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What a Good Flat Roofing Contractor Understands

May 9th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

Finding a good flat roofing contractor is a must when you decide to re-do your flat roof. The premise is the same as a peaked roof, you want to keep water out of the home or building. An inexperienced flat roofing contractor can always promise no leaks and even guarantee their work but you want it done right the first time. In correctly installing a flat roof is worse then incorrectly doing a peaked roof because water run off is not the same. If your flat roofing contractor installs the flat roof incorrectly you are looking at major costs on the repair side.

Installing, replacing or repairing a flat roof requires the flat roofing contractor to understand how water works and how it can seep into the interior of a building around the many accessories typically installed on a roof. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning units, vents and utility lines may all run through or across the roof, especially in commercial buildings and proper installation techniques can prevent leaks forming around the roof penetrations.

When a flat roof contractor fist inspects the roof he should be able to advice you on whether you need to replace is and whether it is necessary to remove the old roof. A good flat roofing contractor can insure once the old roofing materials have been removed that the structure is sound an ready for new product. Without that experience and dedication to quality work, the new roof can be damaged on left over nails, pipe supports or other unwanted items left on the roof surface.

Vast array of roofing materials at your disposal

In the past, most flat roofing contractor companies worked with tar and gravel to seal a roof, with tar paper rolled on first to create an initial barrier. Once the paper was done, each seam sealed and the edges receiving additional cold tar, hot tar was typically spread evenly across the roof. As an alternative, once the paper was covering the roof, hot tar was applied with a broom, working it into all seams and joints and into an area where the paper met penetrations.

This was usually done in small sections to insure the tar was hot when it came to the end of the section, and then gravel was evenly spread across the surface to provide strength and durability. Additionally, it provided an untouched area on which workers could walk without damaging the new section of roofing materials.

In modern time your flat roofing contractor has many options to choose from. There are plastic membranes that are rolled onto the roof which provide an extra layer of protection against moisture and the elements. This kind of procedure takes multiple people to get the job done right because the slightest breeze can blow the light weight plastic around. The plastic membranes still need to be sealed by the flat roofing contractor to protect against the elements.

When you select your flat roofing contractor make sure to check out the local BBB and always ask questions about experience and whether or not they do a lot of flat roofing. Another good tip is to get multiple bids. www.ReliableRemodeler.com is a good source for getting multiple bids because they line up three contractors for you and provide a free estimate.