Can I use fibre cement siding in the LaPlace Historic District?

Not on a historic building, according to the parish 2024 LaPlace guidelines, which say fibre cement does not match historic wood siding in dimension and appearance. On a house the guidelines do not cover, it is a normal material choice.

When must the application be submitted?

The guidelines say a complete application needs to reach Planning and Zoning approximately 3 to 4 weeks before the monthly Commission meeting, and the owner must attend. Some routine maintenance can be approved by staff, but a full application is still needed.

Do I need a permit for siding in LaPlace?

Ask the Permit Division on (985) 651-5565. The Louisiana rule we cite on our roofing pages, R.S. 37:3737(I), covers roof construction and reroofing, so it does not settle wall cladding, and a certificate is not a permit.

What does siding cost?

National guides such as HomeAdvisor publish an installed band of $3 to $18 per square foot, mostly driven by material. That is not a LaPlace figure, and a written estimate follows a proper look at the wall.

Is siding waterproof?

No. Cladding deflects most of the rain. The water resistive barrier behind it keeps the wall dry, and a drainage gap lets anything that gets past drain away and the wall dry out.

Home/Service Areas/Louisiana/LaPlace/Siding Installation

Siding Installation in LaPlace, LA

Big Easy Roofing installs siding across LaPlace and the east bank of St. John the Baptist Parish. For most homes the question is which material. For a historic building in the LaPlace Historic District, the parish has already written part of the answer down.

Get Your Free Siding Quote Call (504) 800-8196

Service

City

$3 to $18 /sq ftPublished national band

5 to 10 daysTypical whole home

2024 guidelinesWritten cladding rules

3 to 4 weeksApplication ahead of the meeting

LaPlace siding installation at a glance

Published national guides (HomeAdvisor) put installed siding at $3 to $18 per square foot. In LaPlace there is a second question before price: whether the house is a historic building in the LaPlace Historic District, because the parish 2024 design guidelines set out which siding choices fit there and which do not.

Published national band

$3 to $18 /sq ft

National siding-cost guides such as HomeAdvisor publish this band; it is not researched for the LaPlace market specifically. The spread is mostly the material. Every figure here is an estimate, not a quote.

The parish has written guidance

LaPlace Historic District, 2024

St. John the Baptist Parish publishes design guidelines for each of its historic districts. The LaPlace guidelines have a section on cladding that covers wood, synthetic, masonry, stucco and asbestos siding.

The usual premium choice may not fit

Fibre cement, on historic buildings

Fibre cement is often sold as the stable upgrade. The LaPlace guidelines say not to use it on historic buildings, because it does not match historic wood siding in dimension and appearance.

Covering over is not the fix

Vinyl or aluminum over wood

The guidelines say not to encapsulate existing historic woodwork under synthetic siding such as vinyl or aluminum, and not to hide architectural features under new cladding.

Typical whole home

5 to 10 days

Longer where trim is being rebuilt or where the sheathing underneath has taken water, and longer again where a historic district review has to happen first.

Who decides if it applies

Planning and Zoning

Whether a particular house is covered, and whether the work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, is for Planning and Zoning on (985) 651-5565. We ask before scoping.

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. Call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 about siding on a LaPlace home.

What the LaPlace guidelines say, situation by situation

This is the cladding section of the parish LaPlace Historic District Design Guidelines, arranged by the situations a siding job usually starts from. It applies where the guidelines apply, which is a question for Planning and Zoning. The first row is the one that surprises most homeowners.

Situation	Guideline heading	What the guidelines say	What it means for the job
Replacing historic wood siding outright	Wood	Choose new siding that replicates the existing woodwork in size, shape, profile and appearance, matching the pattern and orientation. Do not use fibre cement on historic buildings	The material is chosen to match the old wall, not from a price list
Small areas of rot in wood siding	Wood	Maintain and repair; patch with wood of the same size, shape, thickness and appearance, and reproduce details such as a beaded edge on a clapboard	Repair ahead of replacement, board by board
Shingle siding	Wood	Match replacement shingles and keep the pattern. Never replace shingle siding with lap siding	A change of profile is ruled out, not just discouraged
Covering wood with vinyl or aluminum	Wood	Do not encapsulate existing historic woodwork under synthetic siding	Re-siding over the top is not the route on a historic building
Replacing existing vinyl or aluminum	Synthetic	Match the style and pattern as closely as possible	Like for like is the expectation
Asbestos siding shingles	Other	Hazardous to remove; removal in compliance with local and environmental regulations. Replace missing ones with non-asbestos shingles matching size, style and shape	Testing and the removal route come before any price

Summarised from the parish LaPlace Historic District Design Guidelines (2024), cladding section, read 26 September 2026 and linked from the parish Historic District Commission page. Reserve, Garyville and River Road each have their own guidelines, which this table does not quote. For how testing decides an asbestos route on a roof, see our asbestos roof removal page.

