Roof repair for Hillcrest's historic bungalows and Tudor homes

Hillcrest started as part of the town of Pulaski Heights, platted in additions between 1890 and 1920 and annexed by Little Rock in 1916. Most homes date from about 1890 to 1940, and the streets off Kavanaugh Boulevard, Beechwood and Woodlawn read like a style guide: Queen Anne, Foursquare, Prairie, Craftsman bungalows and English Revival period houses.

Allsopp Park and its wooded ravines run along the northern ridge, and the hills give the neighborhood its character. They also give it tall hardwoods over almost every roof, steep driveways that complicate material drops, and narrow side yards where ladders barely fit.

We plan Hillcrest jobs around those realities. Shingles often get carried in by hand, dumpsters go where they will not block a neighbor, and we protect old plaster ceilings from the vibration of tear off as best we can.

Under most Hillcrest shingles is solid board decking, the 1 by 6 or 1 by 8 planks used before plywood. Those boards are often in good shape, but they have been nailed through by three or four roofs, and the gaps between them can be wide enough that new nails miss wood.

During a tear off we replace split or rotted boards, and where the gaps are bad we sheath over the planks with plywood so the new shingles have a solid base. That adds cost, typically $1,450 to $3,800 on a full bungalow, but it keeps nails holding through the next spring wind season.

Some homes still have original slate or traces of wood shingles under later layers. When we find them, we talk with you about what is worth saving.

Older homes here also tend to have little attic ventilation, since many were built before ridge vents existed. Adding modest intake and exhaust during a reroof helps the new shingles last without changing how the house looks from the street.

Craftsman porches are the most common source of Hillcrest leak calls. Many porch roofs are close to flat, tied into the main roof with a short transition, and were covered in roll roofing or asphalt shingles that were never meant for that low a slope.

• Low slope porch roofs that need modified bitumen or a membrane instead of shingles
• Shed dormer cheek walls where siding meets the roof
• Brick chimneys with crumbling mortar and caulk patched flashing
• Box gutters and built in gutters hidden behind the trim
• Valleys packed with oak leaves from overhanging trees

Hillcrest is on the National Register of Historic Places, listed in 1990 with a boundary increase in 1992. That listing is an honor, not a set of rules, and on its own it does not restrict roofing materials or colors.

The neighborhood does have the Hillcrest Design Overlay District, a zoning overlay administered by city planning staff. It focuses on things like floor area, setbacks and parking rather than historic materials, and routine maintenance is exempt. A straight reroof normally does not trigger it, but adding a dormer or raising a roofline could, so we check with the city before any change to the roof's shape.

If you want the roof to look right for the house, we can suggest shingle colors and profiles that suit a 1920s bungalow or a Tudor gable.

Big oaks over small houses make storm season tense here. Straight line winds bring limbs down onto porch roofs and ridge lines, and a single branch can crack old rafters that were never sized for that kind of load. When it happens, we tarp the opening that day and photograph everything before cleanup.

Between storms, a little upkeep goes a long way. Clearing valleys and gutters every fall, trimming branches back from the roof edge and resealing exposed nail heads all help an older roof get through the next March to June stretch without a leak.

We can do a roof maintenance visit each year or two and send you photos with notes, so you know what is coming before it becomes a ceiling stain.