Flat Roof Tear Off or TPO coverup on Commercial, Advise needed

[Beary Bowles]

Hello Investor and all like minded real estate entrepreneurs.  I'm a seasoned (or think I'm seasoned) entrepreneur that owns a 12 unit apartment building in St. Louis in Missouri.  I"ve owned it for 2 years and 3 month and have been slowly but surely rehabbing each unit, raising the rent, and getting tenants in them.  Prior to purchasing the property I knew the roof needed replacement but I  didn't know bad.  The roof is the only major expense and the final touche to complete the rehab.  

-the roof consist of (1) leak into the unit which is under some dead wood                                                                                                        - 4 drain spot in which the rain is missing the drain and water is coming  in the units.                                                                                   -4 to 10 layers of roof since the early 1900 (never replaced just covered up)                                                                                                  -No insulation between ceiling and baseboards, no insulation under roof material, some tar and some shingles                                                            -

My current problem for the last several months is rain/water coming inside the unit. I have 4 drain spots on the building (all four corners) and the rain occasionally doesn't enter the drain spots and goes into the units.  

I've had several roof contractors give me quotes and I initial decided that I wanted a complete tear off and new TPO roof installment.  What i've learned that the quote ranges form 20k to 39k depending on, tear off, TPO cover up, TPO w/insulation 5 install.  I was on board and put a deposit on one bid for "TPO with 1 inch insulation" for 20K, but now the company were applying for permits and the building division requires 5 inch insulation.  The 5 inch insulation is an additional 8k.  I cant' seem to make my mind up and figure out whats most needed and what is sufficient to what i can afford. so the break down from several contractors.  I've even called other contractors and they said that the initial company didn't need a permit for the roof and just wanted my money for the insulation.  So here is the breakdown.

TPO install w/5 inch insulation with with permit is 28k (deposit on company, 18 month financing) or

TPO coverup up on top of existing roof 19k (no insulation install) or

or TPO install w/1 inch insulation don't apply for permit and see what happens with other companies (25 to 39k)

Anyone with experiences with TPO roof installation or any advise in this situation would be greatly appreciated. 

Here is an quote from recent company with tear off, TPO install, with 5 inch insulation for 39K

[John Warren]

@Beary Bowles I would recommend doing a complete tear off. It will be more painful up front, but you will be happy you did it. I ran into this same issue on a 19 unit project in Berwyn, IL, and we are doing a tear off roof now post renovation. I patched it up for the past two years while we got the NOI up to where it needed to be, but now it is time for the tear off so we don't have issues going forward. The main issue you haven't mentioned is that you have too many layers of roofing up there and weight is a real concern. You don't want to add any more weight to what you have going on now. The complete tear off will set you up right for the future. You also will want to budget some money for tuck pointing and/or additional repairs to the roof decking and joists. Once you remove all those layers you will actually know what needs to be done.