When occupying a commercial building – whether you bought it and are using it, or whether you bought it and are renting it out to other people – you have to make sure that the roof doesn’t leak. Any leaks can seriously damage the building or the property that’s inside of it, and that can mean a lot of lost revenue for you or your tenants. It could also mean a lawsuit if you don’t take care of your building and things that belong to other people get damaged because of it. When it comes to making sure that your roof doesn’t leak, you have to look at your options.
Most commercial buildings today have either shingle roofs or metal roofs. Some of them also have the tar-paper, liquid asphalt, and crushed gravel flat roofs, depending on what area of the country they are in and when the building was constructed. All of these kinds of roofs have to be repaired differently, and learning about how to repair the roof on your commercial building is important. Even if you choose not to do it yourself, you’ll still want to have some knowledge of how it is done so that you can see that repairs are done correctly and by someone who has the proper knowledge and tools.
Also, make sure that you get a roofer who is licensed and insured and who has worked on your specific type of roof before. Not all roofing contractors are created equal, and if you hire a person to fix your metal roof when all they’ve ever done is shingle roofs, you could be asking for some serious trouble. Ask plenty of questions and make sure that you know that you’re getting reliable answers before you contract with anyone to repair a commercial roof.
It’s too important to you and your tenants to leave it to the hands of someone who isn’t sure what he or she is doing. A lot of roof repairs are do-it-yourself projects but commercial roofs are usually not designed for that. If it’s a simple patch around a pipe or vent that should be easy to fix, but more complicated repairs over bigger areas should be left to the professionals. If you try to fix a big area on your own you could end up doing more damage. It’s also possible that the source of the leak isn’t where you think it is. A contractor who’s used to repairing commercial roofs is usually good at finding the source of a leak.