Lakewood, CA
Flat roofs do not shed water. They hold it back.
Flat sections on an otherwise pitched house are where the leaks are. Additions, porch roofs, and the bit over the garage.
Describe the flat roofing job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Lakewood contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Lakewood 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
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
- Whether a coating is being sold as a repair
- Drain, scupper and overflow provision
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
Look at the flashing where the flat section meets a wall. That transition leaks far more often than the field of the membrane does.
Single-ply membranes — TPO, PVC, EPDM — are heat-welded or taped at the seams. The seams and the terminations are the whole job.
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
Close behind that: dry offshore wind that arrives all at once in autumn. They also drive ember risk, which is why vent screening and Class A assemblies matter more here than the colour of the covering.
About flat roofing here
How quickly will someone call?
Most requests are picked up the same day, often within an hour. Emergencies are prioritised. If you have not heard anything by the next morning, check voicemail — contractors usually call from a mobile.
What happens to my information?
It goes to a maximum of three roofing contractors working in Lakewood, and to nobody else. We do not sell it as a mailing list and we do not post it anywhere public. Our privacy policy sets out exactly what is shared.
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.
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.
What is it going to cost?
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.