Montclair, CA
Flat roofs do not shed water. They hold it back.
Almost every flat roof problem is a drainage problem wearing a disguise. Standing water finds the one seam that was not welded properly.
Describe the flat roofing job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Montclair contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Montclair 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.
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
- Whether a coating is being sold as a repair
- Which membrane, and how the seams are joined
- Drain, scupper and overflow provision
Coatings can buy a sound roof several years. Coating a failed roof buys you a wet roof with a fresh top coat on it.
Ponding water is the enemy. Anything still sitting there forty-eight hours after rain is a design problem, and tapered insulation is usually the answer.
Single-ply membranes — TPO, PVC, EPDM — are heat-welded or taped at the seams. The seams and the terminations are the whole job.
Locally
The second problem is ember intrusion through vents and open eaves. Most houses lost to wildfire are lost to embers arriving ahead of the fire, not to the fire itself.
About flat roofing here
How much deposit is normal?
A third at most, and never the full amount. Pay the balance when the job is finished and you have walked it. Some states cap the deposit by law.
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.
Do I need a permit?
Yes, in nearly every jurisdiction a re-roof is permitted work. A contractor who suggests skipping it is telling you something useful about how they work.
Are you a roofing company?
No, and it matters that we say so. We are a referral service, not a contractor. The roofing work, the licence, the insurance and the warranty all sit with the independent company you choose.
Get the roof looked at
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.