Baltimore Flat Roof Repair

[Matt C.]

Hey Group,

I'm attempting to close on a property in Baltimore City, but the sellers have not yet made a few repairs that were agreed to in the inspection notice.

The biggest repair is a section of the flat roof that has water pooling and has deteriorated in comparison to the surrounding roof.

I would like to get an opinion from BP on the cost and how to fix a problem like this. I plan to get a few roofing contractor quotes but any help in the meantime would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you very much for your time. 

[Mark Gabryel]

@Matt C.

Hi, I am a commercial/flat roofing contractor formerly in Detroit and currently in Tulsa. Pounding water is very common on a flat roof. As a matter of fact, some flat roof manufacturers allow for ponding water as long as it evaporates within 72 hours time. I concur with @david wandel that your bigger problem is the flashing on the penetrations. Most home inspectors know very little about sloped roofs, and absolutely nothing about flat roofs. As long as there are no leaks currently in the ponding spot, all you need done is to have that seam where the water ponds recoated with a 3 course patch of roof cement and cotton rag along the entire length of that seam. And if you don’t want to pay out of pocket to have your penetrations re-flashed now, then wait until they leak and address the issue as it comes I guess.