Rolling Hills, CA
Flat roof work in Rolling Hills, CA
A pitched roof sheds water. A flat roof is a shallow tray that has to be watertight everywhere at once, which is a much harder thing to build.
Describe the flat roofing job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Rolling Hills contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Rolling Hills is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a flat roofing job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- Drain, scupper and overflow provision
- Which membrane, and how the seams are joined
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
- Whether a coating is being sold as a repair
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
Coatings can buy a sound roof several years. Coating a failed roof buys you a wet roof with a fresh top coat on it.
Modified bitumen is the rolled, torched or self-adhered system you see on older flat additions. Cheaper, and shorter-lived.
Look at the flashing where the flat section meets a wall. That transition leaks far more often than the field of the membrane does.
Locally
Then, less dramatically: the marine layer keeping the north slope damp. Nothing dramatic happens. A slope stays damp most mornings for thirty years, and eventually that is enough.
About flat roofing here
It is leaking right now. What do I do?
Contain the water, photograph everything, and get the request in marked as an emergency. A tarp is the right first job. The permanent repair is a separate conversation and a separate price.
Can I just put a new roof over the old one?
Often you legally can, and it is usually a poor idea. Overlaying hides the condition of the decking, adds weight, shortens the life of the new shingles by trapping heat, and doubles the cost of the next tear-off.
Should I take the cheapest quote?
Only if it is the same roof. Most large gaps between quotes are scope gaps. Ask the cheapest contractor which of the other quotes items they have left out, and why.
What warranty should I expect?
Two separate things. The manufacturer covers the material for its rated life, but only if it was installed to their specification. The contractor covers workmanship, commonly five to ten years, and only for as long as they are trading.
What is it going to cost?
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.