Powderhorn Roofing in Minneapolis: Houses, Duplexes, Apartments and Storefronts
Powderhorn has some of the most varied buildings in South Minneapolis. In a few blocks you can pass a row of 1890s Queen Anne houses, a pair of up-and-down duplexes, a three-story brick apartment building with a flat roof, and a Lake Street storefront with a parapet wall. Each of those needs a different approach, and good Powderhorn roofing in Minneapolis starts with matching the roof system to the building.
Minneapolis Roofing Company helps homeowners, landlords, property managers and business owners across the Powderhorn community arrange roof repairs, inspections and replacements, on pitched shingle roofs and flat roofs alike. This page covers what is distinctive about the community’s buildings and the roofing issues that come with them.
Call (888) 657-0348 or request a free estimate. We respond within 24–48 hours.
The Community
Powderhorn's Eight Neighborhoods
The Powderhorn community sits south of downtown and takes its name from Powderhorn Lake, the centerpiece of Powderhorn Park. Most of it lies east of I-35W and south of Lake Street, with two neighborhoods on the other side of the freeway. At about 4.6 square miles and close to 56,000 residents in 2020, it is one of the more densely populated parts of the city.
- Whittier: north of Lake Street and west of I-35W, from Franklin Avenue to Lake Street, including the Washburn-Fair Oaks mansion district and Nicollet Avenue’s Eat Street.
- Lyndale: west of I-35W between Lake Street and 36th Street, among the most densely populated neighborhoods in Minneapolis.
- Central: east of I-35W south of Lake Street, home to the Healy Block of Queen Anne houses.
- Powderhorn Park: Lake Street to 38th Street between Chicago and Cedar Avenues, built up mostly between 1905 and 1920.
- Corcoran: Lake Street to 36th Street between Cedar and Hiawatha Avenues.
- Bryant: 38th to 42nd Street between I-35W and Chicago Avenue, fully developed by 1930.
- Bancroft: 38th to 42nd Street between Chicago and Cedar, where more than 80 percent of structures were built before 1940.
- Standish: 36th Street to 42nd and 43rd Streets between Cedar and Hiawatha, home to Roosevelt High School.
Victorian Roofs
Queen Anne and Victorian-Era Roofs in South Minneapolis
Powderhorn includes some of South Minneapolis’s older housing. The best-known example is the Healy Block Residential Historic District, a group of 14 Queen Anne houses on 2nd and 3rd Avenues South between 31st and 32nd Streets, built between 1886 and 1898. Most were designed and built by Theron P. Healy, and they show the style’s cross-gabled rooflines, mixed materials and decorative gable details.
Queen Anne roofs are among the most complicated residential roofs in the city:
- Many intersecting planes. Cross gables, hips, bays and sometimes turrets mean many valleys and many places where two slopes meet a wall.
- Small, steep sections. Turret caps, bay roofs and dormers often need hand-cut shingles or special flashing, and they are where leaks most often start.
- Decorative trim. Gable ornaments, brackets and shingled gable ends sit right next to the roofing and can be damaged by careless tear-off.
The Healy Block is both on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a Minneapolis historic district. If your home is in a local historic district or is a designated landmark, changes to exterior materials, including roofing, may need review by the city’s heritage preservation staff before work begins. Check the property’s status with the City of Minneapolis and allow time for review in your schedule.
Whittier
Mansions, Walk-Ups and Eat Street: Roofing in Whittier
Whittier, on the north side of the community, is a good example of how mixed Powderhorn’s buildings are. Wealthy families built mansions there from the 1870s through about 1930, in Richardsonian Romanesque, Renaissance Revival, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival and Georgian Revival styles. The City of Minneapolis designated a Washburn-Fair Oaks historic district bordered by Franklin Avenue, Fourth Avenue South, 26th Street and First Avenue South, and seven mansions near 22nd Street are on the National Register.
The southern end of Whittier developed as working-class housing and industrial space along the old Milwaukee Road rail line, now the Midtown Greenway. A 1960s building boom added 2½-story walk-up apartments, and about 82 percent of Whittier households rent.
What that means for roofs
- Large historic homes may carry original or specialty materials, such as tile or slate, along with copper or built-in gutters. Repairs need someone comfortable matching materials, and any change on designated property should be checked with the city first.
- Walk-up apartment buildings often have flat or low-slope roofs behind parapets, with internal drains or scuppers. These need membrane work, not shingles.
- Restaurants and shops on Nicollet add rooftop exhaust fans and HVAC units, each one a penetration that needs proper flashing and regular checks.
Need Roofing Help in Powderhorn?
Whether it is a Queen Anne house, a duplex, a brick apartment building or a storefront, we can help you arrange the right repair or replacement. Call (888) 657-0348.
