Commercial Roofing around Orem
Low-slope and membrane systems for commercial buildings.
Commercial Roofing for Orem homes and buildings
TPO, EPDM, PVC, modified bitumen and built-up, specified for the building and the traffic it takes.
Spring runoff is the quiet test of a roof in Orem. A steep pitch sheds fast, which sounds like an advantage until the water hits a valley or a gutter that was sized for an average storm rather than the week the snowpack lets go.
A commercial roof is a different trade from a steep-slope house roof. We do both, separately.
What matters on commercial roofing
Drainage before material
The first question on any low-slope roof is where the water goes. Ponding is what kills membranes, and a roof that holds water for days after a storm will fail early regardless of which sheet is on it. We look at the slope, the drains and the terminations before we talk about material.
Seams and terminations
Field failures on commercial roofs are rare. Failures at seams, curbs, drains and the parapet edge are common. A hot-air welded seam that has been probed is a continuous sheet. Anything taped or glued and unverified is a scheduled leak.
Commercial Roofing around Orem
How the system goes together
Pipe boots and roof penetrations
The rubber collar around a plumbing vent is the shortest-lived thing on most roofs. Ultraviolet at this elevation cracks that rubber long before the shingles are tired, and the crack sits directly over an open hole in the deck. Lead boots or a metal collar with a replaceable seal last considerably longer.
Everything that comes through gets a plan
Furnace flues, swamp cooler curbs, satellite mounts, solar standoffs. Each one is a hole somebody has to detail correctly.
Coatings on a low-slope roof
A roof coating is a maintenance system, not a replacement. On a sound membrane or a metal roof with good fasteners, a properly prepped coating adds reflectivity and buys real years. Over a wet insulation layer or a membrane that has already delaminated, it is paint over a problem.
Prep is the whole job
Cleaning, seam treatment, and fixing what is actually broken take longer than rolling the coating on.
When coating is wrong
If a roof is done, coating it just delays the same conversation.
What we check
- Field condition and granule loss
- Valleys, ridges and every transition
- Penetrations and their flashing
- Gutter and fascia condition
What the job looks like
Get on the roof
We walk it rather than look from the drive, check the decking underfoot, the flashings and the ventilation, and photograph what we find before any number is discussed.
Show you what we saw
The photographs come back to you with a plain read of what the roof needs and, just as often, what it does not need yet.
Crew on site
The crews we hire work under Hancock’s direction, staged so landscaping and the drive are protected, working the detail in the order it is supposed to go on rather than the order that is quickest.
Leave it clean
Site cleared at the end of every day, a magnet run over the whole yard for nails at the finish, and the roof walked with you before we go.
Microclimate changes street to street
Two homes ten minutes apart can be on completely different roofs in terms of what they endure. Elevation, whether the lot sits in a canyon draw, how much tree cover is overhead, and which direction the main slope faces all change the answer. A roof age that is fine on a shaded north-facing bench home is well past done on an exposed south-facing lot at a higher elevation.
Why we look before we talk
That is the reason we get on a roof before saying anything about it.
Sun at this elevation
The thing that quietly ages a roof around here is not a storm. It is a mile of thin air between the shingle and the sun, with more clear days than most of the country gets. Ultraviolet breaks down the asphalt binder, the mat loses flexibility, granules let go, and a south or west slope wears out years ahead of the north side of the same house.
Uneven wear is normal
On plenty of homes up here the south face is done and the north face has life left. That is not a defect, it is exposure, and it is worth knowing before anybody talks about replacing everything.
Where roofs go wrong
The shortcut we see most
A membrane laid over wet insulation because tearing off would have cost a day. The roof looks finished, the moisture stays underneath, and the sheet fails early from below.
What good looks like instead
Moisture surveyed, wet sections cut out and replaced, drainage corrected, then the membrane installed and its seams probed.
Signs worth a look
- Ponding water still standing two days after rain
- Seams that have lifted or opened at an edge
- Blisters or ridging across the field
- Interior staining near drains, curbs or the parapet
What to expect
Scheduling around your operation
Most commercial work can be staged so the disruptive part happens when the building is quiet. Tear-off noise, crane or hoist time and material deliveries all get planned against your hours rather than ours.
What the roof survey covers
Before specifying anything we survey the existing assembly: slope and drainage, moisture in the insulation, the condition of seams and terminations, and how the roof is being used. A roof somebody walks on weekly needs a different answer from one nobody touches.
Documentation
Commercial and public work runs on records. We photograph the existing condition, the work in progress and the finished assembly, so there is a file rather than a recollection.
Getting to Orem
Working Orem regularly rather than occasionally is what makes an honest read possible. We have been on enough roofs across Utah County to know which subdivisions came from the same builder and inherited the same shortcut.
That proximity is most of what matters when weather moves through. Orem sits in Utah County, and we are on roofs across it regularly enough to know how the housing there was built.
Questions we get asked
Not the question you had? Call the shop and ask a person. We would rather talk it through than have you guess from a website.
(801) 382-8898Do you actually work in Orem?
Yes. Orem sits inside the ground we cover around Salt Lake City, and the crew is there most weeks rather than once a season.
How fast can you get to Orem after a storm?
As fast as we can get there. Stopping the water comes first and the permanent repair follows once the weather opens a window.
Do you work through the winter?
Yes, with judgment. Shingles need to seal, and in genuine cold that takes longer or needs hand sealing. Emergency work happens whenever it has to. Full replacements get scheduled around the weather rather than forced into it.
What makes a Utah roof different?
Snow load, ice at the eaves, canyon wind and high-altitude sun, all on the same roof. A crew that learned roofing somewhere mild has to learn it again up here.
How do I know when a roof is getting close?
Granules collecting in the gutters, tabs lifting or curling at the edges, shingles that look bare in patches, and daylight or staining in the attic. Any of those is worth a look.
Where Orem sits on our map
Orem is inside the sixty mile radius we cover around Salt Lake City.