Commercial · Flat roofs

Commercial flat roof coatings

A flat roof over an occupied building doesn't get a tear-off, it gets a plan. This is one we finished in September: a 4,900 square foot flat roof and a detached shingle building on an apartment property in Northridge, inspected in August, prepped and coated in silicone over several working days in September, with the tenants and their cars in place the whole time.

Aerial view of the finished white flat roof and the coated detached building. — Northridge — finished

What we found in August

A twenty-plus-year-old cap sheet that had been patched for years instead of fixed. Open laps in the field, corroded vent curbs, debris collecting behind the parapet, and a small detached shingle building next door with mastic smeared over its worst spots. Water was getting through at the seams and the penetrations, which is where a flat roof almost always fails — not out in the middle.

Aerial view of a worn gray flat roof beside an apartment parking lot, before any coating. — Northridge — the flat roof before

Aerial view of a small detached building whose shingle roof is patched, beside the flat roof. — Northridge — the detached shingle building before

A worn cap-sheet field with stained seams and earlier repairs. — Northridge — worn cap sheet

A corroded metal vent curb standing on the worn cap sheet. — Northridge — a corroded vent curb

Dark mastic smeared across weathered shingles on the detached building. — Northridge — old mastic patches on the shingle

Overlapping patches of different roofing materials covering the flat roof field. — Northridge — years of patches

Coating, not replacement

The deck was sound. That is the whole test. When the substrate underneath is still good, a restoration coating — a seamless elastomeric film across the entire roof, every lap and every penetration at once — gives the building a new waterproof surface for a fraction of the cost of tearing it off, without a dumpster in the parking lot or a week of noise over people's apartments. It also turns a dark roof white, which the top-floor units notice first.

One continuous surface

Seams are where flat roofs leak. A coating has none.

The building stays open

No tear-off, no debris chute, no closed parking for a week.

Reflective by default

A white silicone roof meets California's Title 24 cool-roof requirement for low-slope commercial roofs.

The wash changed the spec

We cleaned the roof first — blow-off and a soft wash — and the clean deck showed something the dirty one hid: water standing in a few low spots after it drained. An acrylic coating doesn't like standing water. Silicone does. So before a drop of product went on, the flat roof moved from an acrylic system to silicone, and we talked the owner through adding drainage. That is the order it should happen in: find the water, then pick the product.

Coating pails and supplies staged on the flat roof before the work. — Northridge — material staged on the roof

Leaves and debris collected along the parapet of the flat roof. — Northridge — debris at the parapet

Prep is most of the job

Every curb, pipe, and corner got reinforced and sealed before the field was touched. Seams were base-coated first. The detached shingle building got a full tune-up — missing and broken shingles replaced — and then its own acrylic elastomeric coating over the whole roof.

A vent curb wrapped in white reinforcement fabric before the field is coated. — Northridge — curb reinforced before coating

A pipe penetration sealed and reinforced before the field coat. — Northridge — pipe penetration sealed

Roof seams covered in blue base coat before the rest of the deck. — Northridge — seams base-coated first

Reinforcement fabric worked into an inside corner at the parapet. — Northridge — inside corner reinforced

Aerial view of the detached building after its shingle roof was coated white. — Northridge — the detached shingle building, coated

Close view of white coating over repaired shingles, with the courses still visible. — Northridge — new coating over the repaired shingle

Base coat, then top coat

The silicone went on in two passes. The blue base coat covers the whole deck and shows exactly where the top coat hasn't been yet, so nothing gets missed. The white top coat is the finished surface.

Aerial view of the flat roof covered in blue silicone base coat. — Northridge — base coat across the whole deck

Aerial view of blue base coat on the flat roof, with the detached shingle building already coated. — Northridge — base coat on the flat, shingle building coated

Northridge — silicone top coat going on

Northridge — top coat halfway across

Two crew members rolling white silicone top coat over the blue base coat. — Northridge — silicone top coat going on

Aerial view of white silicone top coat halfway across the blue base coat. — Northridge — top coat halfway across

Finished

Same roof, same angle, seven weeks apart.

Before

After

The same view over the parking lot, with the flat roof finished white. — Northridge — same view, finished

The finished white silicone coating across the flat roof field. — Northridge — the finished silicone field

Penetrations sealed and coated in the finished white roof. — Northridge — penetrations sealed and coated

Aerial view of both buildings with their roofs finished white. — Northridge — both buildings finished

A long aerial view of the finished white roofs. — Northridge — finished, long view

The finished white roof seen from the eave, looking across the field. — Northridge — finished, from the eave

What the owner gets

A warranty on both

Our workmanship warranty plus the manufacturer's registered warranty on the silicone system.

A file, not a handshake

Dated photos of every stage, from the first inspection to the last pass, written for whoever has to approve the spend.

A maintenance plan if you want one

Annual visits with photos, so the drains stay clear and the next decision is a small one.

Annual maintenance plan

Is your building a candidate?

Flat and low-slope roofs on apartment buildings, small commercial, retail, and HOA common buildings across Los Angeles and Ventura County. The assessment is on the roof, with photos, and it tells you honestly whether the deck will take a coating or whether it's time for something bigger.

Request a commercial assessment Call (805) 787-3639

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