Nassau Bay homes beside Johnson Space Center
Nassau Bay was laid out in 1962 right next to what is now Johnson Space Center, and its developers picked the name for the tropical feeling it gave off. Nearly a third of the city’s 1.7 square miles is water, which tells you most of what you need to know about its roofs.
Working in Nassau Bay
Water makes up 30.12 percent of Nassau Bay’s area. Clear Creek runs along the south side, the head of Clear Lake sits to the southeast, and Carlton Bayou and Swan Lagoon mark other edges. A town built around that much water lives with humidity all year, and humidity is what turns a poorly vented attic into a moldy one and a wood deck into a soft one. Before we talk shingles, we look at the attic: intake at the soffits, exhaust at the ridge, and whether the bathroom fans dump into the attic or out of the house.
Construction started in 1962, the first residents arrived in 1964, and the city incorporated in 1970, so if yours is one of the original houses, it is around sixty years old. The plan was an exclusive residential and commercial area, and the houses were built to the standards of that day: smaller baths, closed kitchens, and roofs framed before modern wind fastening was common. That is no knock on the builders. It means a renovation here often starts with bringing the structure up to what a Gulf hurricane season asks of it, with straps or clips where the rafters meet the walls if the job opens them up.
Nassau Bay is its own city, so the City of Nassau Bay is the authority for permits, and schools are part of Clear Creek ISD. NASA Road 1 is the main road in and out, and Webster, El Lago and Taylor Lake Village are the closest neighbors. The city had 5,347 residents at the 2020 census. If your lot backs onto the water, we plan the tear-off so shingles and nails land in the dumpster and stay out of the lagoon, with tarps along the bank side and a magnet sweep of the yard down to the waterline.
The jobs that come up here
Roof replacement on a house from the 1960s is a chance to fix ventilation and fastening along with the shingles. Architectural shingle replacement and Class 4 shingle replacement both work here; ask your carrier whether the impact rating does anything for your premium before you choose between them. After a tropical storm, storm damage roof replacement covers a roof that took wind and water at the same time. A carport or sunroom roof pitched too low for shingles is a separate item on the scope, with a membrane suited to the slope, so the weakest piece of the roof stops being the reason the ceiling stains.
With so many houses facing water, decks matter as much as roofs. Composite deck installation and composite deck replacement hold up to constant humidity far better than untreated wood, and they will not need sanding and sealing every other spring. Inside, kitchen remodeling and bathroom remodeling bring 1960s floor plans up to date, usually by opening the kitchen to the living area and giving the main bath the room the original plan never did. Sunroom construction is worth a look if you want to enjoy the water view in August from a room that is actually cooled, and veteran ADA remodeling fits an owner who wants to keep this view for a long time.
- Architectural shingle replacement Plenty of older Houston subdivisions were built with three-tab shingles, and many of those roofs are at the end of their run.
- Class 4 shingle replacement Switching an existing roof to Class 4 usually comes up after a hail claim or when the old roof is due anyway.
- Composite deck installation Composite decking trades yearly sealing for a higher upfront price and a few rules of its own.
Plenty of roofs we look at need a repair or nothing at all. If that is yours, you will hear it from us first.
How does living on Clear Lake affect my attic?
Damp air finds its way into an attic, and if the attic cannot breathe, the moisture condenses on the underside of the decking. Over time that means stained wood, rusted nails and soft spots. Balanced ventilation, with intake low and exhaust high, keeps it dry.
My house is one of the originals from the 1960s. What tends to be out of date?
Usually the roof fastening, the attic ventilation and the bathrooms, in about that order. Houses of that age were built before current wind-resistant practices were standard. We look at all of it on the first visit and tell you what matters now and what can wait.
Is composite decking worth it on a lot that backs onto the lagoon?
On a damp waterfront lot, usually yes. Composite boards do not rot or splinter, and they need washing instead of sealing. The framing under them is still wood, so we use treated lumber rated for ground contact and space it to the board maker’s instructions.
Do you coordinate permits with the City of Nassau Bay?
Yes. We find out what the city requires for your job, include that time in the schedule and keep the paperwork in the job file. You will not be the one making calls to City Hall.
Can a sunroom go on the back of a house that faces the water?
Usually, if the foundation and the roof tie-in work. We look at where the room would sit, how its roof meets the main roof and how water drains off both. A room facing open water has to be built and flashed for wind-driven rain, and the scope will show how.
Close by
We also work in Webster, League City, Taylor Lake Village, El Lago, Clear Lake Shores. The whole list is on the Harris County page.
We are based in Cypress and work across twelve counties around Houston. Leland Cannon retired from the Army as a First Sergeant; Geoff Schardien served in the Air Force. The scope you get is in writing, and the person who wrote it answers the phone.