Flat Roof Owners - what do you think? Re: Leaky Roof

[LynneSin]

I own a row-home and I have a flat room with a small tiny leak in the guest room. Fortunately it has done little damage inside the house.

I got 2 quotes.

Quote #1: Came from the place more likely to be higher in price but has a good reputation. They do not specialize in flat-roofs but will do repairs and add flat-roof coating. They said the roof was in relatively good shape, could fix the repair and add another new level of coating for less than $900 with a three year warranty. They also said that flat roofs should be recoated every 3-5 years. Although they do not replace flat roofs they said it would probably run around $10k to get it replaced.

Quote #2: The place I expected to come in lower plus I know a person who is friends with the owners. They work on alot of flat roofs and said my roof needs replacing. They quote about $7000.

I really don't have the kind of money to replace the roof and the only thing I know about the roof was when I got the home inspection I did bring in a roof inspector and he said the roof was ok shape but probably would need a coating in a few years. Mind you I bought the house before the 09-10 blizzards that hit the mid-atlantic and dumped about 6ft of snow on my roof over a month period.

Anyone here own a house with a flat roof? I'm really thinking that coating should be fine. If there were more leaks than just that one small corner, I could see replacing the roof. And Quote #1 will give me a warranty so I should be fine for about 3 years (the coating will last 3-5 years, less likely to crack in the cold weather).

[xchrom]

1. i don't have any advice -- but oy! nt

[LynneSin]

2. I should have bought a *#)%#^ Condo

:grr:

[mnhtnbb]

3. We had a home with a flat roof--which burned down--after we spent

$12K--yeah!--to replace a SECTION of the roof (had a deck on part of it)that covered about 400 sq ft. YIKES!

We were always having leaks. Previous owner hadn't torn out the old roof and just put a new cover over it.
What a mess. Finally tore the whole thing out and replaced it and then house burned down two years later.

My advice? Do the proper fix now and NEVER buy a house with a flat roof.

[LynneSin]

4. Too late with buying a flat roof house.

I probably and going to have to do the fix right now just because money is tight. But in 3-5 years I might be able to save up to get a new roof.

[TorchTheWitch]

5. I rent a row house with a flat roof and have a little experience with this

A few years ago I got a roof leak and called the landlord about it. The water was draining through to a ceiling fixture and collected in the glass globe that covers it. It was a BIG leak but I talked to the guys that came to do the repair and they said that mostly it just needed a re-coating and that's supposed to be done every few years and the landlord hadn't kept up with that. There was only a very small bit that they wanted to replace because there had been so much water that all went through that very small area. A particularly bad winter like the mess we had last year can really compound the problem with a roof that hasn't been recoated for awhile causing the coating to buckle and crack.

It sounds really whack to me that one single leak - and a really small one - adds up to needing the entire roof replaced especially since you had it inspected not too long ago. That sounds like a rip off to me. I would think also that they'd give you a detailed explaination as to WHY the whole roof would need to be replaced. If they didn't do that then that sounds even more fishy to me.

[ornotna]

6. Go with the first quote

From your description that sounds like the reasonable solution.

Or you could DIY.

http://www.somay.com/featured/rmastic/index.html

[NV Whino]

7. I handle maintenance for several houses

You will always have leaks with a flat roof. My advice in this situation: get it fixed for now. That gives you a couple of years to explore other options and time to save up. Do not delay in getting it fixed as leaks lead to dry rot and more repair cost. By the way, there is no such thing as a small leak. Any leak is a major leak and should be addressed immediately.

[Silver Swan]

8. We had a house that was partially flat-roofed

We lived there 24 years, and had to replace the flat roof three times, compared to once for the peaked roof part. The last flat roof replacement was in 1996, and back then it was about $7000.

It also is important to be certain eave troughs and down spouts are clear, because water can back up under the eaves.

[Inchworm]

9. I'd go with the repair myself - my flatroof knowledge is rather spotty

It has been a long time. Most of the flatroofs I've worked around were on commercial buildings, and I mostly did residential carpentry... we subbed out the stuff I hated.. like roofs, painting, and finishing sheetrock.

Funny story I remember is...

After hurricane Hugo we did a flat roof that INTENTIONALLY held water for insulation. It was like building a swimming pool on top of a building. It had to have failed. There are too many things that can go wrong :P

:hi:

[hedgehog]

10. I'd go with the lower estimate for now - especially since you have

a guarantee. My husband has been chasing one leak in our flat roof for about 2 years now. He fixed it a couple times, then recoated the entire roof, but that one seam keeps opening up.

Save up and make plans to replace the roof - ideally with something that sheds water/snow.

[Old Troop]

11. I recommend the first quote. Part of my house in MA has a large

flat roof. Several years ago we had a leak and got the same kind of quotes as your second option. A friend of my daughter's is a roofer and told us that fixing the leak rather than replacing the roof would work for about 5 years. He and his friends did the work and the roof has been fine for about 3 years. This has given us time to save money to replace the roof in a couple of years.

[david13]

12. I know that flat roofs all leak, and it seems like all the time. I also

know that they are impossible to get fixed at any price. I also know that they are as common as dirt in Los Angeles area, in fact, it is harder than finding hounds teeth, or something rare, to find roofs that are not flat around here, or have any negligible peak to them.
So that my love and acceptance motto says get some buckets & don't let it bother you.
dc