Commercial Flat Roofing in Madison, WI

Most flat roof leaks start at a seam, a drain or the flashing around a rooftop unit, not in the open field of the membrane. We trace the water back to where it actually gets in, which is often several feet from the stain on the ceiling. Then we repair it in the roof's own material: heat-welded TPO patches, primed EPDM seam tape, or torch-applied cap sheet on modified bitumen. Call for a free estimate.

An inspection means walking the whole roof and opening it up where something looks wrong. We probe seams, check curb and parapet flashing, note ponding that stays more than two days, and take core cuts where the insulation feels soft underfoot. Wet polyiso under a dry-looking membrane is a common find. We photograph what we see and write it up plainly: what can wait, what needs attention soon, and what cannot wait.

With the median home here built in 1979, roofs from that era are often covered over once or twice already. Replacement means tearing those layers off to the deck, replacing rusted steel or rotted plank, and rebuilding with tapered polyiso so water runs to the drains instead of pooling. The new membrane is usually 60-mil TPO, 60 or 90-mil EPDM, or a two-ply modified bitumen system. We handle the permit.

New construction and additions get the same care at the edges as in the field. We lay two staggered layers of polyiso under a cover board, then fully adhere or mechanically fasten the membrane, tightening the pattern at corners and perimeter where wind pulls hardest. Every pipe, curb and drain gets its own flashing, and metal edge or coping closes out the perimeter. With about 36 inches of snow a year, meltwater needs a clear path to drains and scuppers.

We start on the roof itself, not from the parking lot. We walk the whole field, probe soft spots, check seams and flashing at every curb, drain and parapet, and cut a core sample to see how many layers are up there and what shape the insulation is in. Wet insulation changes a job more than anything else. Inside, we look at the underside of the deck for rust, staining and sag.

The estimate lays out the scope line by line: tear-off or recover, the membrane and its thickness, insulation type, tapered insulation where water sits, new drains or scuppers, and every piece of flashing and edge metal. Deck repair gets its own line, because nobody knows the full extent until the old roof is off. We handle the permit and note it in the scope. Nothing on the building gets touched that is not written down first.

Tear-off goes in sections we can close up the same day. We cut the old membrane, insulation and cover board into strips and send it down a chute into a covered dumpster. We do not leave open deck overnight, and if rain moves in, we seal the edge of the day's work with temporary tie-ins. Old flashing, rotted wood nailers and cracked pitch pans come off too. Reusing them is how new roofs leak in the first year.

With the deck bare, we walk every panel. Steel deck gets checked for rust-through and loose fastening at the joists, and rusted sections are cut out and replaced with matching gauge and profile. On wood decks we replace delaminated plywood and rotten plank. On concrete, we patch spalling before anything goes down. This is also when structural problems show: sag between joists, crushed areas around rooftop units. Anything beyond a deck fix, we stop and show you.

On a flat roof, the layers under the membrane do most of the work. Over steel we lay a vapor retarder where the building calls for one, then polyiso insulation in staggered layers so the joints never line up. Tapered polyiso builds slope toward the drains, usually a quarter inch per foot, so water moves instead of ponding. A half-inch cover board goes on top to protect the insulation from foot traffic and hail.

Most of our commercial roofing is TPO, EPDM or modified bitumen. For TPO, we adhere or mechanically fasten 60 or 80 mil reinforced membrane, hot-air weld every seam, and probe each weld by hand. EPDM seams get primer and seam tape. Flashing runs up every curb, parapet and penetration at least eight inches. Madison sees about 36 inches of snow a year, and meltwater finds any weak seam, so drain details get the most care.

Before we call it done, we walk the roof again with the same eyes we used on day one. Every seam gets probed. Every drain gets water run through it, and every termination bar, counterflashing and pitch pocket is checked for sealant and fastening. We photograph the finished roof, including details you will never see from the ground. Where the job carries a permit, we handle that inspection too. You keep the photos and a record of what went on the building.

Cleanup happens every day, not just the last one. Fasteners and metal offcuts are the real hazard, so we sweep the roof, the drains and the ground with magnets, and check entrances and parking areas before people come back. Debris leaves in covered containers. We pull membrane scraps out of gutters and scuppers, take down the staging, and leave rooftop units, conduit and gas lines the way we found them.