Flat Roofs
Duplexes, Brick Apartments and Flat Roofs
Powderhorn Park, the neighborhood around the lake, is a good snapshot of the whole community: single-family homes, duplexes and three-story brick apartment buildings, most built between 1905 and 1920. Similar mixes of houses and apartment buildings turn up elsewhere in the community, especially in Whittier.
The brick apartment buildings and many commercial blocks have flat or low-slope roofs. They are not truly flat; they are built with a slight slope toward drains, scuppers or gutters. When that drainage fails, water sits, and in Minneapolis it freezes, thaws and freezes again. Common problems include:
- Ponding water from clogged drains or settled decks.
- Parapet and coping leaks where the roof membrane turns up the inside of the brick wall.
- Aging membranes, including older built-up or modified bitumen roofs that have been patched many times.
- Snow load and drifting against parapets and rooftop units after heavy snow.
Our pages on flat roofing systems and flat roof repair explain the main membrane types and how to tell when a flat roof needs repair or a full replacement. Duplexes are often pitched-roof houses, but many have a low-slope porch or rear addition, so it is common for one building to need both kinds of roofing.
Lake Street
Commercial Roofing Along Lake Street, Bloomington and Nicollet
Lake Street runs along the northern edge of most of the community, lined with businesses, including many that serve the city’s Latin American and African communities. Smaller commercial nodes sit on Bloomington Avenue and 38th Street in Bancroft, and on Nicollet Avenue in Whittier.
Most of these are one- to three-story buildings with flat roofs behind brick parapets. For business owners, the main concerns are keeping water out of inventory and customer space, handling rooftop equipment, and planning a replacement that does not shut the business down. A roof inspection before the end of fall can catch drainage and flashing issues before snow hides them.
Our commercial roofing page covers the systems we help arrange for storefronts, mixed-use buildings and small apartment buildings.
Services
Roofing Services We Arrange in Powderhorn
Here is what we help Powderhorn property owners arrange, from a single-family home in Bryant to a Lake Street mixed-use building:
- Roof repairs on pitched roofs: leaks at valleys, dormers, chimneys and turrets, missing shingles and failed flashing.
- Roof replacement on houses and duplexes, including tear-off, deck repair, ice dam protection at the eaves and ventilation.
- Flat roof repair and replacement on apartment buildings, commercial blocks, porches and rear additions.
- Roof inspections for buyers, sellers, landlords and property managers.
- Emergency tarping after storms or falling limbs, followed by permanent repairs.
For landlords who own several buildings, it often makes sense to inspect them together and plan replacements over a few years rather than reacting to leaks one at a time. Our roof replacement cost guide can help with that budgeting.
Owners and Landlords
Tips for Powderhorn Homeowners and Landlords
- Know what kind of roof you have. Many buildings here have both pitched and flat sections. Make sure every estimate covers both.
- Keep drains and gutters clear. On flat roofs, clogged drains are the leading cause of ponding. On houses, full gutters feed ice dams.
- Check your property’s historic status before changing materials on an older home, especially in or near the Healy Block or the Washburn-Fair Oaks district.
- Coordinate with tenants. Give residents notice of roof work, arrange parking for dumpsters and plan around access to units.
- Confirm permits with your contractor and the city before work starts.
Nearby Minneapolis communities
We also arrange roofing work in neighboring parts of the city, including Phillips Roofing, Southwest Minneapolis Roofing, Nokomis Roofing, Longfellow Roofing. See every community we cover on our Minneapolis roofing service area page.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common roofing questions from homeowners and property owners in Powderhorn.
Which neighborhoods are in the Powderhorn community?
Powderhorn includes Bancroft, Bryant, Central, Corcoran, Lyndale, Powderhorn Park, Standish and Whittier.
Can you help with both flat and pitched roofs on the same building?
Yes. Many Powderhorn duplexes and homes have a shingled main roof plus a low-slope porch or addition, and we can help arrange work on both.
Does my Victorian home need special approval for a new roof?
Only if it is a designated landmark or in a local historic district, such as the Healy Block or the Washburn-Fair Oaks district. In that case, check with the city’s heritage preservation staff before changing materials.
Why does my apartment building's flat roof keep leaking?
Common causes are clogged drains and ponding water, failed flashing where the membrane meets parapet walls, and an aging membrane that has been patched repeatedly. An inspection can sort out whether repair or replacement makes more sense.
Do you work with landlords and property managers?
Yes. We help owners of rental homes, duplexes and apartment buildings arrange inspections, repairs and planned replacements.
How soon can you respond?
Call (888) 657-0348 or request a free estimate, and we respond within 24–48 hours.
Talk to Us About Your Powderhorn Roof
From Whittier to Standish, Minneapolis Roofing Company can help homeowners, landlords and businesses plan roof repairs and replacements. Call (888) 657-0348 or request a free estimate. We respond within 24–48 hours.
