We just finished these row houses. I’m writing about them because unlike the hundreds we have already done these are more like bathtubs than roofs.
Usually, flat roofed houses have at least one side that is open with parapet walls (parapets are walls that are higher than the roof) on either two or three sides. The slightly pitched roofs usually slope toward the area where the parapet is missing, in place of the parapet there is a gutter to carry all of the rainwater away. These houses have had additions built on where that open area once was.
Flat roof with ponding water
This vinyl sided area you see was built where the roof used to drain into a gutter. A drain was installed on the left side to handle the rain and melting snow. The drain failed during a huge snowstorm and water came into the house on all three levels.
The roof also has a pretty deep depression, when I was done shoveling off the snow I found about three inches of standing water right in the center of the roof; this roof has to fill up with at least 4″ of water before the first drop ever starts to flow into the drain; not cool. Standing water will kill a flat roof in no time. Would you want to get into a tub with 3″ of last nights water in it? Besides being a mosquito day spa, standing water on the roof starts to smell as leaves and debris start to accumulate and it begins to turn into a pond, a pond without a peeing cherub.
Solving the ponding problem:
Tapered insulation is a dense foam 4′x4′ board that has a slope heading in one direction. We use these 4′ square boards in different combinations to add slope to a retrograde roof.
Tapered insulation
You can see how the insulation slopes from 1/2″ on the right to 3″ on the left; by the time the insulation is installed across the roof it will be 6″ high; sloping all the way down to 1/2″.
Tapered insulation
The insulation is installed and the first course of the White TPO membrane is being installed.
TPO scupper drain
Since this roof has wall all around it I fabricated a scupper drain, the square plate you see is attached to a stainless steel tube, the tube runs through the brick wall to the outside. This is just like the drain in your tub.
TPO scupper drain
This is the same scupper drain from the back. Its made from TPO coated galvanized steel so we can weld our roofing directly to it. The square tube is made from stainless steel and I solder it to the TPO coated metal. This will pass through the brick parapet wall and carry the water away.
Flat roof before
Before:
When I took this picture it hadn’t rained for two weeks but the roof still had an inch of water on it.
TPO flat roof with tapered insulation
You can see how the roof pitches directly to the drain, no more pond, no more leaks.
Scupper drain and conductor head
This is where the scupper drain comes through the brick wall, I installed a white aluminum cover plate over the drain tube. Then I installed a conductor head to direct the water down the downspout to the ground.
Here is the other project that we finished the same week:
Before:
Flat roof
This one also failed miserably during a snow storm. Instead of installing a proper flat roof they chose to use a mixture of shingles, flat roof membranes and tar. It worked about as well as you could expect.
During:
New insulation
Old roof removed and new insulation installed.
new White TPO flat roof
New white TPO membrane and new scupper drain installed and ready to face another winter.
TPO scupper drain
My new drain with a plate and conductor head.
Old roof drain
This was the old drain, the contractor just knocked the bricks out, laid in some bits of metal and tar and called it a day. I was actually surprised it lasted as long as it did.
There are ways to properly address any roof, no matter what the previous owner or roofer did we can always fix it.
If you are having trouble with your roof call me any time.
Tags: Alexandria flat roof, arlington flat roof, flat roof, flat roof contractor, flat roof drain, flat roof drainage, flat roof with ponding, leaking flat roof, row house flat roof, TPO flat roof, TPO scupper drain
Can you provide contractor you know in Chicago area that does excellent work as yours appears.
I have a flat roof and I just want someone who does quality work at a fair price.
Also can you tell me if is odd to ask a contractor price out the cost of materials – separate from labor?
I would like to know the cost of my roof in materials for a couple of reasons:
1. I think I can get energy rebated if specific types of materials are used and I think I need to be able to show cost in order to get the 30% tax credit.
2. Unfortunately, I have been told that roofers will do such things as overprice materials to make more money,
purchase more materials than necessary for your job and use it on another job, and thing so this nature. I have
no desire to tell professionals what they should make but I also don’t want to simply give money away for the
taking, I simply can’t afford that and I would like to protect myself from these types of practices. I’m getting
referrals but most of the referrals I get have been from girlfriends who wouldn’t know if they were the recipients
of bad practices such as this. Like most homeowners they just want the work done right and the problems that
required the work to be solved. Ultimately, I have to trust someone but I would like my trust to be based on
sound information that I can best determine as a consumer. I have no one to check the work or determine if
it is good work so I’m trying to learn as much before I start to prevent disappointment, loss, and problems
later. I don’t want to end up hunting someone down, having to go to court, or anything of this nature. I’m a
professional person with high standards and I simply want the same when I hire people to do work for me.
Any info you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your help.
Best Regards,
lyn
Lyn,
Look here to find a roofing contractor in your area; I don’t know anyone in Chicago
http://www.crca.org/
I’ll try to answer your questions in order:
1) There are currently no rebates for Energy Star rated flat roof membranes; the tax credits available now only apply to a few metal and asphalt shingle roofs. Maybe next year the rules will change.
2) You are under the assumption that roofers a making a ton of money; most of us operate on a 10% profit margin, restaurants typically operate on an 80% markup of their product. (It’s a lot easier and safer to make a sandwich than it is to replace a roof.) Our main goal is to give you the best job at the lowest price; ours is an industry of intense competition and incredible liability. Property damage, injuries, astounding insurance costs, landfill charges, sudden material price increases and occasionally dishonest clients make our risks sometimes far greater than our rewards.
Again; we want to deliver the best product at the lowest cost, if there was a bucket of screws left over from another job you will be the beneficiary of that savings. Buying more material and charging you for it would be a foolish thing to do; it would only make the job more expensive and reduce our chance of winning the bid. When preparing an estimate I count every screw, nail and glue roller down to the very last one; accuracy and precision are the only way to stay as lean and competitive as possible.
My best advice is for you to ask a friend for a referral or find a contractor with the link I’ve provided you, meet each contractor when they estimate your project. Then check up on each company; look at years in business (look for more than 5 years), Better Business Bureau reports, local government sometimes has consumer complaint resources, ask each contractor for the address and contact info for their most recently completed job; call and see how they did.
When you find a roofer that has all of these attributes you will have found your man. Don’t worry so much about being ripped off, we don’t make as much as you think.