Do I need a permit to replace my roof in Gretna?

Yes. Louisiana requires any municipality or parish that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing, and that requirement is now carried at La. R.S. 37:3737(I). Whether you apply to the City of Gretna or to Jefferson Parish depends on whether the property sits inside the city limits.

My address says Gretna, so is it the city that permits my roof?

Not necessarily. The Gretna postal area covers addresses both inside and outside the city boundary, and the unincorporated part is permitted by Jefferson Parish. It is worth settling before an application is made, because the two offices handle different intake and different schedules.

Do I need a Certificate of Appropriateness for my roof?

If the property is in the Gretna local historic district and the work is visible from public right of way, then yes. The Historic District Commission reviews the change and issues the Certificate of Appropriateness before the building permit is issued. Whether your address is in the district is a question for the City rather than a map guess.

What does a roof replacement cost in Gretna?

A full asphalt replacement is estimated at $7,000 to $18,000, moved by size, pitch and how many layers have to come off. Standing seam metal and complex roofs with several valleys run higher. Every figure here is an estimate and a written price follows a measurement.

Can I get the Fortify Homes grant in Gretna?

Jefferson Parish is on the programme parish list, so you can enter. Grants are awarded by lottery and are subject to funding, worth up to $10,000 toward a roof built to the FORTIFIED standard. Check your own address on the programme map rather than relying on the parish name, and treat it as something to register for rather than something to count on.

How long does a replacement take?

Most single family roofs are a day of work once the crew is on site. The calendar is usually set by the historic district approval and the building permit rather than the roofing, which is why the paperwork steps sit at the front of the process.

Does the CoA still apply if I am replacing like for like?

Ask the Historic District Commission. A like for like replacement in the same colour and the same profile raises fewer questions than a change does, but the CoA rule is written around visibility from public right of way and the answer for a specific address comes from the City.

Home/Service Areas/Louisiana/Gretna/Roof Replacement

Roof Replacement in Gretna, LA

Big Easy Roofing replaces roofs across Gretna and Jefferson Parish, with the price written down before tear off begins. The first thing we settle is which office issues the permit, because a Gretna mailing address on its own does not tell you whether the property sits inside the city limits, and the historic district on top of that catches a lot more residential work than most homeowners expect.

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Service

City

$7k to $18kEstimated full replacement

740 2nd StreetCity of Gretna Building Department

Up to $10kFortify Homes grant, by lottery

One dayMost single family roofs

Gretna roof replacement at a glance

A full asphalt replacement on a Gretna house is estimated at $7,000 to $18,000. Before that is priced, two questions get settled: which office issues the permit for the address, and whether the property sits in a historic district that adds a Certificate of Appropriateness requirement on top of the building permit.

Who issues the permit

City or parish, by address

The City of Gretna permits inside the city limits. Jefferson Parish permits the unincorporated area. A Gretna postal address may sit either side of that line, so the boundary decides it rather than the postmark.

City Building Department

740 2nd Street

The City of Gretna Building Department is at 740 2nd Street, Gretna LA 70053, on 504.363.1563. Intake runs through the mgoconnect.org online portal.

Historic district catches more work than people expect

Certificate of Appropriateness

Gretna's Historic District Commission reviews any exterior change visible from public right of way, which on a west bank street is broadly interpreted. A reroof visible from the street sits inside that rule.

The grant is real here

Jefferson Parish is eligible

Jefferson Parish is one of the parishes listed for the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program. It is a lottery, not an entitlement, and it is worth up to $10,000 toward a roof built to the FORTIFIED standard.

State law is compulsory here too

Permit and inspection required

Louisiana requires any municipality or parish that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing, at La. R.S. 37:3737(I). Gretna and Jefferson Parish both issue permits, so the reroof paperwork is required either route.

The published fee for a residential reroof

Confirm at the office

The City of Gretna Building Department page does not publish a standalone residential reroof fee schedule that could be verified today. The current figure is confirmed when the permit is pulled.

Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Cost and timescale depend on size, pitch, access, weather, materials and whatever is found once work starts, so call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 and we will come out and give you an estimate for your own roof.

Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Cost and timescale depend on size, pitch, access, weather, materials and whatever is found once the covering is off, so call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 for a written price.

Four coverings, and what each is really buying you

The covering choice on a Gretna house is mostly a question of how long you intend to hold the property, and secondarily how it handles wind exposure on the west bank of the Mississippi. The table sets out the estimated installed range and the realistic service life in this climate rather than the figure on the wrapper.

Covering	Estimated installed	Realistic service life	What decides it
Architectural asphalt shingle	$7,000 to $18,000	20 to 30 years	The default, and what the FORTIFIED standard is usually written around
Three tab asphalt shingle	$6,000 to $12,000	15 to 20 years	Cheaper now, and the shortest life of the four in this heat
Standing seam metal	$18,000 to $40,000	40 to 60 years	The longest life and the highest number, for a long hold
Modified bitumen on a low slope	$9,000 to $20,000	15 to 25 years	Only where part of the roof is genuinely low slope

Every figure is an estimate and none of it is a quote. Pitch, layers, decking condition and access move all four bands. Call for a written price on your Gretna roof.

