The turret, steep rooflines, decorative stonework, and half-timbered walls make this Preston Hollow home unmistakable. Designed in 1938 by renowned Dallas architect Charles Stevens Dilbeck, the house is a distinctive example of his French Norman architectural style.
Bert Roofing has maintained several portions of this home’s roofing over the years. Our latest project involved replacing an aging low-slope section with a GAF EverGuard TPO roofing system.
Although this section is largely hidden from the street, it presented some interesting challenges involving drainage, access, and the need to maintain the home’s architectural appearance.
A Charles Dilbeck Home With an Interesting History
Charles Stevens Dilbeck designed some of Dallas’s most recognizable residential architecture. His homes are known for their unusual rooflines, distinctive masonry, turrets, and imaginative architectural details.
This property has attracted considerable interest among people who appreciate his work.
The house was featured in the 2018 Preservation Dallas Home Tour. The homeowners also hosted a gathering for the Charles Stevens Dilbeck Architecture Conservancy, an organization dedicated to preserving the architect’s legacy.
We also have an interesting connection with another Dilbeck home.
The owners of this Preston Hollow property were acquainted with the owner of a Dilbeck-designed home on Park Lane, where Bert Roofing completed an extensive historic cedar roof restoration.
That project received a Golden Hammer Award from the North Texas Roofing Contractors Association for Residential Innovations in Roofing.
While the Park Lane project involved custom-milled Western Red Cedar shingles and copper flashing, the roofing needs at this property were quite different.
These projects are examples of our historic roof restoration work in Dallas, where roofing decisions must account for both building performance and architectural character.
From Roof Maintenance to Replacement
Our work at this property goes back to approximately 2020, when we applied a silicone roof coating to an existing metal roof section to extend its useful life.
Coatings can be an economical way to maintain certain aging roofing systems when the underlying conditions are suitable. Rather than replacing a roof simply because it is getting older, we prefer to evaluate whether additional service life can reasonably be obtained.
The coating helped keep the roof in service for roughly another six years. Eventually, poor drainage and other conditions made replacement of the east low-slope section the better long-term option. This is one example of how proper roof maintenance can extend the useful life of an existing roofing system before replacement becomes necessary.
There is also a separate west low-slope roof section that Bert Roofing worked on around 2020. That roof remains functional and appears to have several more years of useful service life.
Consequently, there was no reason to replace both sections simply because we were already working on the property.
A New GAF EverGuard TPO Roofing System
For the east roof, we selected a 60-mil GAF EverGuard TPO membrane.
One of the important improvements involved drainage. We installed tapered polyisocyanurate insulation to create additional slope toward the existing drainage locations.
The insulation was mechanically secured to the roof deck, and the TPO membrane was fully adhered over it. Membrane seams were heat-welded, with additional detailing at intersections, roof edges, and the large masonry chimney.
Unlike steep roofing, where water generally sheds rapidly,low-slope roofing requires careful attention to drainage and watertight connections. We used a similar approach on a low-slope TPO roof in University Park, where tapered insulation, GAF EverGuard TPO, and custom metal edging were also part of the installation.
TPO is commonly associated with commercial buildings, but it is also a good choice for residential low-slope sections when properly designed and installed.
Difficult Access and Custom Bronze Metal Edging
The architecture that makes this house interesting also complicated the installation.
The surrounding steep roof sections were not suitable for ordinary foot traffic, and the property layout limited access. Reaching the low-slope work area required the use of very tall ladders rather than simply walking across the adjoining roof.
That made moving personnel, tools, and materials considerably more difficult than on a conventional low-slope installation.
Another important detail was the custom metal edging.
Instead of using bright, unfinished metal that would look out of place against the home’s traditional materials, we selected a bronze-colored finish resembling aged copper.
This provided an appearance appropriate for the architecture at substantially less cost than using solid copper.
The edging was custom-fabricated and integrated into the TPO roofing system with compatible membrane-to-metal detailing.
Maintaining an Unusual Dallas Home
Homes like this Dilbeck design rarely have simple roofing systems. Different roof sections may have entirely different slopes, drainage requirements, and construction details.
Our history with this property illustrates why those differences matter.
The earlier silicone coating extended the service life of an existing roof. The west low-slope section remains serviceable. The east section eventually required replacement, with improved drainage and a new TPO membrane.
Each decision was based on the condition and requirements of that particular roof section.
Bert Roofing has served Dallas since 1988, handling everything from routine roof repairs to complicated installations on architecturally significant homes.
We appreciate the opportunity to continue maintaining this distinctive Charles Dilbeck property in Preston Hollow, Dallas.
For homeowners with low-slope roofing, unusual rooflines, or difficult drainage conditions, Bert Roofing provides inspections, repairs, and replacements with a no-obligation estimate.
