CommercialRoof Repair

Commercial Roof Repair in Tacoma is heavily driven by the intersection of marine air exposure and the city's sustained Pacific Northwest rain. The failure modes we see most often — open lap seams, corroded edge metal, deteriorated curb flashings, and drain area membrane splits — all share a common thread: water finds its way in through a system component that has been weakened by years of salt-laden air, UV cycling, and the mechanical stress of thermal movement. Repair work here is never just slapping sealant on a problem. It requires identifying why the component failed and addressing the root cause so the repair holds.

Edge metal and coping failures are among the most frequent repair calls we receive from Tideflats and Port-adjacent buildings. Galvanized steel gravel stops, aluminum drip edges, and painted steel copings all corrode faster within the marine influence zone that extends from Commencement Bay and the Thea Foss Waterway inland through the Tideflats manufacturing corridor. A gravel stop that would hold 25 years in the Frederickson industrial area may show rust-through perforations at the flange within 15 years on a building directly facing the waterway. When we repair these conditions, we specify stainless steel fasteners and use non-ferrous or coated metal where the original galvanized steel has failed — replicating the failed material is not a solution.

Curb flashing repairs around HVAC equipment are a constant in Tacoma's industrial and commercial building stock. Every rooftop unit, exhaust fan, and make-up air unit sits on a curb that requires a continuous watertight flashing termination. Those terminations are subjected to mechanical vibration from the equipment above, thermal movement as the curb and membrane cycle through temperature changes, and the continuous moisture load that a Tacoma fall-winter season delivers. We see curb flashing separations, open corner seams, and deteriorated membrane-to-counter flashing terminations on buildings of all ages. Repair requires removing the equipment in some cases or working around active mechanical systems — we coordinate with building mechanical contractors when equipment must be shut down or moved.

Drain area repairs address one of the highest-consequence failure zones on any flat or low-slope commercial roof. The membrane at and around a drain is under constant water load, and drain clamping rings can loosen over time, allowing water to bypass the drain flange and enter the roof assembly. We pull drain clamping rings, clean the drain flange area, replace the membrane if it has deteriorated in the sump, and reinstall the clamping ring with new hardware. On Tideflats warehouse roofs where drains are oversized for the original design rainfall and have since proven undersized for actual storm events, we evaluate whether drain enlargement or the addition of overflow scuppers is warranted alongside the membrane repair.

Lap seam repairs on single-ply membranes — TPO, PVC, and EPDM — require cleaning, preparation, and appropriate adhesive or heat-welding depending on the membrane type. TPO and PVC lap repairs can be heat-welded if the membrane is in sound condition adjacent to the open seam; EPDM requires contact adhesive and lap sealant. We test seam repairs with a probe tool after curing to confirm adhesion across the full repaired width. A seam that passes a probe test will hold in the wind-driven rain conditions that Tacoma's marine storms generate. A seam that was wiped with lap caulk and called complete will open in the first hard wind event.

Historic buildings in Downtown Tacoma, the Stadium District, and along Pacific Avenue often have repair needs that extend beyond the membrane to the masonry parapet and through-wall conditions. Water entry at a historic building is frequently the combined result of a roof membrane deficiency and a deteriorated masonry condition above the roof level. We work with masonry contractors when repairs require both roof membrane work and tuckpointing or parapet reconstruction — providing a coordinated scope prevents the situation where a roofing repair is undermined by ongoing masonry water entry that was never addressed.

For South Tacoma and Hilltop commercial buildings — the neighborhood retail and light industrial stock that lines Pacific Avenue and South Tacoma Way — repair budgets are often constrained and owners need to prioritize. We organize repair findings into tiers: what must be addressed immediately to prevent active interior water damage, what should be addressed within 90 days before the next rain season, and what can be monitored through the next inspection cycle. That prioritization framework lets a property owner make an informed decision about where their repair dollars go first.

Every repair we execute is documented with before-and-after photographs and a written description of the repair method and materials. That documentation serves multiple purposes: it gives the building owner a maintenance record, supports insurance claims when relevant, and provides the baseline for the next inspection visit so we can verify the repair is holding and has not created an adjacent stress concentration in the membrane.