La Habra, CA
Flat roof work in La Habra, CA
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.
What a flat roofing job actually involves
These are the things a quote for this work has to account for. If a contractor has not mentioned them, they have not looked properly.
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
- Drain, scupper and overflow provision
- Whether a coating is being sold as a repair
- Which membrane, and how the seams are joined
Your request is in.
We are matching it now against roofing contractors working in La Habra and the surrounding area.
- Today, usually within the hour. The first contractor calls or texts the number you gave us. ASAP requests go out first.
- Up to three of them, no more. We cap it at three so you can compare without your phone melting.
- They come and look. Estimates are given after somebody has been on the roof, not over the phone.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
If you do not hear anything today, check your voicemail and spam folder — contractors often call from a mobile number.
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.
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.
Locally
Then, less dramatically: morning fog that sits on the roof until mid-morning. Nothing dramatic happens. A slope stays damp most mornings for thirty years, and eventually that is enough.
About flat roofing here
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.
What should I do to prepare?
Move the cars out, take pictures off the top-floor walls, cover anything stored in the attic, and put pets somewhere else for the loud days. Expect nails in the driveway however careful the crew is — ask whether they run a magnet at the end.
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.