Government Roof Inspections
Roof inspections for government facilities, with photographs and a written record.
What government roof inspections involves
We walk the whole roof, check the membrane, seams, drains, units and edges, and give you photographs and a plain written summary.
A facility manager needs to know which roof needs money first. An inspection that only lists problems does not help with that.
What matters on government roof inspections
Planning around the building
Government buildings stay in use while the roof is worked on. The plan covers where we get onto the roof, where material is staged and how the entrances stay clear, before anything comes off.
A record of the work
Public buildings need a file of what was done. We photograph each stage and record the materials used, so the next person responsible for that roof knows what is up there.
What you get
Every inspection comes back with photographs of what we found, including the parts that are fine, and a plain list of what needs attention now and what can wait.
For an agency with several buildings, we can inspect all of them and rank them by need, so the budget goes where it does the most good.
How the system goes together
Flat roofs and the membrane choice
Low-slope roofs do not shed, they hold. TPO is a heat-welded white sheet that reflects a lot of the summer load. EPDM is a black rubber sheet that handles cold and movement well. PVC costs more and handles grease and chemicals, which is why it ends up over restaurant kitchens. Modified bitumen comes in rolls torched or adhered in layers, and built-up is the old tar-and-gravel assembly still sitting on plenty of buildings here.
Drainage beats material
Whichever sheet goes down, if the water does not get to a drain within a couple of days, the roof is going to fail early.
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
How we approach it
Look first
We get on the roof and read what is actually happening before quoting anything.
Say what we find
Photographs and a plain explanation, including when the answer is that you do not need us yet.
Built in sequence
Crews we hire and run, working the right detail in the right order.
Leave it clean
Magnet over the yard, container gone, walked with you.
Two seasons of roof weather
Roofs here really only get two conditions and both are hard. There is the cold half, where everything is about snow load, ice at the eave and condensation under the deck. Then there is the hot dry half, where ultraviolet and surface heat cook the asphalt and the only water that arrives comes fast and sideways. Systems that do fine in a mild climate get worn from both ends up here.
Building for both
The details that handle winter and the details that handle summer are different details, and a roof has to carry both sets.
Hail does not always look like damage
Hail here can be pea sized and harmless or big enough to bruise a mat. A bruise is a soft spot where the granules are knocked loose and the fiberglass underneath is fractured. You cannot see it from the ground, and from a ladder you often have to feel for it with a thumb.
Soft metal tells the truth
Before we call a roof hit, we check the soft metals: vents, gutter aprons, the fins on a swamp cooler. Dents there are the honest record of what fell.
What this looks like on a real roof
There is a version of government roof inspections that gets sold off a clipboard in the driveway and a version that comes off actually reading the roof. The second one costs the same and lasts.
What follows is the part most people never get told: what usually went wrong before we arrived, and what the job looks like when it is done in the right order.
Where roofs go wrong
The shortcut we see most
Rooftop units and drains added over the years, with the roof patched around them instead of reworked. Those patches are where most public-building leaks start.
What good looks like instead
Every penetration, curb and drain flashed into the roof system properly, and a record of it in the facility file.
Signs worth a look
- Water still standing days after a storm
- Ceiling-tile stains near rooftop units
- Seams lifting at the edges and parapets
- The same area repaired more than once
What to expect
Before the job starts
A walk of the whole roof, photographs of what we found, and a plain written scope. We talk through access, staging and the building’s schedule before any work is planned.
While the work is underway
The building stays in use. Material is staged where it is out of the way, entrances stay clear, and the loudest work is planned around the schedule we are given.
When it is done
Photographs of each stage and a record of the materials installed, ready for the facility file.
Related work
Government covers more than one job, and they are not interchangeable. These are the others in the same family, each on its own page.
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) 382-8898Can you work while the building is in use?
Usually. We plan access, staging and the loudest work around the building’s schedule before the job starts.
Do you document the work?
Yes. Each stage is photographed and the materials are recorded, so the facility has a file of what was installed.
Can you look at several of our buildings?
Yes. We can inspect them all and give you a list in order of need, so the budget goes to the roof closest to failing.
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.
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.
How long does a roof replacement take?
Most houses in this valley are a one to two day job once the crew is on site. Steeper pitches, multiple layers to strip and complicated roofs with a lot of valleys take longer, and we tell you which yours is before we start.
Ask about government roof inspections
Call (801) 382-8898 or send a note. We will look at the roof and tell you straight what it needs.