Phoenix Roofing Contractor, Family-Owned Since the 1980s

Four different Phoenix roofs, four different conversations

In the historic central districts — Willo, Encanto, Coronado — we're usually looking at low-slope roofs: built-up, rolled or coated systems over decades of previous repairs. These roofs live and die by drainage and by how well the last recoat was done, and they're frequently hiding wet insulation under a surface that looks intact.

North Central and Sunnyslope are midcentury territory — shingle and low-slope hybrids on ranch homes, often with additions, carports and Arizona rooms that were roofed later and tied in badly. The transitions are where the leaks are.

North Phoenix — Deer Valley, Desert Ridge, Norterra, the Happy Valley corridor — is tile tract housing from the 1990s through the 2000s. Same story as the rest of the Valley: the tile is fine, the underlayment underneath is at or past the end of its service life.

And in west Phoenix and Maryvale we see the oldest shingle stock in the city, often on its second or third roof, where ventilation and decking condition matter as much as the shingles themselves.

Common roof problems on Phoenix homes

• Brittle underlayment beneath perfectly good-looking concrete tile
• Ponding on low-slope roofs where scuppers and drains no longer carry water off
• Parapet wall and roof-to-wall flashing that was caulked instead of flashed
• Wet, trapped insulation under a flat roof that was coated over instead of dried out
• Cracked tile from foot traffic during solar, HVAC or satellite work
• UV-dried shingles losing granules, curling at the edges and lifting in wind
• Leaks at evaporative coolers, skylights, pipe jacks and old swamp cooler patches
• Blocked valleys after a haboob, backing water up under the roof covering

What Phoenix heat and monsoons do to a roof

Phoenix is one of the hardest climates in the country on a roof, and not only because of the summer highs. The urban core holds heat overnight, so central-city roofs spend more hours each year at high temperature than roofs on the desert edge. Every one of those hours is working on your sealants, fasteners and underlayment.

Then monsoon season arrives with dust storms and wind-driven rain. Sideways rain gets under tile and behind flashing. Blowing grit fills valleys and clogs drains and scuppers, which is what turns a flat roof from draining to ponding. A single storm can undo years of otherwise fine performance.

Because of all that, we inspect the way the roof handles water, not just how it looks. Where does it drain? Is the flashing tied in or glued on? Has someone foamed over a problem to make it disappear for a season? Answering those questions is the difference between a fix and a patch you'll pay for twice.