Government Roof Maintenance
Scheduled roof maintenance for government buildings.
What government roof maintenance involves
Drains cleared, seams checked, flashings and the sealant at penetrations looked at, and small problems fixed before they become leaks.
A low-slope roof that gets looked at regularly lasts far longer than one that only gets attention when it leaks.
What matters on government roof maintenance
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.
A maintenance schedule
Spring and fall are the useful times on a roof here: after the snow and before it. Drains get cleared of what the winter left behind, and the seams and flashings get checked before the next freeze.
Each visit gets a short record with photographs, so there is a history of the roof when it is time to plan a replacement.
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.
Moss and shade on the north side
Under mature trees on a shaded slope, the north face stays damp long after the rest of the roof has dried. Moss takes hold in that damp, and moss holds water against the mat and lifts shingle edges as it grows under them.
It is a cleaning problem first
Pressure washing an asphalt roof strips the granules and takes years off it. Gentle treatment, then clearing the overhanging limbs that keep the slope wet, is the order it should happen in.
Watch the gutter below
Moss coming off in the gutter is a sign the mat is losing surface too.
Thermal shock on metal and flashing
Metal moves. On a sunny winter day a standing seam panel or a piece of valley metal can run a hundred degrees warmer than the air, then drop back after dark. That expansion and contraction happens every clear day of the year here. Panels have to be fastened so they can move, clips have to be right, and a valley has to be detailed to slide instead of being pinned tight at both ends.
Pinned metal tears its own holes
When movement is blocked, the fastener holes elongate and that becomes the leak path.
What this looks like on a real roof
There is a version of government roof maintenance 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.
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.
What happens if you find bad decking?
We show you. The decking is only visible during a tear-off, so that is when soft sheathing gets found and replaced. We photograph it rather than just add it to a list.
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.
Ask about government roof maintenance
Call (801) 382-8898 or send a note. We will look at the roof and tell you straight what it needs.