Commercial
Tear-off, recover or coating, decided by what is under the membrane rather than what is easiest to sell. Municipal buildings, school districts, churches, warehouses and multi-unit.
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Two questions, then someone calls you back to set up a walkthrough. Usually the same day.
The insulation decides it. If the insulation under the membrane is dry, a recover or a coating can add years for a fraction of a tear-off. If it is saturated, anything laid over the top traps the water and buys two years and a bigger bill. That question gets answered before a number is quoted, not after.
The three options
Occupied buildings
Most of the commercial work here is on buildings that cannot close. A fire station, a YMCA, two school district buildings, a golf clubhouse and multi-unit residential are all live examples.
That means phasing, staging and access get agreed before anybody starts, and the roof is never opened wider than can be closed the same day. Schools work around terms and summers. Churches work around weekends. Medical tenants work around clinic hours.
Every stage is photographed, so what happened under the membrane is documented rather than described afterwards.
When it is time
The process
Someone walks the roof, photographs the failures, and checks the drains, the flashings and whether the insulation is wet. That answer decides tear-off, recover or coating.
The system, the insulation, the drainage fixes, the warranty, and what happens to the price if wet insulation or bad deck turns up once it is open.
Permits are pulled, and phasing, staging, crane and dumpster placement are agreed around the people using the building.
The roof is opened one section at a time and never wider than can be closed and made watertight the same day.
Damaged deck and wet insulation are replaced, new insulation and cover board go down, then the membrane, with every seam, curb, drain and wall flashing detailed.
Final walkthrough, photographs of the finished roof, and the warranty paperwork.
What moves the price
Recent replacements
Commercial replacements across the Lehigh Valley, from a working municipal fire station to two school district buildings and a golf clubhouse. Every one is a real building you can go and look at. Three of them are in Allentown, covered on the commercial roofing in Allentown page, and the Quakertown clubhouse is on the Bucks County commercial page.
Commercial replacement questions
It depends on square footage, access and how much has to come off, and the schedule is written down before the start.
Phased work on an occupied building takes longer by design, because closing every night matters more than finishing quickly.
You get told, with photographs, before more work happens.
The scope states in advance what happens if wet insulation or bad deck turns up, so it is a known price rather than a surprise invoice.
Yes, and for school districts and municipal buildings that is often how it gets funded.
Sections get prioritised by condition so the worst area is done first rather than whichever is easiest to reach.
Yes, when there is storm damage to document.
Commercial claims run the same process as residential with bigger numbers, which makes the documentation matter more.
Usually, and it is a good option when the roof underneath is dry.
A recover skips most of the tear-off and disposal. It only works on a sound, dry substrate, and the assessment tells you whether yours is one.
Often, with planning. Some membranes and adhesives have temperature limits.
Cold weather work gets scheduled around those limits, and a roof that is leaking now gets made watertight first so the building is protected until the full replacement.
Yes, across eastern Pennsylvania and into New Jersey.
There are local pages for Allentown and Bucks County, and everything else is on the main commercial roofing page.
Free assessment with photographs, a written scope, and an honest answer on tear-off, recover or coating.