound, tight and thick enough to hold a nail. Boards that are split, rotted or widely gapped are replaced or covered with sheathing first. That call is made once the old roof is off and every board can be seen.
Own one of Louisville's older houses?
Have the roof and attic photographed before winter finds the weak spot. The inspection is free.