10 Essentials For Every Flat Roof Maintenance Checklist

Very few pieces of paper are as valuable to your business as a flat roof maintenance checklist. It may not look impressive, but keep it handy anytime you deal with your company’s low-slope or flat roof. A checklist helps ensure a long life for one of your business’s most important assets, your commercial roof.

Check and Double-Check

A flat roof maintenance checklist ensures you miss nothing when you or your local commercial roofer examines your business’s flat roof. You have too much to do already; why run the risk of missing some vital issue with your company’s roof during roof maintenance and inspection?

Only go onto your flat roof if you feel safe in doing so. Keep a sense of spatial awareness so you know where the roof edge is at all times. Watch out, too, for projections and depressions which could cause a slip and fall incident. When you, your facilities crew, or your roofer is on the roof, this checklist will help everyone focus on the roof and its condition.

Flat Roof Inspection Checklist

  1. Have a rooftop inspection toolkit
  2. Keep records
  3. Perform active triage
  4. Look for visible damage
  5. Wear and Tear
  6. Flat roofing specific damages
  7. Walls
  8. Chimneys, vents, & roof hatches
  9. Roof deck
  10. All surface leaks

Three Keys to Success

The first three items in our 10-point checklist are your keys to long-term success with your commercial roof:

  1. Have a rooftop inspection toolkit at the ready, whether you are accompanying your roofer or going it alone; the kit should include this checklist, a pad and pencil to take notes, a camera for recording pictures, your building’s roof plans or aerial photos, a 50-foot tape measure, and an LED flashlight to peer into dark areas.
  2. Keep a running record of everyone who visits the roof; record their name, what company they represent, why they are on the roof, and where on the roof they are working or visiting.
  3. When you inspect your roof, perform an active triage, with each item (seam, HVAC curb, vent, scupper, etc.) receiving one of three designations: good (no action needed), fair (monitoring required but no immediate action required), or bad (requires immediate attention to prevent further damage).

A Trio of Trouble

While outside and navigating the roof, these three categories of problems should be given special attention:

  1. Visible damage and debris — organic matter; blocked, clogged, or broken gutters; dislodged downspouts; damaged internal drains; signs of insect intrusion.
  2. Wear and tear — look for age-related issues with flashing, chimneys, vents, fascia boards, drip edge, roof decking, and structural steel; are parts missing, or do you see corrosion, rust, or rot?
  3. With flat roofing — check for ponding, punctures, blisters, missing ballast, elongated fastener holes in metal pieces, open or loose seams in the single-ply membrane, and wind scouring.

Interior Signs of Roof Damage to Inspect

The final four items can be checked off inside your property. Keep the checklist handy and inspect:

  1. Walls — when looking for interior signs of roof damage, look for signs of mold, dark spots, peeling paint, or dampness.
  2. Chimneys, vents, and roof hatches — search for signs of dampness which could flag a roof leak; you may have to feel walls for moisture or coldness.
  3. The roof deck — check the structural integrity of wood elements, rust in steel components, and the condition of sheathing or deck plates; check for light coming in from above (a sure sign of a hole and therefore a source of water infiltration).
  4. All surfaces for leaks — Leaks can run down walls, drip from ceilings, or crawl across horizontal surfaces; take pictures and, if you are working alone, immediately contact your professional roofer to consult with you on the leaks and remedies.

Now What?

After working your way through your flat roof inspection checklist, what are you to do with the information you gained? If you inspected your commercial roof and roof deck alone or only with your facilities crew, contact your nearby commercial roofer for additional help with roof maintenance.

If you inspected the roof with your contractor, they can discuss strategies for dealing with all the issues, from the good to the fair to the truly bad. Both of you will have a good understanding of the problems, since you both witnessed them. Your roofer, of course, draws on deep reserves of experience to correctly diagnose leaks and recommend remedies.

Plan to get the “bad” spots repaired immediately, as in within days at the most. Your building is vulnerable to further, greater damage if you do not address the small leaks and minor problems.

