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Aerial view of a large commercial membrane roof being assessed

Commercial

Commercial roof
inspection.

Free assessment on low slope buildings. Photographed, written up, and honest about whether the roof needs replacing or has years left in it.

A commercial roof seldom tells you it is failing. Water enters at a seam or a flashing, travels sideways under the membrane, and shows up on a ceiling tile fifty feet away. By the time somebody reports a stain the insulation underneath is often already wet, which is the difference between a repair and a tear-off.

What gets checked

What an assessment covers

Seams and laps
Where single ply fails first. Heat welded seams open with age and movement.
Flashings and terminations
Parapets, curbs, and anywhere the membrane turns up. The most common leak point on any low slope roof.
Drains and scuppers
Blocked or undersized drainage puts standing water on a roof that was never designed to hold it.
Penetrations
Every pipe, vent, curb and unit is a hole in the roof that was sealed once and has been weathering since.
Insulation condition
Wet insulation is the deciding factor between coating, section replacement and full tear-off.
Deck and structure
What is under the insulation, and whether it has been holding water long enough to matter.
Crew assessing a low slope commercial roof on an occupied municipal building

What you get

Something you can put in front of a board

Most commercial roof decisions get made by somebody who has to justify the spend to somebody else. A property manager, an owner, a school board, a church council.

So the assessment comes back as photographs of the actual failures, a written scope of what is being recommended, and a plain explanation of what happens if conditions change once the roof is opened up. No verbal quotes and no vague allowances.

If the honest answer is that the roof has five years left and needs two repairs, that is what the report says. Selling a replacement to a building that does not need one is how contractors lose the next three buildings the same owner has.

Who writes the report

People who replace commercial roofs

Assessments are written by people who replace commercial roofs for a living, so the numbers in the report reflect what the work costs. Some of the buildings we've roofed around the Lehigh Valley.

Large white membrane roof on the Allentown YMCA, photographed from the air after completion
Allentown YMCA
Allentown, PA
Completed commercial roof on Northwestern Lehigh High School
Northwestern Lehigh High School
New Tripoli, PA
Roof replacement at Fox Hollow Country Club in Bethlehem
Fox Hollow Country Club
Bethlehem, PA
Completed shingle roof on a large historic commercial building at 3000 Parkway Boulevard, Allentown
3000 Parkway Boulevard
Allentown, PA
Completed shingle roof on a commercial building on Route 873 in Neffs
Route 873
Neffs, PA
Completed roof on the Trolley Shops Restaurant building
Trolley Shops Restaurant
Lehigh Valley, PA

Commercial inspection questions

What building owners ask

Is the assessment free?

Yes, including the report and the photographs.

There is no charge whether the outcome is a repair, a replacement or nothing.

Do you need to shut the building down?

No. An assessment happens on the roof and does not affect anybody inside.

If the work itself goes ahead, phasing and access get agreed before anything starts.

Can you tell if the insulation is wet without opening the roof?

Often, from ponding patterns, soft spots underfoot and the condition at the seams.

Where it matters and the numbers are large, a core sample settles it rather than guessing on a roof worth six figures.

How often should a commercial roof be looked at?

Twice a year is the standard, and after any significant storm.

Most commercial roof failures are small problems that had a year or two to get worse before anybody looked.

Get the building
assessed.

Free commercial roof assessment, photographed, with a written scope you can hand to an owner or a board.

Call (610) 890-4800