Quick Summary

Age alone does not decide whether a 20 year old roof in Kenner needs replacing. Condition does. Big Easy Roofing inspects roofs across Kenner and Jefferson Parish and finds sound 20 year old roofs every season, alongside 12 year old roofs that failed early because of poor ventilation or a bad tear off. What makes 20 years the number people fixate on is that most asphalt shingles sold in south Louisiana carry a service life in that range, and Gulf humidity, UV load and hurricane cycling push them toward the short end. The decision should come from a written inspection of the deck, the flashing and the shingle surface, not from a date on a permit record.

Last Updated: September 2026

On this page

• Is a 20 year old roof too old?
• What tells you a Kenner roof needs replacing rather than repair?
• Does a roof replacement in Kenner need a permit?
• Is $30,000 too much for a roof?
• Is it worth timing a Kenner roof replacement before storm season?
• Frequently Asked Questions

Big Easy Roofing replaces roofs across Kenner, Metairie and the rest of Jefferson Parish, licensed by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, and pulls the City of Kenner permit as part of the job rather than leaving it with the homeowner. A 20 year old roof in Kenner is at the point where it earns an inspection, not an automatic tear off. Louisiana Revised Statute 37:2159.1 bars any roofing contractor from interpreting what a homeowner property insurance policy covers, so the useful thing a roofer can give you at year 20 is an itemised written assessment of the roof itself, which is what the rest of this page is about.

Is a 20 year old roof too old?

No, not by itself. Twenty years is the point at which an asphalt shingle roof in south Louisiana has usually spent its designed service life, so it moves from routine maintenance into annual assessment. Whether it needs replacing depends on granule loss, deck condition, flashing integrity and ventilation, all of which vary between two houses on the same Kenner street.

Two identical roofs installed in the same year in Kenner can be a decade apart in real condition, and the same spread shows up on asphalt shingle, which ages faster again in this climate. The variables that matter most here are attic ventilation, which determines how hot the underside of the deck runs through a Louisiana summer, and whether the previous installation went on over an existing layer. A roof that was installed over old shingles runs hotter underneath and hides deck rot from view, and it commonly reaches the end of its life earlier than one laid on a clean deck.

Shingle age also interacts with wind history rather than replacing it. Kenner sits on the East Bank of Jefferson Parish and has been inside the wind field of repeated named storms over the past twenty years, so a roof of that age has been through many uplift cycles at the eaves and ridge even when it has never had a visible failure.

What tells you a Kenner roof needs replacing rather than repair?

Replacement becomes the better option when failures are spread across the roof rather than concentrated in one area, when the deck has soft spots, or when the same leak has been patched more than once. Repair still makes sense for isolated storm damage on a roof whose shingle surface is otherwise sound and whose deck is dry.

The signals that push a 20 year old Kenner roof toward full replacement:

• Granules collecting in the gutters in quantity, leaving shingles with a dark, smooth, exposed asphalt surface
• Shingles that curl at the corners or lift at the tabs across multiple slopes rather than in one wind exposed corner
• Any softness underfoot on the deck, which means moisture has already been sitting in the sheathing
• Flashing at chimneys, valleys and wall junctions that has separated, rusted through or been repeatedly sealed with roofing cement
• A second leak appearing in a different room after an earlier repair, which usually means the underlayment has failed generally rather than locally
• Daylight visible through the roof boards from inside the attic

Isolated damage is a different conversation. Where a single slope has taken wind damage from a passing storm and the rest of the roof still holds granules and sits flat, a targeted repair is usually the honest recommendation even at year 20.

Does a roof replacement in Kenner need a permit?

Yes. A full roof replacement in Kenner needs a permit and an inspection, and that permit comes from the city itself rather than from Jefferson Parish. Kenner is an incorporated city running its own permitting office, while neighbouring Metairie is unincorporated and goes through the parish instead.

That distinction catches out homeowners and a fair number of contractors, because the two places sit ten minutes apart and look like one continuous suburb from the street.

The practical difference between the two jurisdictions, both inside Jefferson Parish:

Louisiana also regulates who may carry out the work: home improvement projects at or above $7,500 require the contractor to be registered with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, and residential work at or above $50,000 requires a full residential contractor licence. A full roof replacement usually clears the $7,500 mark, so the contractor registration and the city permit are both worth confirming in writing before a crew starts a tear off.

Is $30,000 too much for a roof?

