Santa Fe Springs, CA
Flat roofs do not shed water. They hold it back.
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 Santa Fe Springs contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Santa Fe Springs 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.
- Which membrane, and how the seams are joined
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
- Whether a coating is being sold as a repair
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
- Drain, scupper and overflow provision
Look at the flashing where the flat section meets a wall. That transition leaks far more often than the field of the membrane does.
Drains and scuppers need to be checked every season. One blocked drain can hold enough water to matter structurally.
Modified bitumen is the rolled, torched or self-adhered system you see on older flat additions. Cheaper, and shorter-lived.
Locally
The second problem is the marine layer keeping the north slope damp. It is why two identical houses on the same street can be ten years apart on the same roof, depending on which way they face.
About flat roofing here
How long should a roof last here?
Rated life and real life are different numbers. Here, ordinary rated life is a fair guide, provided the attic breathes. Ventilation and the quality of the installation move that more than the brand does.
Do I have to hire anyone?
Not at all. Plenty of people use this to find out what a job costs and then do nothing for a year. That is a perfectly reasonable outcome.
Are gutters included in a re-roof?
Usually not, unless the quote says so. If they are near the end of their life, replacing them during the re-roof is meaningfully cheaper than doing it later, because the crew and the staging are already there.
How much deposit is normal?
Ten to thirty per cent is ordinary, and is often used to order material. A demand for full payment up front is a reason to walk away.
Get the roof looked at
No cost. We email you once when a provider near you can take it on.