How to Tell If Your Old Roof Contains Asbestos (Historic New Orleans Homes)

Homes across historic New Orleans neighborhoods often have roofs installed decades before asbestos was phased out of building materials, and spotting the warning signs starts with the roof’s age and shingle pattern, not guesswork. Asbestos-cement shingles were manufactured heavily from the 1920s through the 1970s, so any roof from that window deserves a closer look. The safest next step after noticing these clues is a certified inspection rather than a DIY sample.

If you own a home in a historic New Orleans neighborhood and you’re staring up at a roof that looks original to the house, you’re probably wondering how to tell if your roof has asbestos before you touch anything. It’s a fair question. Asbestos-cement roofing was one of the most common materials installed on American homes for roughly five decades, and a huge share of New Orleans housing stock, from shotgun houses to Creole cottages, was built or re-roofed during that exact stretch.

The good news is that identifying a possible asbestos roof doesn’t require special equipment, just an understanding of what to look for from the ground. TurnKey Roofing Contractors works on older homes throughout Greater New Orleans every week and regularly walks customers through this exact identification process before recommending next steps. If you think your roof might be a candidate, the team can talk you through what you’re seeing.

What Years Was Asbestos Roofing Commonly Installed?

Asbestos-cement roofing shingles were manufactured in the United States from the early 1900s, grew popular after the National Board of Fire Underwriters recommended them for fire resistance around 1920, and stayed in wide use through the 1970s, with peak installation between the 1940s and 1970s. Any home with a roof original to a build date in that range, or with a re-roof from that era, is a reasonable candidate for testing. The federal Asbestos Ban and Phase-Out Rule arrived in 1989, though a 1991 court ruling from the Fifth Circuit rolled back much of it for several product categories, which is why some materials stayed on the market.

New Orleans has an unusually large stock of homes built in this window. Shotgun houses, camelback cottages, and bungalows across neighborhoods like Bywater, Mid-City, and Broadmoor commonly went up between the 1920s and 1960s. A roof that has never been replaced, or was re-roofed decades ago, has a real chance of containing asbestos-cement shingles under any newer layers. Working with local roofing experts who already know this housing stock makes the identification conversation much faster.

What Visual Clues Point to Asbestos Shingles?

Look for small, flat, rigid shingles in a uniform gray, blue-gray, or slate color, often arranged in a hexagonal or diamond “French method” pattern popular in the 1920s and 1930s, or laid in tight, straight courses that mimic slate but feel noticeably lighter when tapped. The material has a distinct cement-like rigidity, unlike flexible asphalt shingles, and edges that have chipped over time often show a faint fibrous texture rather than a clean granule break.

Asbestos-cement shingles were manufactured under specifications like ASTM C222, which standardized their size and thickness, so you’ll often see remarkably consistent, machine-stamped uniformity across the whole roof plane. Color has faded on most surviving examples, but a chalky gray or muted blue tone under moss or algae growth is a common giveaway on older New Orleans roofs. If your home still has original hexagonal or diamond shingles peeking out from under a later layer, that’s one of the clearest signs worth a professional look.

The residential roofing team at TurnKey can walk your roofline with you and flag shingle patterns that warrant a closer look, without disturbing anything.

What Should You Never Do If You Suspect Asbestos?

Do not break, drill, sand, pressure wash, or pry off any shingle you suspect contains asbestos, and do not attempt a DIY sample collection. Intact, undisturbed asbestos-cement material is classified by the EPA as non-friable and generally low risk, but that changes fast once fibers are released by cutting, crushing, or aggressive cleaning.

This distinction matters more than most homeowners realize. Non-friable shingles that are still bonded and in reasonably good condition can often be managed in place or safely covered, a far less invasive path than full removal. The moment that material gets crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder, whether by a hammer, a pressure washer, or foot traffic during an unrelated repair, it can shift into a regulated category that requires formal abatement procedures under both EPA and Louisiana DEQ rules.

The same caution applies to routine upkeep. Our guide on what DIY roof maintenance you can and can’t do safely covers this in more detail, but the short version for a suspected asbestos roof is simple: skip the pressure washer, skip the moss scraper, and hold off on any nailing or patching until a professional has weighed in.

How Do You Get an Old Roof Tested for Asbestos?

A certified asbestos inspector collects small bulk samples from the suspect material and sends them to an accredited lab for analysis, the only reliable way to confirm asbestos content. Louisiana requires inspectors, contractors, and supervisors who handle asbestos work to hold current LDEQ accreditation, and a proper inspection typically includes both a visual assessment and lab-confirmed sampling from each distinct roofing area.

Primary residences are treated somewhat differently under Louisiana rules than large commercial buildings, but state guidance still recommends letting an accredited inspector identify the material and map out an actionable plan rather than sampling it yourself. A short visit from a trained inspector, paired with lab turnaround, usually answers the question definitively within days. Our post on how professional roof inspections work covers what a standard visual assessment looks like.

Roofing contractors like TurnKey aren’t testing labs, but the team can spot likely candidates during a standard inspection and point you to the right certified resource. That step alone saves homeowners from guessing at a material that’s easy to misidentify from the ground.

What Happens If Your Roof Tests Positive for Asbestos?

A confirmed positive result doesn’t mean an emergency tear-off is required; intact asbestos-cement shingles in stable condition can often stay in place, be encapsulated, or be safely removed by a licensed asbestos crew before a new roof goes on. The right path depends on the shingles’ condition, whether they’re already failing, and whether a full roof replacement is planned anyway.

If removal is the recommended route, that work needs to happen under controlled conditions with licensed handling and disposal. TurnKey’s asbestos roof removal service is built around that kind of compliant handling, working alongside certified testing so the material is documented, removed, and disposed of the right way before a replacement roof goes down.

Once the old material is cleared, a new roof installation can move forward on a clean, safe deck. If you’re budgeting ahead, our breakdown of what a roof replacement costs is a useful starting point once asbestos handling is factored in.

Frequently Asked Questions