Roof work in Springfield's local historic districts, where Historical Commission approval may be needed before any exterior change begins.
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Springfield has local historic districts, among them Forest Park Heights, McKnight, Ridgewood and Quadrangle-Mattoon. Exterior work in them needs approval from the Springfield Historical Commission before it starts, unless it is ordinary maintenance or not visible from a public street or park. Ask the Commission whether a given roof job qualifies.
A roof in one of Springfield's local historic districts is not only a roof. The roof is part of the exterior that the Springfield Historical Commission reviews, and the Commission must approve exterior work before it begins. The McKnight district holds Victorian houses dated to 1870 through 1900, many of them with slate roofs, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The districts are not all alike. Forest Park Heights was created in 1975, enlarged in 1980 and holds turn-of-the-century housing, and it was listed on the National Register in 1982. McKnight was declared in 1976. Ridgewood, declared in 1977, is largely housing built between 1890 and 1910, much of it by the developer William McKnight. Quadrangle-Mattoon is also a local district.
The rule has two routes. Ordinary maintenance, and work not visible from a public street or park, can go by a certificate of non-applicability with no public hearing. A Certificate of Appropriateness covers conforming changes. A Certificate of Hardship is a separate route for cases that need supporting material.
Slate is brittle and the roofs are steep, so do not walk on slate, do not pry at slates, and do not hammer them to free a nail. Use plastic or soft tools rather than metal ones on any covering, since metal tools can damage the roof. Never remove the covering or trim from a district roof before the Commission route is confirmed, because the removal itself can be the exterior work that needs approval. If a roof edge, cornice or chimney is loose or moving, keep people clear of the base and call a technician rather than climbing up to reach it.
The first step is to ask the Springfield Historical Commission whether the property lies in a local district. A technician does not determine this for a property, and a homeowner should not assume either way from the neighborhood.
Once the district question is settled, the work is sorted into one of the routes. Ordinary maintenance, and work not visible from a public street or park, can qualify for a certificate of non-applicability. Visible conforming changes need a Certificate of Appropriateness. A change that needs supporting material for a hardship case goes by a Certificate of Hardship.
Photographs are taken from the public street or park, showing the slopes that are visible and the materials in place. The existing covering, the flashing, the trim and any ornamental detail are recorded.
The proposed materials, profiles and details are set out in the application, and the work follows what is approved. A change of material or profile on a visible slope is the kind of change the Commission reviews, so the technician does not substitute a different product without the route confirmed.
Once the Commission route is settled, the building permit follows, and building permits must be obtained before construction begins. The Building Division, part of Code Enforcement, decides what the permit covers for the roof covering and any structural change.
It depends on what is changed and where it can be seen. Exterior work visible from a public street or park needs approval before it starts, while ordinary maintenance or work not visible from the street can go by certificate of non-applicability.
A full re-roof of a visible slope is exterior work that the Commission reviews. A change of covering, profile or color can alter the look of the street, and that is what the district is meant to protect. The Commission must approve such work before it begins, and the application describes the existing roof and the change.
No. The Springfield Historical Commission decides the district question, and a technician will not determine it for a property or for any reader.
District boundaries and their dates are matters of record that the Commission holds, and a reader should check them with the Commission rather than rely on a neighbor, a street name or a map that may be out of date. The districts that the city's materials list are Forest Park Heights, McKnight, Ridgewood and Quadrangle-Mattoon, each with its own creation date and its own character.
A Certificate of Appropriateness covers conforming changes that the Commission reviews. A Certificate of Hardship is a separate route for cases that need supporting material, and it is decided on that material.
The Certificate of Appropriateness is the route for a change that conforms to the district's character, such as a visible roof change that matches the existing style. The application describes the work, and the Commission decides whether it conforms. The Certificate of Hardship is the route for a case where the owner needs the Commission to consider particular circumstances, and it asks for supporting material that the application sets out.
The number of slopes visible from the street, the amount of slate that needs repair, the access, the nails and flashing, and the time the approval process takes decide the price. No figure is printed on this site, and the price is explained and approved before work starts.
A roof with one visible slope and a few lost shingles is a smaller job than a full slate roof with several street-facing planes. Each visible slope may need its own documentation and its own approval route. Slate work takes more care than shingle work, because each slate is handled and set separately, and the nails have to be the right metal. Access on a steep slate roof can also need more equipment than an ordinary roof.
