Low-slope and commercial roof repair for Murfreesboro buildings

Commercial roof repair in Murfreesboro: the buildings and the roofs

Commercial roof repair in this city mostly means small buildings: two-story brick storefronts around the courthouse square, strip centers along Memorial Boulevard, Old Fort Parkway and Medical Center Parkway, medical and professional offices, churches with a flat-roofed education wing, metal shop and warehouse buildings out toward I-24 and the county roads, and apartment buildings near MTSU with flat sections over breezeways and stairwells.

Most of them carry one of five roof systems:

• EPDM, the black rubber membrane, glued or ballasted, with taped or glued seams. Common on 1980s–2000s strip centers and offices.
• TPO, the white single-ply sheet with heat-welded seams, standard on newer retail and office construction.
• Modified bitumen, asphalt sheets in one or two plies, often with a granulated cap sheet, typical on re-roofed older buildings.
• Built-up tar and gravel, still in place on some older downtown and church roofs.
• Metal panels, through-fastened or standing seam, on shops, warehouses and agricultural-style buildings.

A shingle roof on an apartment building is still a house roof in most respects, and the roof repair guide covers it. This page is about the low-slope part.

What Middle Tennessee weather does to a flat roof

Rain, and a lot of it. Murfreesboro gets steady rain through the year and heavy downpours in spring and late fall. A low-slope roof that drains slowly sees water stand for days after a big storm. Standing water is where membranes age fastest, where seams get tested hardest, and where every pinhole eventually leaks.

Spring storms. March through May brings squall lines with straight-line wind, and some years hail. Wind gets under loose membrane edges and metal coping and peels them back. Hail bruises modified bitumen, cracks older built-up surfaces and can dent metal panels. After a storm, the edges and the corners are where to look first.

Summer heat and humidity. Ninety-degree days stretch through the summer, and a dark EPDM or asphalt roof gets far hotter than the air. That heat shrinks EPDM over the years and pulls it away from walls and curbs, dries out asphalt surfacing, and cooks the sealant at every penetration.

Leaves and parking-lot trees. In October and November, leaves from the trees around a building end up in its drains and scuppers. One clogged drain on a roof with internal drainage can put inches of water on the roof in a single storm.

Occasional ice. Hard freezes are short here, but an ice storm or a week below freezing can freeze water in a blocked drain or gutter, push it back under flashings, and split old sealant.

The repairs that come up most

Drains, scuppers and gutters. The first thing to check on any flat-roof leak. Internal drains clog with leaves and debris, strainers go missing, and the clamping ring that holds the membrane to the drain bowl loosens. Scuppers through parapets rust at the seams. On buildings with gutters, an undersized or clogged gutter backs water over the roof edge and into the wall.

Flashing at walls and parapets. Where a flat roof meets a brick parapet or a taller wall, the membrane turns up and is covered by a counterflashing or coping. Over time the termination bar loosens, the sealant cracks, mortar joints in the brick above open up, and water gets behind the membrane. On the older brick buildings downtown, water through the masonry above the roof line is a common cause of leaks that look like roof leaks.

EPDM seam and shrinkage problems. Older glued seams let go, and a shrinking membrane pulls tight at corners until it tears or lifts off the wall. Repairs use seam tape, primer and cover strips; tented membrane at walls may need new flashing.

TPO seams and punctures. Seams that were never fully welded, cuts from dropped tools, and corners where the flashing was short. A good repair cleans the membrane and welds on a patch.

Blisters and splits in modified bitumen and built-up roofs. Blisters form where moisture is trapped between plies and expands in the heat. Small ones can be cut and patched with new plies; a roof full of splits and alligatored cracking is near the end of its surface life.

Rooftop units and penetrations. HVAC curbs, exhaust fans, plumbing vents and conduit are all holes in the roof. Service technicians walk the same path twice a year, and condensate lines sometimes drain onto the membrane. Curb flashing, pitch pans and pipe boots are routine repairs.

Metal roof fasteners and laps. On exposed-fastener metal buildings, screws back out with heat and cold, the rubber washers dry out, and rust starts at panel laps and around skylight panels. Re-screwing with oversized fasteners and sealing laps is common maintenance. The metal roofing page explains the two metal systems in more detail.

