Roofing in Midtown Mobile, where the roofs are steep and the oaks are older than the houses
Oakleigh, Old Dauphin Way, Leinkauf and the streets off Government and Dauphin: hips, dormers, second-floor walls, porches, chimneys, and a live oak over every one of them. Midtown roofs take more care than a subdivision ranch, and we work here every week.
Midtown is the hardest roofing in the city and the most satisfying. The houses date from the 1890s to the 1950s: Queen Annes and Craftsman bungalows with 10/12 and 12/12 pitches, hipped roofs cut by dormers, metal porch roofs tying into shingle slopes, brick chimneys with crumbling crowns, and decking that's often the original 1-by-6 plank, sometimes with a layer of old shingles still under the current one. Much of Midtown sits inside locally designated historic districts, the Oakleigh Garden District, Old Dauphin Way, Leinkauf, Ashland Place and their neighbors, where exterior changes visible from the street go through the Architectural Review Board; like-for-like shingle replacement is routine, but a change to metal, a color shift or a new dormer needs the Board's sign-off and we handle that paperwork before the tear-off is scheduled. The City of Mobile building department (251-208-7696) handles the permit inside the city.
The weather here is the same as everywhere in Mobile, 66 inches of rain and a hurricane every few years, but the trees are not. Midtown's live oaks drop tassels for weeks every spring into gutters that are often the original half-round galvanized, and the canopy keeps north slopes damp enough that algae streaking is universal. After Sally, these were the streets with limbs through porch roofs and oak branches across hips, and the claims took longer because so much of the damage was tangled up with a tree. We replace plank decking with new sheathing where it's gone, seal and re-nail the deck to the FORTIFIED standard (the $10,000 Strengthen Alabama Homes grant applies to a Midtown primary residence like any other in Mobile County), and we flash the dormers, sidewalls and chimneys with formed metal rather than the caulk that the last three roofers used. See FORTIFIED roof and the grant.
What we do in Midtown Mobile
Steep, cut-up roofs
Staged and harnessed for 10/12 and 12/12 pitches, dormers, hips and valleys, priced for the cutting and the time.
Historic district paperwork
Architectural Review Board approval handled for visible changes; like-for-like shingle work scheduled without delay.
Plank decking and old layers
Original 1-by-6 decking and buried layers found at tear-off, replaced or re-sheathed, and itemized.
Chimney and sidewall flashing
Step and counter flashing, crickets and new crowns on the brick chimneys, done in metal.
Gutters for oak tassels
Six-inch gutters with micro-mesh guards, or half-round where the house calls for it.
Hurricane repair and tarping
Limbs through porch roofs and stripped hips tarped the night of the storm and documented for the claim.
Streets and areas we cover
- Government Street
- Dauphin Street
- Old Shell Road
- Oakleigh Garden District
- Old Dauphin Way
- Leinkauf
- Ashland Place
- De Tonti Square
- Church Street East
- Spring Hill Avenue
- Florida Street
- Catherine Street
- Broad Street
- Monroe Park and the Loop
Roofing services in Midtown Mobile
- Roof repair and leaks, inspections, gutters and guards, attic ventilation
- Hurricane and wind damage, 24/7 emergency tarping, insurance claims
- Roof replacement, FORTIFIED roofs and the $10,000 grant, architectural shingles, metal roofing, commercial roofing
Questions from Midtown Mobile homeowners
Do I need approval to re-roof in a historic district?
For like-for-like shingles, usually just the building permit. For a visible change in material, color or shape (shingle to metal, a new dormer), the Architectural Review Board has to approve it. We prepare the application and have done it many times.
Can an old Midtown house be FORTIFIED?
Yes. The deck gets re-nailed and sealed at the tear-off like any other roof, old plank decking is re-sheathed where it's too gapped to seal, and the evaluator inspects at the deck stage. The grant covers a Mobile County primary residence of any age.
Why do Midtown roofs cost more?
Pitch, complexity and decking. A steep cut-up roof takes twice the labor of a ranch, and a plank deck with a buried layer means more tear-off and more sheathing. We itemize every line so you can see where the money goes.
What about the oak tassels and leaves?
Six-inch gutters with micro-mesh guards handle them, and we check the roof valleys where tassels mat up and hold water. See gutters.
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