Whittier, 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 Whittier contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Whittier 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
- Whether a coating is being sold as a repair
- Drain, scupper and overflow provision
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
Modified bitumen is the rolled, torched or self-adhered system you see on older flat additions. Cheaper, and shorter-lived.
Drains and scuppers need to be checked every season. One blocked drain can hold enough water to matter structurally.
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. Slopes that never get direct sun stay wet for hours after the fog burns off, and that is where moss, lifted shingles and soft decking start.
About flat roofing here
Is this really free?
It is free to you. Contractors pay to receive homeowner requests in their area. That is the entire business model, and we would rather say so plainly than pretend otherwise.
It is leaking right now. What do I do?
Move what you can out of the way, put a bucket under it, and if there is a bulge in the ceiling put a small hole at its lowest point to let the water out in one place rather than bringing the whole panel down. Then mark your request as an emergency — those go out first.
Should I repair or replace?
It depends almost entirely on how much life is left in the material. Ask any contractor who inspects it to give you a number of years and a reason. If two of them independently say the same thing, believe it.
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
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.