La Mirada, CA
Flat roofs do not shed water. They hold it back.
A pitched roof sheds water. A flat roof is a shallow tray that has to be watertight everywhere at once, which is a much harder thing to build.
Describe the flat roofing job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three La Mirada contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in La Mirada is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a flat roofing job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- Whether a coating is being sold as a repair
- Drain, scupper and overflow provision
- Whether water ponds anywhere after rain
- Which membrane, and how the seams are joined
- How the flat section is flashed into adjoining walls and pitched roofs
Coatings can buy a sound roof several years. Coating a failed roof buys you a wet roof with a fresh top coat on it.
Look at the flashing where the flat section meets a wall. That transition leaks far more often than the field of the membrane does.
Modified bitumen is the rolled, torched or self-adhered system you see on older flat additions. Cheaper, and shorter-lived.
Locally
The second problem is morning fog that sits on the roof until mid-morning. Slopes that never get direct sun stay wet for hours after the fog burns off, and that is where moss, lifted shingles and soft decking start.
About flat roofing here
Should I take the cheapest quote?
Not automatically. Put the quotes side by side on layers, not on totals — underlayment, ice-and-water, drip edge, valley treatment, ventilation, decking allowance, warranty. Cheap usually means less of those, not the same roof for less money.
Can I stay in the house while it is done?
Yes, though it is loud, and things will fall off shelves in the garage. Move cars out of the driveway and take anything fragile off the walls of the top floor.
What does a new roof cost in La Mirada?
Most quotes here for a standard asphalt replacement come in around $12,500 to $28,500. That assumes one layer to remove and sound decking. Every quote you get should say in writing what happens if the decking is not sound.
How much deposit is normal?
A third at most, and never the full amount. Pay the balance when the job is finished and you have walked it. Some states cap the deposit by law.
Get the roof looked at
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.