The Gretna paperwork has two questions, not one

Two things decide a reroof paperwork route in Gretna. The state law that made the permit and inspection compulsory, which applies wherever the house sits, and whether the property is inside the local historic district, which is a separate approval from a separate department and gets settled first.

The permit itself is not optional

Statewide since 2025

Louisiana requires any municipality or parish that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing. The requirement came in through Act 239 of 2025 and is now carried at La. R.S. 37:3737(I). Gretna issues permits, and so does Jefferson Parish, so a reroof is permitted either way.

Inside the city limits

City of Gretna

The City of Gretna Building Department at 740 2nd Street handles permits inside the limits, on 504.363.1563. Applications and payments run through mgoconnect.org.

Outside the city limits

Jefferson Parish

Jefferson Parish handles permits for the unincorporated area. The parish schedule documents a flat $50 residential re roofing permit, which is one of the shorter routes in the region and confirmed at the parish counter when the application is submitted.

Historic District Commission

Visible from the street is the test

Gretna's Historic District Commission reviews exterior changes visible from public right of way, receives a Certificate of Appropriateness, and the CoA is on file before the building permit is issued. That catches a reroof that changes profile or colour, not just an addition or a facade change.

The sequence that saves you a start over

Where the address is in the historic district, the Certificate of Appropriateness is settled before the building permit is applied for. Attempting the building permit first is how a job stops mid application and starts again from a different desk.

A like for like replacement, same profile and same colour, raises fewer questions at the Historic District Commission than a change of covering does, so any change is worth flagging at the start rather than after the paperwork is filed.

Where the grant fits, and where it does not

Jefferson Parish is on the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program parish list, so a Gretna homeowner can enter. The programme awards grants by lottery, subject to funding, worth up to $10,000 toward a roof built to the FORTIFIED standard.

It is not something a roofer can promise you, and it is not a discount on our price. Treat it as a possibility to register for, and check your own address on the programme map rather than relying on the parish name.

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What the west bank does to a roof here

Gretna sits on the west bank of the Mississippi, close to the river and exposed to storm tracks that come off the Gulf without the bulk of Orleans Parish between them and the property. Three things follow from that, and they change what is worth paying for on a replacement rather than accepting the wrapper spec.

Wind exposure is the design constraint here

A Gretna house on an open corner sees higher effective wind speeds than a comparable street in a denser part of the metro. The covering brand matters less than how it is fastened, which is why the underlayment, the starter course and the ridge cap detail sit inside a written scope rather than being taken as read.

The FORTIFIED standard is written around exactly that: a sealed roof deck, an enhanced fastening pattern and edge details. If the grant is being considered, those items are built in rather than added.

Heat and rain age the covering, and the ventilation slows both

Louisiana normals put the New Orleans area at roughly 63.5 inches of rain a year per NOAA. That is a lot of water, and it is why a covering fails at the details before it fails as a surface: flashings, valleys and boots do the work.

The other half of the ageing story is heat, and ventilation is the underpriced part of the fix. A sealed attic on a hot roof takes years off a shingle. Ventilation is on the scope rather than left as an option.

The historic district catches more replacements than repairs

A repair often does not change how the roof looks and can slip past the Historic District Commission on that basis. A full replacement is more likely to trigger review because a change of colour or profile is what the CoA rule was written to catch.

That is a paperwork step, not a design constraint. Like for like keeps it short, and a planned change of appearance is raised at the start so it is decided rather than discovered.

Big Easy Roofing Process

Four steps, and the first two are paperwork rather than measurement, because in Gretna the historic district question and the city limit question both decide the route before the tape measure comes out.

A roofing estimator checking a property boundary and historic district map on a tablet

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01 Establish which authority covers the address

City of Gretna or Jefferson Parish. This decides the permit route, the fee basis and the inspection calendar, and it is settled before anything is quoted.

02 Check the historic district position

Whether the property sits in the local historic district and whether the visible-from-public-right-of-way rule catches this specific reroof. Certificate of Appropriateness is settled before the building permit is applied for, not alongside.

03 Measure, inspect the deck and write the scope

Squares, pitch, layers and the condition of what is under the covering, plus any appearance change that has to go back to the Historic District Commission.

04 Tear off, replace, and hand over the paperwork

The scope, the permit, the CoA where one applied, and the inspection sign off go to you together, which is what a future buyer or insurer asks for.

Everything else we do in Gretna

The rest of the Big Easy Roofing services available in Gretna, each with its own page, crew and written scope. Where a roof does not need a full replacement, a repair, an inspection or gutter work is the cheaper honest answer.

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