Flat Roofing in Bayside, NY

Not every roof in Bayside has a pitch. Attached houses, rear extensions, porches and the co-op buildings around Bay Terrace all have low-slope roofs, and they fail differently from a shingle roof. On a flat roof, it’s all about where the water goes.

Where Bayside has flat roofs

You’ll find them on the attached and semi-attached houses near Bell Boulevard, on rear extensions and dormers all over Bayside Hills and Oakland Gardens, and on the low-rise co-op and condo buildings in Bay Terrace. Most of them sit behind a parapet wall, and most of the leaks start where the roof meets that wall or at a drain that’s been ponding for years.

EPDM, TPO or modified bitumen

There are three systems we install, and each one has its place. EPDM is a rubber membrane, it’s proven and it handles our freeze and thaw well. TPO is a white, heat-welded membrane that reflects the sun and keeps the top floor cooler. Modified bitumen is a layered, asphalt-based system that’s tough and easy to detail around old parapets. If any of it is torch-applied, FDNY requires a Certificate of Fitness holder on site, and we have that covered. Installed, flat roofing runs about $900 to $1,400 a square, so a typical 8 to 12 square rowhouse roof comes in around $8,000 to $16,000.

Drains, parapets and pitch

A flat roof isn’t really flat. It needs a little pitch toward the drains or scuppers, or water sits there and finds the weak spot. So before we talk membrane, we look at drainage: where the water goes now, where it should go, and whether we need tapered insulation to get it there. Then we flash the parapet walls all the way up and over, because that joint is where most Bayside flat roofs leak.

What a co-op board will ask for

If you’re in a co-op or condo, the board or managing agent will want paperwork before anybody touches the roof. We give you a written scope with the system, the drainage plan and the flashing details, plus our insurance certificate and NYC DCWP licence, 2126882-DCWP. You get one price in writing and a 5-year workmanship warranty on flat systems, on top of the manufacturer warranty on the membrane.

What a Bayside flat roof job looks like

First, I go up and look at the drains, the parapets and the deck, and if there’s water staining inside, I want to see that too. That tells me where the water’s been going.

On the job, we tear off the old roofing down to the deck. Some older Bayside flat roofs have two or three layers, and they all come off, because NYC code prohibits a recover over two or more layers and you can’t fix the drainage if you can’t see the deck. We replace soft decking, install tapered insulation where we need to move water toward the drain, then the membrane. At the parapet, the membrane runs up the wall and we cap and counter-flash it so water can’t get behind it. New drain bodies or scupper sleeves go in where the old ones are rusted out.

Most rowhouse and extension roofs take one to three days. At the end, we water-test the drains in front of you so you see the water leave the roof. That’s the whole point of a flat roof, and it’s the part most people never check.