Usually not. The National Park Service recommends repair rather than replacement whenever possible, and replacing a whole slope is generally reserved for roofs where a fifth or more of the slates have failed.
Slate that is cracked, broken or missing can often be repaired slate by slate, and the NPS guidance is to do that wherever it is possible. Roofing mastic and sealant are not a viable repair, because they harden, crack and let water in, so the repair has to replace the slate and its nails. Solid copper or stainless nails should be used, since plain steel and galvanized nails tend to rust out and are a common cause of slate loss in the older houses.
The routine end of historic roof work: a few shingles, a re-set flashing, a re-hung section of trim, cleared drains. Ordinary maintenance can go by a certificate of non-applicability with no public hearing, and so can work that is not visible from a public street or park. The technician keeps the work to what the route allows and records what was done.
A new covering, a different profile, a skylight, a dormer or a changed ridge that can be seen from the street is exterior work that the Commission reviews. The application describes the existing roof and the proposed change, and the Certificate of Appropriateness covers changes that conform to the district's character.
Slate roofs are common on the Victorian houses in McKnight and on other older houses in the districts. The National Park Service's guidance is to repair slate rather than replace it whenever possible, and to use solid copper or stainless nails, since plain steel and galvanized nails usually rust out before the slate wears out.
McKnight is a Victorian district, and the Commission's own material dates its houses to 1870 through 1900. Many of those roofs are slate, and slate on a street-facing slope is the most common reason a technician brings the Commission into the conversation early. The historic district page is the place to start for those roofs, and the slate repair page explains the work itself.
Ridgewood's houses are largely from 1890 to 1910, and Forest Park Heights is turn-of-the-century housing. Those dates matter because a roof's covering, flashing and trim from those years often differ from modern work, and a replacement that matches the district's character is part of the approval question rather than an afterthought.
Winter here brings heavy wet snow and repeated freeze-thaw, and both act on slate and on the nails that hold it. A slate roof in a district that has been through several winters can show the ice-dam and nail problems together. The Commission must approve exterior work before it starts, so the seasonal repair often has to be planned ahead of the first snow rather than in the middle of it.
Most historic district roof work calls are scheduled the same day when a technician is free, and you approve the price before any work starts.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Slate repair on Victorian roofs, where corroded nails and failed flashing cause most losses and repair usually beats replacement.
Targeted repair of shingles, flashing and decking on older valley roofs where replacement is not yet due.
A written roof condition report for Springfield owners and buyers, covering decking, flashing, ventilation and remaining life.
Repair of the metal at valleys, dormers, ells and wall joints, where most leaks on additions and older houses begin.
This page does not print a price.
A full roof replacement is generally permit work in Springfield, and the permit must be obtained before construction begins.
Massachusetts does not issue a roofing license.
Repair is usually the first choice for a slate roof.
A local historic district is an area the city has designated for review of exterior work, and Springfield has several, including Forest Park Heights, McKnight, Ridgewood and Quadrangle-Mattoon. The Springfield Historical Commission reviews exterior work in those districts before it begins. The Commission's own materials set out the dates and boundaries for each district.
No. Ordinary maintenance and work not visible from a public street or park can go by a certificate of non-applicability, which avoids a public hearing. A visible change may need a Certificate of Appropriateness, and a hardship case goes by its own route. The Commission decides which route applies to the property.
A change of material on a visible slope is the kind of change the Commission reviews, so it should be raised in the application. Whether a particular material is approved depends on the district and the route. The technician will describe the existing roof and the options, but the Commission decides what conforms.
Often yes. The National Park Service recommends repairing slate whenever possible, and it says replacing a slope is usually less expensive than repair only when 20 percent or more of the slates have failed. Solid copper or stainless nails should be used, and mastic is not a viable repair. The technician judges each slope and reports the result in writing.
The Springfield Historical Commission decides the district question. A technician will not determine it for a property. The Commission has seven members appointed by the mayor and meets on the first and third Thursdays, and the staff can answer a question about a property before any work is planned.
Keep people clear of the building, call the phone line, which is answered around the clock, and ask the Commission what temporary protection needs approval. The technician can document the damage and cover the opening to keep the building dry. The phone line is answered around the clock, but no arrival time is promised, and the permanent repair waits for the Commission route.