The certificate step, and when it comes into it

The parish Historic District Commission reviews and issues Certificates of Appropriateness. The LaPlace guidelines say one is required for work within historic districts, design review corridors or local landmark sites that alters, renovates or rehabilitates the exterior of a historic or contributing building, where the work is beyond ordinary maintenance and repair.

What triggers it

Exterior work beyond ordinary maintenance

For work within historic districts, design review corridors or local landmark sites, the guidelines list alteration, renovation or rehabilitation of a historic building or a contributing building, where the work is beyond ordinary maintenance and repair and affects the exterior. Solely interior work does not require one.

How it runs

Application, then a public meeting

A Historic District Application goes to Planning and Zoning with supporting material such as photos and elevations, approximately 3 to 4 weeks before the monthly meeting, and the property owner must attend. Some routine maintenance may be approved by staff, but a full application is still submitted.

If work starts without one

A stop work order

The guidelines say work carried out without a valid Certificate of Appropriateness will receive a stop work order from Planning and Zoning. The ten day appeal is a separate route: an owner who disagrees with the Commission's decision on an application can appeal in writing to Planning and Zoning within ten days of that written decision, and the Parish Council considers it.

The permit is a separate question

Permit Division

A certificate is not a permit. The state rule we cite on our roofing pages requires any municipality or parish that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing, at R.S. 37:3737(I), which is written about roofs, not wall cladding. Ask the Permit Division on (985) 651-5565.

Who answers the address question

Whether a house is a historic or contributing building, or sits in a design review corridor, is not something we decide. Planning and Zoning on (985) 651-5565, on the first floor of the Government Building at 1811 W. Airline Hwy., answers it for the specific address.

Where the house is in one of the four districts, the district overlay for roof work is on our LaPlace roof repairs page.

Where siding stops being our trade

Siding abuts stucco, masonry and structural framing. The LaPlace guidelines say not to encapsulate historic stucco behind new cladding, because trapped moisture will damage the stucco and the framing behind it.

Where the failure is in render, mortar or the structure, we will say so and name the trade rather than cover it over.

Get Your FREE Quote Call (504) 800-8196

The wall behind the siding, historic district or not

Whatever goes on the outside, the siding is not the waterproofing. The water resistive barrier behind it and a drainage gap are what keep the wall dry, and the openings are where walls are most at risk. That applies to every LaPlace house, inside a district or not.

Cladding sheds, the barrier keeps the wall dry

Cladding deflects most of the rain and takes the sun. What gets past it runs down the barrier on the face of the sheathing, and a gap between the two lets it drain and the wall dry.

The Louisiana Energy Code puts every parish in Climate Zone 2A, the hot and humid band, where moisture tends to move inward for much of the year, so the wall needs to be able to dry.

Openings first

Window heads, sills and anything cut through the wall are where the barrier is interrupted and has to be lapped in the direction water travels, so the water resistive barrier sheds water outward rather than behind the cladding.

Where the wall meets the roof, the detail is flashing work, and a damp interior wall is often a leak detection question before it is a siding one.

Older houses carry older materials

The LaPlace guidelines note that buildings built before 1978 are likely to contain lead-based paint, and that asbestos siding shingles are hazardous to remove. Both are reasons to know what is on the wall before anything comes off it.

Big Easy Roofing Process

Four steps. The first one is a phone call, because on a historic building in LaPlace it can change the material, the timeline and the order of everything else.

Exterior wall with siding removed showing the water resistive barrier over the sheathing

Get Your FREE Quote Call Our Roofing Experts!

01 Ask Planning and Zoning about the address

Whether the house falls under the LaPlace Historic District Design Guidelines and whether the work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, then the Permit Division on (985) 651-5565 about the scope.

02 Look at what is on the wall now

Wood, shingle, synthetic, stucco or asbestos siding each lead somewhere different, and the barrier and sheathing behind them are only known once opened up.

03 Choose the material the answer allows

On a covered historic building that means matching the existing wall. Everywhere else it is a normal material choice, priced side by side.

04 Fit it over a continuous barrier and a drainage gap

Barrier lapped in the direction water travels, flashing at every opening, and cladding that lets anything getting past it drain away.

Everything else we do in LaPlace

The rest of the Big Easy Roofing services available in LaPlace, each with its own page, crew and written scope. Siding meets the roof at the wall junction, so the two jobs are worth scoping together rather than one at a time.

Filter by service type: