The tie-in to the main roof
Concentrated water from the steep slope above lands here. The correct detail runs membrane up the wall and under the shingle course. Most of what we open up was caulked instead.
Flat roof repair in Ballwin, at a glance
STL Roof Repair repairs flat and low-slope roofs in Ballwin, Missouri — sunroom, porch, garage and second-story addition roofs on west county homes, skylight curbs, membrane repair, and the low-slope roofs on Manchester Road commercial buildings. As John Beal Roofing, family-run since 1947, we cover west St. Louis County from Maryland Heights and Chesterfield. Inspections and written estimates are free, qualifying work carries a lifetime workmanship warranty, and a live person answers (314) 429-6000 at any hour.
Ballwin was built out fast in the 1970s and 1980s, and then a large share of those houses got improved. A screened porch became a sunroom. A patio got a roof. A garage grew a bonus room over it. Almost all of that construction used a low-slope roof, because a low-slope roof is the cheapest way to cover a rectangle attached to an existing house. Forty years later those additions are where we spend most of our low-slope time in 63011 and 63021.
The pattern is predictable. The addition roof was built with a shallow pitch and a rolled or membrane surface, it takes the runoff from the main roof above it, and it was tied in with metal and sealant instead of a proper stepped flashing. Sealant is a maintenance material, not a permanent one. It gets ten or fifteen years in Missouri's freeze-thaw cycle and then the joint opens.
What Actually Fails
Where Ballwin Low-Slope Roofs Leak
Skylight and light-well curbs
Ballwin sunrooms are full of skylights, and a curb-mounted skylight on a low-slope roof is only as good as its flashing. The glass is rarely the problem; the curb almost always is.
Ponding over a sagging deck
Forty-year-old framing on a shallow addition roof sags between rafters and holds water. Standing water and a seam is the combination that fails first.
Hail-bruised rolled roofing
West county takes serious hail, and brittle rolled roofing fractures under it. The damage often is not visible from the ground and shows up as a leak the following spring.
Repair Or Rebuild
What We Tell Ballwin Homeowners
The honest answer on a lot of these additions is that the roof surface is not the whole job. If the deck is soft, the pitch was never adequate, or someone has already patched it four times, rebuilding that section — new decking where it is needed, correct slope, a proper membrane, and a real transition flashing into the main roof — costs less over ten years than another round of patching. We will show you the photographs and let you decide with real information.
Where a repair genuinely will hold, that is what we recommend and that is what we price. A sound membrane with one failed skylight curb and an open tie-in is a repair, not a rebuild, and we are not going to inflate it into one.
A leak over a finished sunroom ceiling has nowhere to hide, so it does damage quickly. If water is coming in now, call (314) 429-6000 and a live dispatcher will get a crew out to tarp it and document the failure for your insurance file.
Common Questions
Ballwin Low-Slope Roof Questions
Do you repair sunroom and porch roofs in Ballwin?
Yes. Sunroom, screened porch, patio cover, garage and over-garage addition roofs are the majority of our low-slope work in Ballwin, along with the flashing where they tie into the main roof.
My sunroom leaks around a skylight. Is the skylight bad?
Usually the curb flashing is, not the glass. On a low-slope roof the water has time to work at a curb, and a curb that was sealed rather than properly flashed will keep leaking no matter how many times it is caulked.
Can hail damage a flat addition roof?
Yes. Brittle rolled roofing and aging membrane fracture under impact, and because the damage is hard to see from the ground it often surfaces as a leak the next spring. We document it with photos and locations for the claim.
Is it worth rebuilding the addition roof instead of patching?
Sometimes. If the deck is soft, the pitch is inadequate, or it has been patched repeatedly, a rebuilt section with correct slope and a proper transition flashing costs less over ten years. We show you the condition and price both honestly.
Free Ballwin Flat Roof Inspection
Serving Ballwin, Ellisville, Manchester, Wildwood and west St. Louis County. Tell us what you are seeing and we will call to schedule.
Related Pages
Related Ballwin And Roofing Service Pages
Sunroom Or Flat Roof Leaking In Ballwin?
One free inspection, photographs of the actual failure, and a written price with no obligation.