Your roofer can share with you the several issues your own facilities crew can handle. Turn to your commercial roofer for major repairs to keep your warranties in force. Your in-house crew can usually handle light roof cleaning and interior maintenance. Trust your roofer to solve drainage, seam, and deck problems. Connect with your ally in commercial roofing today, Damschroder Roofing Inc. For businesses in the North West Ohio area, we provide the perfect partner for full roof replacement and more.

Looking for roofers for your commercial and industrial building project?  Call Action Roof Service on

Family Family- As a family of co-workers, we treat each other and our customers like family. Family is at the core of who we are.
“Family isn’t an important thing. It’s everything.” Michael J. Fox
Accountability Accountability We do the right thing, the right way-every time.
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.” (moliere)
Customer Relationships Customer Relationships- We build long lasting relationships with our customers by listening and delivering peace of mind through exceptional service.
“Realize that everything connects to everything else.” Leonardo Da Vinci
Striving for perfection Striving for perfection - We provide outstanding products and unsurpassed service that, together, deliver premium value to our customers.
“There’s no such thing as Perfection. But, in striving for perfection, we can achieve excellence.” Vince Lombardi
Innovative Thinking Innovative Thinking - We use our proven process to come up with new ideas and solutions for our customers and their unique situations. “Innovation is change that unlocks new value.” Jamie Notter
Grit Grit - Passion, perseverance and persistence to get the job done right. “True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done.”

Damscrhoder Roofing Inc.

Manufacturers

Damschroder Roofing was founded in 1976 and has been a family, locally owned business for over 45 years. We pride ourselves on the quality process we provide to all of our customers from start to finish.
Are you having leaks in your metal roof system? The constant expansion and contraction of metal roof panels can be the cause of leaks. All metal roofing will expand with the temperature changes-Standing seam metal roofs will allow for expansion and contraction while exposed fastener systems do not. Over time leaks can occur at those fasteners as well as any penetrations installed in the roof. Call us today to evaluate your metal roofing system. 419-332-5000 ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
We will be closed on Monday, May 29th, to celebrate the holiday. To our heroes, we salute you…we thank you!#freedom #MemorialDay ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Another job well done by the Damschroder team!#durolastroofing#commercialroofingcontractor ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Looking for a reliable solution for your commercial roof replacement? Damschroder Roofing has a team of experts to ensure a successful project. Call us at 419-332-5000 to schedule your roof inspection.#commercialroofingcontractor #reliablesolutions #damschroderroofing ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Do you have a shingle roof with constant blow-offs or an "odd shaped" structure that is in need of replacement? Look no further than Damschroder Roofing Inc."Jim of The Andersons, Inc., grew weary of the maintenance and expense of replacing asphalt shingles that would fly off the arch building after a windstorm. In 2021, Collins determined protecting 61,000 tons of dry fertilizer was worth investing in a new roof. He knew Damschroder Roofing would be up for the job."#commercialroofing #shinglealternative #customfabrication ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook

1 month ago

Damschroder Roofing, Inc
Here at Damschroder Roofing, we play as hard as we work!If you are looking for someplace fun to work, go to www.damschroderroofing.com and apply 😀#werehiringnow #puttingchallenge #WackyWednesday ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Roof maintenance on your commercial building is important! This bottle was preventing the scupper from draining properly and allowing inches of water to back up on this roof. The weight of water on the roof can cause serious stress to your building structure.Call Damschroder Roofing today to schedule your maintenance call. 419-332-5000Complete your online request here damschroderroofing.com/service-request/ ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
Our Leadership Team getting one click better at the EOS conference in Indianapolis#leadershipteam #eosconference2023 #damschroderroofing ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
We enjoyed a fun time at the "Dancing With The Stars" event while supporting our Sandusky County Engineer, Carlos Baez, in fundraising for the local CASA chapter. A wonderful organization that helps children who need a voice in court.#communitysupport #helpingchildren #TeamCarlos ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
It's been a beautiful sunny week and our sales guys have been out across the state measuring roofs for upcoming projects!#commercialroofing #damschroderroofing #lovethesunshine ... See MoreSee Less
View on Facebook
© Copyright - Damschroder Roofing INC | Website By Rockit Creative Solutions
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram Skip to content