Ponding: how much standing water is too much

Some water after a storm is normal on a low-slope roof. Water still standing about two days after the rain stops is the commonly used warning sign. Look for it the morning after a soaking rain, or look for the rings of dirt and debris it leaves behind once it dries. Some manufacturer warranties exclude damage from long-term ponding, so check yours.

The fix depends on the cause. A clogged drain is a cleaning job. A low spot in the deck may need tapered insulation or crickets built up to move water toward the drain. A deck that sags between joists after years of wet insulation is a structural question, and the building owner should get that looked at before anyone just adds another layer.

What a good repair visit looks like

1. Start inside. Where did the water show up, after what kind of rain, and how long has it been happening? Above a drop ceiling, wet insulation and rust on the deck show where water has been traveling.
2. Walk the whole roof. Water on a flat roof runs along the deck and through the insulation, so the entry point can be well away from the stain.
3. Check every drain and edge. Drains, scuppers, gutters, coping and parapet walls, with notes on what was blocked or open.
4. Find out if water is trapped. Probing seams, pressing for soft spots, and where needed a moisture meter or a small core cut shows whether the insulation is wet.
5. Photos and a roof plan. Each problem marked on a simple sketch of the roof, with a price next to it.
6. Recheck after rain. A careful roofer checks the repair after the next storm or asks you to watch the spot.

How commercial repair bids differ

Three very different jobs can all come back called "repair":

• A spot repair names each item: this drain, those two seams, that curb. It should list each one with a price.
• A restoration or coating adds a coating over the whole roof after repairs. It only makes sense over a roof that is dry underneath, and the bid should name the coating and how thick it goes on.
• A re-roof or recover replaces the membrane, or installs a new one over the old where that is allowed. Check with Murfreesboro Building and Codes whether the job needs a permit, and ask who pulls it.

When two bids are thousands of dollars apart, they are usually pricing different jobs. Ask each contractor which of the three they are proposing, what they found that led them there, and to show the photos. A bid for a new roof should point to wet insulation, widespread seam failure or a worn-out surface, not just age.

Questions to ask on any bid:

1. What caused the leak, and where is it on the roof plan?
2. Is any part of this bid a coating over wet insulation?
3. Which products go on, by name?
4. Does the HVAC contractor need to be there for curb or unit work?
5. How will tenants, customers or residents be kept safe and informed while the crew is up?
6. What does the workmanship warranty cover, and for how many years?

Warranty types to know

Commercial roofs often come with more than one kind of paper. A workmanship warranty is the contractor's promise about their own installation. A material warranty from the manufacturer covers the membrane itself, often not the labor. A system warranty from the manufacturer, on some larger jobs, covers both, usually only when an approved installer did the work and the manufacturer inspected it. If your roof already has a manufacturer warranty, a repair by a different contractor may affect it, so find the paperwork before anyone cuts the membrane.

An inspection routine that saves money

Twice a year is the usual pattern for a low-slope roof here: once in spring after the storm season starts, and once in late fall after the leaves are down. Add a look after any storm with hail or wind damage on the ground. Each visit should clear the drains and gutters, check every seam, curb and edge, and photograph any standing water. Keep the photos together by date; a written roof history helps when you sell, refinance or sign a new tenant.

Leases, associations and licensing

Who pays for roof repairs is a lease question, and many leases split maintenance and replacement between the landlord and the tenant. Read the roof clause before ordering work and ask an attorney if it is unclear. Condo and townhome buildings answer it through the association's documents.

Before anyone goes up, ask which Tennessee license the contractor holds and check it on the state's online license lookup; for which license a commercial job needs, check with the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors. Ask for liability and workers' compensation certificates as well. This site is a free guide, not a roofing company; an estimate request goes to an independent local contractor partner who inspects, quotes in writing and performs the work. Describe the building, its roof type and roughly how big it is when you ask. For leaks after a storm, the storm damage page covers the first steps, and gutter repair covers the drainage side of a roof.