You’re backing out of the driveway and you see it again. Dark streaks running down the roof. A patch of concrete by the garage that’s started to flake. The house might be older than you are.
In Evansville, it often is. Half the city’s homes were built before 1961, and 22% were built in 1939 or earlier, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates. Another 40% went up between 1950 and 1979. Only about one home in ten was built in 2000 or later. That’s the oldest housing of the six towns we serve.
Our home base on the west side
We’re based at 2821 Broadway Ave, in Vanderburgh County. OpenStreetMap puts that address in the area it labels Independence. The Independence Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1982, sits at W. Franklin St. and Wabash Ave. Just north of us, Red Bank’s southern edge is Broadway Avenue, the same street we’re on.
The west side is built on rolling hills, home to Burdette Park and Mesker Park Zoo. The east side sits lower, in the valley, behind levees that closely follow I-69. Downtown is about 2.8 miles and 5 minutes from our base. We work on both sides of town.
Thirteen historic districts and a lot of old brick
Evansville has thirteen neighborhoods listed on the National Register of Historic Places as historic districts. Riverside, listed in 1978, is known for tree-lined brick streets full of homes from around 1900, with the Reitz Home Museum as a French Second Empire example. Washington Avenue, Culver, Bayard Park, Lincolnshire, Hebron Meadows and Baptisttown are on the list too.
Older roofs and older masonry call for a lighter touch. We look first, then pick the gentlest method that will do the job.
Evansville weather, by the numbers
Here’s what NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals for Evansville Regional Airport say your house goes through in a typical year:
- 47.91 inches of precipitation, with measurable rain or snow on 118 days.
- A July average high of 88.6°F and a January average low of 25.5°F.
- About 90 nights at or below freezing, but only about 16 days when the high stays there. That leaves roughly 75 days when it freezes overnight and thaws again. That last number is our own math on NOAA’s figures.
- Mean relative humidity around 70%, highest in December and September. That one comes from NOAA’s older 1961-1990 series.
Roof cleaning for the black streaks
Those streaks are algae, not dirt. Algae grows where a roof stays damp, and the rain and humidity numbers above show how damp an Evansville year runs. On tree-lined streets like Riverside’s, the shaded slopes stay wet even longer.
We never let a power washer touch asphalt shingles. Our roof cleaning is a low-pressure soft wash. Algae can also grow back over time, and we’ll say so. So we’ll tell you that up front, and talk about protection after cleaning if your roof is a good fit for it.
Roof rejuvenation for aging shingles
When shingles start to look dry and faded and the gutters fill with grit, the first quote is often for a new roof. Sometimes that’s the right call. Sometimes the shingles still have useful life left.
Roof rejuvenation is a treatment for aging asphalt shingles that are still sound. It isn’t for leaks, bare spots or soft decking. That’s roofer work, and we’ll tell you so. Before we suggest it, we read what your shingle maker says about treatments, and we look at your HOA rules if your neighborhood has one.
Concrete protection for 75 freeze-thaw days
That overnight freeze and daytime thaw is hard on driveways, sidewalks and steps. The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association says deicing chemicals make scaling worse “by increasing the saturation of concrete at the surface and the number of freezing and thawing cycles” (NRMCA).
Concrete protection helps reduce how much water and salt get into the surface. It won’t stop cracks, and we won’t tell you it will.
When storms hit Vanderburgh County
Evansville has seen real storms. On November 6, 2005, an F3 tornado moved over the Eastbrook mobile home park shortly after 2 a.m. (NWS Paducah). On April 2, 2024, an EF-2 crossed the entire width of Vanderburgh County. On April 2, 2025, an EF-1 with 104 mph winds started near Montoux Park and moved into the Highland area, and a second EF-1 began near St. Joseph Ave north of Darmstadt.
If a storm leaves you with missing or torn shingles, call a roofer first. We don’t do storm repairs.
What happens next
Start with the free exterior evaluation. We look at your roof, walls and concrete, take photos, and give you a straight answer about what’s worth doing and what isn’t. Call or text Terrance at (812) 664-6222, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Live a little east of the city? We cover Newburgh too.
