All Forum Posts by: Courtney Nguyen

 Jerry.  Good to hear from you.  Oh you know I wish you are close too.  Remember I asked you back then if you are in Houston area?  Because you are not, that's why I am still struggling to find a good roofer, especially on commercial side.  

There is no trees close to the building so I think just yearly maintenance will do.

I know this thread was about the questions I have on roof maintenance.  But let me tell you about the roof leaks we have been having too.  We had 3 leaks at 3 different units.  None of those authorized applicators (3 of them) on Carlisle's list were able to find the source of the leaks.  3 different roofers were sent, first 2 said roof is fine!  With the 3rd one I was the one who told him that for 1 end cap unit it is around the second RTU in the back, take a hose up there and spray around that really good, I don't care how long.  Then go down and ask people in that unit and confirm if there was any leak.  I was telling him how to do his job!   The good thing is he did listen to me and did exactly that and confirmed the leak was due to installation of that RTU, but only on 1 side (Carlisle denied to pay for this sor we paid for the repair).  For the middle unit he found a puncture and repaired it for $350 (Carlisle also didn't pay).  For the second end cap which is the 3rd unit that had leak (Jinya Ramen) he said the roof drain was the issue, said Carlisle would not cover either, gave quote to replace roof drain for $2300.  I saw the picture of roof drain and it is a little bit rusty but looks ok to me.  So I thought $2300 is too much for replacing a roof drain.  I called another roofer on that list that I know it's a good local company close to where I live.  That guy came the next day (all the other 3 came weeks after I called) and guess what?  He said:  I don't know why the other guy told you it's the roof drain.  This leak got nothing to do with the roof drain.  It's the wood nailers along the 4 sides of this unit are all rotten.  He sent pictures of those and I believe him.  That's why I met with him in his office on Monday.  The only thing is, the quotes he gave to repair the leaks for that unit (Jinya Ramen) are too pricey.  One is at $8K (that is, to repair and put things back with the same set up as original), one is at $15K (that is, to repair and put something else better so we won't have same issue again).  This roofer is also the guy who gave the quote of almost $6K to do yearly maintenance I mentioned above.

Please take a look at the 2 quotes for the 2 options he gave that I will post below and tell me what you think?

Oh, same as with the leaks at the other 2 units Carlisle also denied this claim saying it's because we didn't do maintenance.  So if you think the prices on these 2 quotes are high then when I find a good roofer who is reasonable with price I will go with that regardless if he is on Carlisle's list or not.

Thanks Ron!

 Yes, current owner bought from the developer when the property was 3 years old.

Yes, per the roof warranty it is required to have maintenance and repairs done by manufacturer's authorized roofers.  Current owner did ask the developer to transfer the warranty to him/us.  However, we only had the inspector inspected the whole building, but not did not go deep into inspecting the roof itself.  We don't have information on that roofer who put the roof on.  We bought this via that Hunington group you know in Houston.  I am sure you know how they are :).  I only knew after current owner already bought it from them.  Back to the roof, it seems to be good.  Just that we had leaks at 3 different units whenever it rained heavily.  All the roofers who have been up there were saying the roof is good and the leaks were due to other issues (installation of RTU, design of a special thing on top Jinya Ramen), not the integrity of the roof.

The roof warranty was transferred to us and is not null and void.  However, finding a good roofer who is reasonable with price to do maintenance/repairs, and on manufacturer's list of authorized roofers is a tough task.

@Bob Stevens I agree that is ridiculously expensive.  The thing is if we do maintenance on our own by hiring a GC, then in case something happens to the roof the roof warranty company (in this case Carlisle) will not cover it since they require all maintenance and repairs have to be done by their 'authorized roofers'.  And I have been through 3 roofers on that list and they are all suck and expensive.  They could not even find the root cause of the leaks we had the last few months (when there was heavy rain).  The company I mentioned above actually found the real issue (more on that in a separate post) and I visited their office yesterday.  They truly are a good local business who values their employees and customers so I want to go with them for the leaks repair, and the annual maintenance.  However, their price is not cheap at all.  But you know what?  So far that roof warranty company denied all the claims I made anyway so I guess as long as we keep the roof good then we don't need the warranty to begin with.  So maybe we can hire a GC or a roofer who is not on that 'authorized roofers' list to do the maintenance for us like you said, and forget about doing what is required by roofing warranty company.  

 The roof is 5 years old.  The building was built in 2018.  It is 15,000 SF.  Carlisle was the manufacturer, therefore roof warranty is with them, for 20 years.

Hi all,

The retail strip I manage is 5 years old and is in good shape.  I just took over management 2 years ago and don't think previous management/landlord ever did roof maintenance (giving it was still new back then).  I have decided it's time to start having roof maintenance done yearly from now on.  So yesterday I met with a good local roofing company to talk about yearly roof maintenance/inspection and here is what I got:

1. Complete roof inspection of flat, shingle, and metal roof.

2. Clean roof of debris, including broom cleaning areas where dirt and dust accumulates from ponding waters.

3. Inspection and clean drain of debris, and re-secure drain fasteners if necessary. If drains are blocked below the roof line, the owner will be advised.

4. Inspect all flashings at all penetrations and curbs, including pipes, skylights, walls, etc.

5. Inspect and clean all gutters and downspouts. Re-attach downspouts if necessary.

6. Re-secure loose sheet metal items and reseal cracked or missing caulk joints.

7. Advise the owner of any repairs exceeding the scope of this agreement.

Price:  $5800 / yr
Building:  15,000 SF.

This is a company that is on the list of 'authorized applicator' approved by Carlisle, our roof warranty company.  I am sure you guys in commercial all know we can't just hire any roofer to do work/maintenance/repair on commercial roofs.  They have to be approved roofers by roof warranty companies.

So, my question to you all are:

Does this look reasonable to you?

How much do you think it should cost to do this kind of inspection/maintenance?

How often do you do it?  Annual?  Semi-annual?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

@Michael Plaks Thanks for another great post Michael.  I really learn a lot from reading yours.

 Thanks Nathan.  No wonder why I keep telling tenants to add us additional insured but each time we get added as additional interest.  I assumed it is because it costs them more to add us as additional insured.  

@Nathan Gesner do you normally require your tenants to add you as additional insured or additional insured?

@Michael Plaks Thanks for this great post!