Government · Salt Lake City & surrounding counties
Government Roof Repair
Repairs on government roofs, traced to where the water actually gets in.
What government roof repair involves
We find the entry point, usually at a seam, curb, drain or parapet, and rebuild that detail rather than patching the stain below.
On a big low-slope roof the leak inside can be a long way from the opening on top. Fixing the stain fixes nothing.
What matters on government roof repair
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.
Repair records for the facility
Every repair gets photographed before and after, with its location on the roof, so the next person responsible for that building knows what was done and where.
If the repairs on a roof keep climbing, we say so and show you the pattern. Sometimes replacing a section costs less over the next few years than a fourth repair on the same seam.
We work Salt Lake City & surrounding counties, 9 counties in all, with 27 years in the trade and the last 8 as Hancock Signature.
How the system goes together
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.
A welded seam versus a glued one
On a single-ply roof, the seams are the whole roof. Heat welding fuses the two sheets into one piece of plastic, and a properly welded seam is stronger than the sheet either side of it. An adhesive seam relies on a bond that ages at a different rate than the membrane does.
How a seam gets proven
A probe run along the edge of every weld while the crew is still on the roof. If the probe catches, the seam gets rewelded then and there, not written down for later.
Cold days need slower welds
The machine settings change with the air temperature or the weld runs cold and looks fine.
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.
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.
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.
What this looks like on a real roof
There is a version of government roof repair 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 handle the insurance side?
On hail-damaged roofs, we work with your insurance to get the roof covered. We document the damage thoroughly with photographs, so the claim reflects what is actually on the roof.
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.
Talk to Hancock
Ask about government roof repair
Call (801) 382-8898 or send a note. We will look at the roof and tell you straight what it needs.