Villa Park, 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 Villa Park contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Villa Park 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 a coating is being sold as a repair
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
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
Close behind that: shaded slopes that never really dry out. The north side of a house here ages years faster than the south side, and almost every roof gets replaced because of it.
About flat roofing here
Can I stay in the house while it is done?
Most people do. Expect noise from early morning, dust in the attic, and a day where the driveway belongs to the crew.
Are the contractors licensed and insured?
Contractors have to give us their state licence number and proof of liability and workers compensation cover before they can receive requests. You should still ask to see current certificates yourself before work starts — a licence can lapse between checks.
What if the decking is rotten underneath?
Some of it usually is. The important thing is that the price per sheet is agreed in writing before the tear-off, so the conversation on day two is about quantity rather than rate.
How quickly will someone call?
Usually within the hour during working hours. If you marked the job as an emergency it goes to the front of the queue and is normally picked up faster than that.
Ready for a real number?
No cost. We email you once when a provider near you can take it on.