Find the system first
TPO, PVC, EPDM, modified bitumen, built-up, coatings, and metal need system-specific evaluation.
(214) 807-0414Request an assessmentLow-slope roofing
Drainage and details define a low-slope roof.
Low-slope roofs rely on continuous membranes or multi-ply systems, careful seams and transitions, positive drainage, compatible flashings, and controlled rooftop work.
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At a glance
The system, before the sales pitch.
Specification first. Every row below is a property of the system, not a claim about a product line.
- Drainage
- Review slope, drains, scuppers, gutters, overflow paths, and recurring ponding locations.
- Membrane
- Identify the actual system before repair; materials and methods are not interchangeable.
- Details
- Penetrations, curbs, parapets, edges, transitions, seams, and previous repairs drive risk.
How the system behaves
Performance is an assembly, not a product name.
Ponding is a symptom, not one diagnosis
Drainage design, deflection, blocked outlets, tapered insulation, deck condition, and settlement may contribute.
Control rooftop traffic
Service technicians, equipment, dropped tools, grease, chemicals, and temporary storage can affect membranes.
Choose a starting point
Match the next step to the condition.
A short, non-diagnostic guide for working out what kind of assessment conversation to prepare for.
Decision support
Choose a starting point.
Four situations, and the sensible next move for each. It does not diagnose a roof, decide insurance coverage, or stand in for somebody looking at the property.
- What the next step actually is
- What to have ready before anyone arrives
- What we will not ask you to do
Questions
Useful answers, without overpromising.
Are flat roofs truly flat?
No, and one that genuinely is flat is a problem. What gets called a flat roof is a low-slope roof, built with a deliberate fall towards outlets so that water leaves rather than sits. Ponding is the thing to look for: standing water that is still there two days after rain means the fall, the outlets or the deck is not doing its job, and everything ages faster under it.
Can a coating fix every old roof?
No. A coating is a way of extending a roof that is fundamentally sound, not a way of avoiding one that is not. If there is trapped moisture in the insulation, failed laps, or drainage that does not work, a coating seals all of it in and buys a year or two before the same problems return with a new surface over them. What decides candidacy is what is found underneath, not what the roof looks like from above.
How do I find out what system is already up there?
By looking closely, and where that is not conclusive, by cutting a small core through the assembly and patching it on the same visit. Membranes that look alike from a distance are joined by entirely different methods, and a patch in the wrong material is a leak with a delay on it. On a roof of unknown construction the core is usually worth the opening, because everything decided afterwards depends on the answer.
Water is still standing on the roof two days after rain. Is that a defect?
It is a symptom with several possible causes: the slope as it was designed, deflection in the deck, a blocked outlet, insulation that has compressed or shifted, or settlement in the structure. Which one it is changes the remedy completely — from clearing a drain, to tapered insulation, to something structural. What it is not is a problem a surface treatment resolves, and that is worth establishing before anybody quotes to coat over it.
Assessment request
Tell us what is happening at the property.
Short, routing-only questions. Nothing here asks you to diagnose the roof yourself.