We replace flat and low-slope commercial roofs in Madison: warehouses, office buildings, apartment blocks, retail strips, and the mixed-use properties that sit between them. A lot of the building stock here has age on it. The median home in Madison was built in 1979, and plenty of the commercial roofs around them went on to similar timelines. A roof of that vintage has usually been patched, coated, or partially reroofed at least once already. We work on those every week. Our job is to tell you whether the system on your building still has service left, or whether water has already worked its way into the deck.
Replacement makes sense when the membrane has given out, when the insulation under it holds moisture, or when the flashing details have been chased with sealant year after year. Sometimes it does not make sense, and we say so. We would rather do a repair that holds a few more seasons than put a new system on a building that does not need one yet. Either way you get a straight account of what we found up there and what we think it needs. The properties we work on run from downtown Madison out to Sun Prairie. Call for a free estimate.
Licensed, Bonded, and Insured ยท A combined 15 years of experience
TPO is a single ply membrane, usually 45, 60 or 80 mil, mechanically fastened or fully adhered over polyiso insulation. The seams are hot air welded, which is where most of the strength lives. What fails is rarely the field of the sheet. It is the seam that was welded cold, the fastener plate that backed out, or the flashing at a curb or drain that nobody detailed properly the first time.
Standing seam panels in 24 gauge steel, with a Kynar finish, run vertical ribs that are seamed together above the water line. Concealed clips let the panel move as it heats and cools. Exposed fastener panels are cheaper to install and they age differently: the neoprene washers harden, the screws loosen, and water finds the holes. We check panel gauge, clip spacing and the condition of every penetration.
Hail bruises a membrane without opening it, so damage on a flat roof often reads as nothing at all from the ground. On TPO and EPDM we look for fractured reinforcement scrim under the top ply, soft spots over saturated insulation, and spatter on metal caps and vent hoods. On shingles it shows as dark circular strikes with the granules knocked off. Moisture then works down through the deck quietly.
Repairs on residential roofs come down to reading why the water got in. Lifted tabs, exposed nail heads, cracked pipe boots and rusted step flashing at a wall account for most of it. Around Madison, a lot of houses date to the era when three tab was standard, so matching an old profile takes some hunting. We replace the flashing rather than caulk it, and we pull the courses back far enough to nail into sound decking.
Madison's building stock has a median build year of 1979, and a flat roof that old has usually been recovered at least once. What we find under a leak is rarely one hole. Old built-up systems go brittle at the seams. Flashing pulls away from parapet walls and curbs, and the membrane down in the drain sump stays soft long after the surface looks dry. Water tracks sideways under the system, so the stain on the ceiling inside sits nowhere near the actual breach. That gap between symptom and source is why a lot of repairs get made twice.
Moisture trapped in the insulation is the problem that decides between repair and replacement. Once the boards are saturated, the roof loses thermal performance and gains weight the structure was never drawn to carry. We core the deck to find out how far it has spread. Layered patches are the other common find: mastic over mastic, a decade of small fixes that keep water moving rather than stopping it. Ponding at a low spot, torn field seams, rusted metal edge, fasteners backing out under the membrane. Replacement work is permitted through the City of Madison, and we pull that permit before anything comes off the building.
We walk the whole roof, not a corner of it. Seams get probed, flashings get lifted at the base, and drains and scuppers get checked for standing water rings. Core cuts tell us what is under the membrane: how many layers, what the insulation is doing, whether the deck is sound. Wet insulation is the thing that hides longest. We photograph what we find and go through it with you.
Our estimate breaks the job into parts you can read: tear-off and disposal, deck repair, insulation and cover board, membrane and thickness, edge metal, flashing details, and any curbs or penetrations that need rebuilding. Line items mean you can see what changes if the scope changes. Deck damage under the old system is the usual surprise, so we tell you how we handle it before work starts.
Flat roof work happens over an occupied building, so the schedule matters as much as the installation. We settle staging areas, crane or hoist placement, dumpster location, and which entrances stay clear. Tear-off is planned in sections we can dry in the same day. If your tenants need notice about noise, odor from adhesives, or roof access, we work that into the sequence with you.
Crews arrive with the materials already staged and a defined section to open. Old system comes off, the deck gets swept and inspected, then insulation, cover board, and membrane go down in order. Seams are welded or adhered per the system, and every penetration gets its own flashing detail. Nothing sits open overnight. Water tests and a magnet sweep of the grounds close out each day.
We walk the finished roof with you and look at the details that matter later: terminations, corners, drain sumps, pitch pans, and every curb. Fasteners and plates get verified, and the membrane manufacturer's inspector reviews the installation for their coverage. Once the roof passes, the paperwork registering the system in your name goes through. You get the documents, the material specifications, and a plan for periodic maintenance.
Most of the flat commercial roofs we replace get a single-ply membrane: TPO, PVC or EPDM, mechanically fastened or fully adhered depending on the deck and on what the building does inside. Modified bitumen still earns its place on smaller roofs and on decks carrying a lot of penetrations. Metal shows up on low-slope sections and on the sloped elements that tie into a flat field. The membrane is only part of the system. Insulation, cover board, fasteners, edge metal and flashing decide whether the assembly keeps water out for decades or starts failing in a few seasons.
Material choice follows the building, not a catalogue. Madison's housing stock has a median build year of 1979, and plenty of commercial property here dates from the same stretch, which means original decks, insulation that has taken on moisture, and flashing details built to older standards. We cut test areas and look at what is actually up there before specifying anything. On residential roofs the same logic governs asphalt, metal, and the flashing at walls, chimneys and valleys. What we recommend is the system that suits the deck, the slope, the drainage and the long-term protection the property needs.
We would rather show you the work than put words in a customer's mouth. Ask us what we have torn off, what the flashing details looked like once we opened them up, and how those systems have handled water since. It is a fair question, and the one worth asking. Madison, Fitchburg, Middleton and Sun Prairie are all our ground, and every roof in them gets the same crew and the same standards.
Most of what building owners ask us is practical. Where is the water actually getting in. What can be repaired, and what has to come off entirely. Whether the deck under an aging membrane still has structural life left, a question that comes up often in an area whose housing stock carries a median build year of 1979. Those answers depend on your roof, not on someone else's. Call for a free estimate and ask them.