It depends on square footage, pitch, layers to be removed, deck repair and material, so no honest figure exists without a survey. What a Kenner homeowner should expect instead is an itemised written estimate, because Louisiana Revised Statute 37:2159.1 makes it a prohibited act to authorise repairs without one.

The statute wording is specific. It bars a contractor from providing an insured with an agreement authorising repairs without a good faith estimate of the itemised and detailed costs of services and materials.

That statutory requirement is the most useful consumer protection in the whole process and almost nobody mentions it. An estimate that reads as a single lump sum with no breakdown of tear off, decking, underlayment, material and flashing is not what the law contemplates. The same statute is explicit that a contractor does not fall foul of the rule simply because the final cost ends up differing from the first estimate once an insurer has adjusted a claim, so an itemised number up front costs the homeowner nothing in flexibility later.

Where the figure genuinely moves is the upgrade decision. A roof built to the FORTIFIED standard set by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety costs more than a standard installation, and Louisiana now attaches real money to that choice through the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program grant and a state income tax credit, which is set out in our explainer on what the FORTIFIED standard actually requires.

Is it worth timing a Kenner roof replacement before storm season?

Yes, and the reason is scheduling rather than weather. A roof replaced before a named storm is a planned job with material availability and a chosen crew. The same roof replaced afterwards competes with every other damaged property in Jefferson Parish for the same labour and the same supply, and the wait is measured in weeks.

The sequence that works for a 20 year old Kenner roof:

1. Book an inspection and get the condition written down, including deck and flashing, not just a surface opinion
2. If the roof has life left, correct the flashing and ventilation now, because those are what usually kill the remaining years
3. If it does not, decide on material and whether the FORTIFIED upgrade is worth it before the quote is finalised
4. Have the contractor confirm the City of Kenner permit is being pulled and by whom
5. Book a wind mitigation inspection after the work, so the finished roof is documented for your insurer

Homeowners across Kenner and the surrounding East Bank communities tend to make this decision in the spring, which is also when scheduling is easiest. Waiting until a storm is named turns a choice into an emergency, and the work done under those conditions is rarely the work anyone would have picked.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find out how old my roof actually is?

Permit records held by the City of Kenner Inspection and Code Enforcement Department may help establish when a roofing permit was last pulled on the address, which is often the best starting point for a homeowner who did not own the house at the time, though records can be incomplete or predate the actual installation.

Does a 20 year old roof have to be replaced all at once?

No. Where damage is confined to one slope and the deck is dry a repair is legitimate, and a roof at that age can often be given several more years by correcting attic ventilation and failed flashing instead.

Is a roof that was installed over an older layer worse at 20 years?

Usually yes, because the second layer holds heat against the deck and conceals rot, so a layered roof in Kenner often reaches the end of its service life earlier than a roof that was torn off to the deck.

Who pulls the permit for a roof replacement in Kenner?

Big Easy Roofing pulls the City of Kenner permit as part of the job, and homeowners in Kenner should be cautious of any contractor who asks them to apply for it themselves.

Does replacing an old roof qualify for the Louisiana Fortify Homes grant?

Only if the new roof is built and certified to the FORTIFIED standard set by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, and grant funding is awarded through a Louisiana Department of Insurance process rather than applied automatically to any replacement.

Can a roofer tell me whether my insurance will pay for the replacement?

No. Louisiana Revised Statute 37:2159.1 prohibits a roofing contractor from interpreting the coverage provisions of a homeowner property insurance policy, so questions about what a policy pays belong with the insurer, the agent or a licensed public adjuster.

How long does a full roof replacement take in Kenner?

Many single family homes are finished within a few days once material is on site, though roof size, how much decking has to be replaced, weather and inspection scheduling all move that, so the timeline belongs in the written estimate rather than in a general rule.

A 20 year old roof deserves an answer based on what is actually happening on the deck. Call Big Easy Roofing at 504-800-8196 to book an inspection in Kenner and get the condition written down before you commit to anything. You can book that inspection without committing to any work. The team handles licensed full roof replacement work across Jefferson Parish, pulls the City of Kenner permit, and will say plainly when a roof has years left in it.

Written by the Big Easy Roofing team, a Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors licensed roofing company working across Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and St. John the Baptist parishes. The crew has replaced roofs in Kenner through the post Katrina rebuild and the Ida recovery, and has filed permits through the City of Kenner office on 18th Street for long enough to know which questions the inspector will ask.