Flat roof issues (single family house)

[Bienes Raices]

The REO I'm most interested in has a flat roof (that's the only negative that I can see about it). However my insurance agent said she only has two carriers who will write a policy for flat roof. I'm waiting to get more info on that tomorrow. Obviously if it's a huge insurance issue I won't be making an offer.

Does anyone have any input about flat roofs, pro or con? The only other information I have about the composition is that it says it's "built up" -- I'm not sure what that means.

[John Harvey]

I agree with Ryan, flat roofs aren't inherently bad.

Most large scale commercial buildings are done as flat roofs just proves that if done correctly they will last many many years. Unfortunately, what I have seen far too many times on residential applications is less than ideal. Sometimes an addition is connected a porch is enlarged and the only way the designer could figure the roof out was by making it flat. This often creates a multitude of potential leaks, at wall to roof joints, sloped roof to flat roof joints and penetrations thru the flat roof. If incorrectly designed and installed any roof will leak. The flat roof absolutely requires a skilled installer.