Laguna Woods, 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 Laguna Woods contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Laguna Woods 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
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
Modified bitumen is the rolled, torched or self-adhered system you see on older flat additions. Cheaper, and shorter-lived.
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.
Locally
Then, less dramatically: enough salt in the air to matter to fasteners over twenty years. Nobody notices until a vent collar rusts through or a gutter hanger lets go, and by then the flashing is the same age.
About flat roofing here
Why three quotes and not one?
One quote is a number with no context. Three gives you a range, and the conversation about why they differ is where you learn what you are actually buying.
What warranty should I expect?
Ask for both in writing: the material warranty from the manufacturer and the workmanship warranty from the contractor. The second one is the one that matters in year three, and it is only as good as the company behind it.
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.
Can I stay in the house while it is done?
Yes, though it is loud, and things will fall off shelves in the garage. Move cars out of the driveway and take anything fragile off the walls of the top floor.
Start with a free estimate
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.