Los Angeles County, California

Commercial Roof Repair in Los Angeles

Commercial flat roof leaking? Holding the water back comes first, and the permanent repair the membrane manufacturer will accept is priced separately. The inspection is free and the scope comes in writing.

Tell us about your roof Call (310) 857-2520

Free roof inspection
We come out, get on the roof, and tell you what we find.
The price in writing
A written quote before anyone starts, with nothing to sign on the spot.
Licensed roofers
Our roofer who comes out holds a current California license.
Across Los Angeles County
From the Valley and the foothills to the Westside and the South Bay.

A leak on an occupied building is two pieces of work. One holds the water back until the roof is dry enough to work on. The other is the permanent repair, following the membrane manufacturer's published repair detail. The warranty is why they stay apart. One manufacturer's published sample voids coverage where repairs of any magnitude are made without written approval first, and it excludes exposed mastics and sealants, so mastic is temporary by definition.

Warranties also carry a notice clause: written notice to the manufacturer within a set number of days of discovering the defect, and missing that window voids the coverage. Find the deadline in your own document, send the letter, mark the stain on a floor plan, and date the photographs before anyone prices the work.

Past repair, flat and low-slope replacement runs $12,000 to $30,000 for an area the size of a house. A commercial deck runs bigger, and the number comes off a count: curbs, drains, linear feet of base flashing, and how much insulation is wet. More on roofing costs.

What it isHolding the water back, then a permanent repair the warranty will accept
Where it failsBase flashings at the turn, pitch pans, drains and curbs
Before you bid itDefects marked on a roof plan, with dated photographs
Other tradesRooftop units, drain piping and gutters, priced separately

Base flashing splits at the turn

The turn is where the membrane is asked to bend and stay bent. That is where it opens.

A base flashing is where a horizontal surface turns up a vertical one, and the two move against each other as the roof heats. It splits at the turn, not in the field. Height is covered on commercial roof replacement. On a repair the question is what the flashing is fastened to. Do not anchor it to a parapet unless the parapet and the substrate cannot move independently, because a flashing fastened across that joint tears there.

A pitch pan is a maintenance item

Pitch pans are seldom built to specification. The sealant dries out and pulls from the sides, and once the surface goes concave the pan holds water. Use a curb or boot flashing where the penetration allows one.

Start at the drain

Water standing around a drain two days after rain is a drainage fault, not a rain problem.

Pull the strainer and count the bolts holding the clamping ring down. They go missing one at a time, and the membrane lifts where they are gone. A damaged ring and the joint below it are the plumber's items. Every internal drain should sit in a sump, the bowl diameter plus 24 inches, so a 12-inch bowl gets 36 by 36 inches. If the pipe below the bowl leaks, no work on the membrane around it will stop the water.

What it isHolding the water back, then a permanent repair the warranty will acceptThe inspection is free, and the price for your roof comes in writing.

Get a price for your roof

Finding where the water gets in

Where the deck corrugations run parallel to the slope, water runs downhill inside the flute until it reaches a lap in the decking, and that lap is where it shows up inside. A hose test traces it, starting at the drain and working upstream in stages so each element is wetted alone. A moisture survey finds wet insulation without pinpointing the source. Flood testing is not recommended, because it loads a roof built to shed flowing water. Core cuts are on commercial roof replacement, standing water on commercial roofing.

What a sound patch looks like

TPO oxidizes on exposure, and past a short weathering window the sheet has to be cleaned with weathered membrane cleaner before anything is welded to it. The manufacturer's repair instructions set that window. A finished weld is continuous and free of voids across the full width the manufacturer specifies, and every seam gets probed once cool with a blunt probe, which will not enter a sound lap. EPDM takes seam adhesive or a tape cover strip in place of a weld, with the lap cleaned and primed first. On modified bitumen the patch is like material cut oversize. Corners get rounded, because square corners lift and peel.

The building underneath stays open

Asphalt, adhesives, coatings and solvents give off fumes that reach the space below through active HVAC systems. Occupants notice roofing asphalt at low concentrations, and odor is not an exposure measurement. The building's safety people decide the response. The units that pull air off the roof get shut down or covered by the building engineer while work is over them, and the kettle sits downwind of every intake. Torch work needs a fire watch during the work and for a set time after it, so ask what the permit is written to. Before older material comes off, an asbestos survey report signed by a consultant is required.

What to ask before you accept a price

Which items are temporary and which are permanent, priced separately?
Where is each defect marked on a roof plan, and where are the photographs?
Whose specification is the repair written to, and who is putting it in front of the manufacturer for written approval?
What are the unit prices per square foot and per linear foot?
What is the CSLB license number of the roofer who will attend, and does the classification cover the work?
Which parts of the job are other trades? Rooftop units, drain piping and gutters are priced separately.

Hand every bidder the same sheet. Three prices written against three different scopes tell you nothing about the roof.

The offer

$500 off a new roof, 10% off any repair

Send your request online from this page and the offer is attached, with nothing to remember.

We get on the roof, and into the attic if that is where the answer is
You get photographs of whatever we find
The price in writing, with nothing to sign on the spot

Claim it on a free inspection

Wet insulationA patch over saturated board is a repair that fails again in the same place.
Start at the drainPull the strainer and count the clamping ring bolts. They go missing one at a time.
Curbs and penetrationsThe turn from horizontal to vertical is where a base flashing splits.