When a Houston commercial roof is leaking, coat it or replace it

A commercial roof leak in Houston is rarely the brown spot on the ceiling tile. On a flat or low-slope roof, water gets in at a seam, a curb, or a drain, then travels sideways under the membrane. The stain downstairs can be yards away from the hole.

That is the ordinary failure on warehouses, shops, apartments, and offices from Houston out to Conroe. Summer heat expands the membrane. HVAC crews walk it. Hail bruises it. A drain clogs and the pond sits until the seam gives up. Core Four Roofing’s commercial repair page lists those as the leaks its Tomball crews actually chase: failed membrane seams, flashing around rooftop units, ponding water, and punctures from hail or other trades.

A weathered commercial roof before a Core Four replacement. The field is dark, the curbs and fans are the penetrations where seams usually fail first. Photo courtesy of Core Four Roofing.

Patch the ceiling and the leak comes back

A bucket and a ceiling tile do not find the source. Commercial roofs have long welded or glued seams, parapet walls, and a lot of metal curbs. Core Four, headquartered at 22955 State Highway 249, Suite 26 in Tomball, says its repair techs look at the membrane, the flashing, the parapets, and the insulation, not only the wet spot. The company works TPO, PVC, EPDM, modified bitumen, built-up roofing, and commercial metal.

If the insulation under the membrane is wet, a surface patch can hide the problem and rot the deck. If the deck is sound and the membrane is tired, a full tear-off is not automatically the next invoice. The white roof at the top of this story is that kind of replacement: a reflective single-ply field over the same building. A bright membrane sheds heat. It does not, by itself, fix a clogged drain or a curb that was never reflashed.

When a coating is the repair, and when it is not

Core Four’s coatings page describes a restoration for a flat roof that is aging but still structurally sound: a liquid silicone or acrylic elastomeric coating over the existing TPO, PVC, EPDM, or modified bitumen. The company says the coating cures into a seamless layer around HVAC penetrations and that, on the right roof, it can extend service by as much as 20 years without a tear-off. That 20-year figure is the company’s claim. It depends on the deck, the moisture in the insulation, and whether the drains actually move water.

A coating on a wet, spongy roof is a lid on a problem. The survey has to say the deck is sound before anyone sprays it. If the survey says the insulation is saturated or the membrane is blown open, the honest bid is a replacement, scheduled around tenants and dock hours.

What the written report should contain

Property managers do not need a sales paragraph. They need photos of the field, the flashings, and the drainage, plus a budget range an owner can read. Core Four’s inspection page says its condition reports cover the deck, the insulation, the drains, and the flashing at HVAC units and parapet walls, for acquisitions, lease renewals, and annual budgets. The company’s one-page roof condition scorecard is the short version a manager can forward after a survey.

In Conroe, the company says commercial work is survey-first: photograph the field, then bid TPO, metal, a coating, or a repair without shutting the building if that can be avoided. It lists night and weekend production when the building cannot close, and says a leak response from the Tomball shop is about 30 minutes away. The Conroe page is commercial roofing in Conroe. Houston buildings are on the Houston commercial page.

Ask for the survey, not a system

Core Four’s overview of commercial roofing covers replacement, repair, coatings, and inspections across Houston, with Austin and Dallas jobs scheduled from Tomball. The phone for a survey is (281) 541-0027. The useful question on the call is not “what do you sell.” It is “is the deck dry, and is this a seam, a coating, or a tear-off?”