{"source_url": "https://www.mercurynews.com", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01/01/sponsored-flat-roofs-tend-to-have-more-problems-than-non-flat-roofs/", "title": "Sponsored: Flat roofs tend to have more problems than non-flat roofs", "top_image": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AdobeStock_295087966.jpeg?w=1024&h=684", "meta_img": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AdobeStock_295087966.jpeg?w=1024&h=684", "images": ["https://i0.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AdobeStock_295087966.jpeg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/?s=85&d=mm&r=g", "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AdobeStock_295087966.jpeg?w=1024&h=684", "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/jetpack/modules/sharedaddy/images/loading.gif"], "movies": [], "text": "No. 813 in a series of true experiences in real estate\n\nWhen we ran into a flat roof problem again, I wondered why anyone ever built houses with flat roofs? Probably flat is less expensive than building a pitch, but it seems like there are many issues with roofs that are flat.\n\nWater stands on them in puddles. Drains that should carry water off get clogged up and cause difficulties. Often the owners aren\u02bct even aware that water is seeping in.\n\nWe often see flat-roofed stucco houses that have rot in the ceilings and walls. We\u02bcve seen a few that had such extensive damage that when the outside stucco was removed, there was hardly anything left behind it. Made us wonder what was keeping them upright.\n\nClearly, anyone owning a house with a flat roof needs to be (ha, ha) on top of it. They must get up on that roof and make sure the drains are clear, the flashing secure with no cracks anywhere to let water run inside.\n\nWe are not roofers. We know very little about the whys and wherefores of roofing methods and materials, but it seems pretty obvious that sloped roofs are more likely to readily shed water. That\u02bcs what roofs are supposed to do, and when they don\u02bct \u2014 well, looking at houses for years has impressed us with what happens to sodden buildings.\n\nThis most recent flat roof is the covering for only a portion of the house our buyers are buying, a part that is old and brittle, with tar that has cracked in spots. We arrive to do our physical inspection, and although it had not rained for some days, there were pools of water standing on it. When the inspector unclogged one of the roof drains, a great flood came noisily rushing through, out onto the ground.\n\nAll of the ceilings inside this house are open \u2014 pretty fir finished with some sort of thinned whitewash. When we look carefully, we can see where the rain, sometime in the past, has come in. There are small, now dried, dribbles on the ceiling.\n\nThe house needs a new roof. Simple enough: Call a roofer. We called several roofers.\n\nWe asked about adding a slope to the roof so that gravity would carry the water away. We inquired about adding insulation to the roof. And, of course, we asked how much everything would cost.\n\nWhat we got were different opinions and different bids. Each roofer has his own best idea, strongly felt, about what to do. We heard about the joys and the application of traditional tar and gravel. And about roof systems that employ fabric and liquid plastics.\n\nThere was talk of building up the flat section and of properly tying it into the rest of the roof. Also of flashing, ultraviolet rays, aluminum paint and evenly raked gravel. Downspouts and gutters, eaves and soffits, and rafter tails.\n\nIt was mind-stuffing stuff.\n\nI don\u02bct know what was going on with everyone else, but I was beginning to feel like someone needing surgery \u2014 or maybe not. One doctor says, \u201cCut it out.\u201d Another recommends, \u201cWait and see.\u201d A friend says, \u201cDon\u02bct listen to the medicos. Good nutrition is the key.\u201d Worrying over a roof, even one that is actively leaking, is not in the same league, of course, as worrying over a personal illness. But water that is coming inside your living space can loom large, drip cold. That is why we and our buyers were taking this roof thing so seriously.\n\nWe all stood in the empty living room of the house listening to dueling roofing contractors. By chance, two had arrived at the same time and now each enthusiastically defended his own (different) roof fix.\n\nThe lady buyer wanted to get on with buying her house. On the other hand, she didn\u02bct want to do something stupid. Right then, what the man buyer wanted was simply to be told what would make the roof watertight.\n\nWe must have been getting a little punchy. I loved it when our lady buyer asked what I thought was the best roof question of all: \u201cWhen is it going to leak again?\u201d\n\nI know she hoped for a reassuring answer. Perhaps, \u201cNo matter how much rain we get this winter, this roof is fine for another year.\u201d But the contractors didn\u02bct seem to know this one.\n\nOf course, that\u02bcs how it is with houses. Nothing is exact, nothing predictable. Different parts fail at different ages. No doubt there are better ways to build houses in the first place and better ways to fix them when they get old.\n\nBut how to figure it? Who to believe? You hope you make a good choice, something not terribly expensive yet durable, and to do so before any damage is done.\n\nOur buyers are thinking on it. The roof renewal, or revision, will work out. I do hope.\n\nPat Talbert and Anet Tarpoff are residential real estate agents who can be reached at 510-653-2050 and at TarpoffandTalbert.com, where you can sign up to receive these columns via email.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": ["Cartoons", "Mr. Roadshow", "Weather", "Pac-12 Hotline", "Celebrities", "Election Endorsements", "Sal Pizarro", "Opinion Columnists"], "authors": ["Pat Talbert", "Anet Tarpoff", "Pat Talbert Is A Residential Real Estate Agent.", "Anet Tarpoff Is A Residential Real Estate Agent."], "publish_date": "Wed Jan  1 00:00:00 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/32x32-mercury-news-white.png?w=32", "meta_data": {"application-name": "themercurynews", "viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1", "msvalidate.01": "4B535F7EB2971D1FCBA5D1D3E3E292C3", "generator": "WordPress 5.3.2", "wp-parsely_version": "1.14", "fb": {"pages": 63095136336}, "google-site-verification": "jvnaFa4kq5tUDhFMQZ84bDI74A2qnu0gfhxZjZXlkko", "og": {"type": "article", "title": "Sponsored: Flat roofs tend to have more problems than non-flat roofs", "url": "http://www.mercurynews.com/sponsored-flat-roofs-tend-to-have-more-problems-than-non-flat-roofs", "description": "When a client considers buying a flat-roof home, a lot of inspections and questions are necessary. Even after all that, a reminder: Houses are not predictable.", "site_name": "The Mercury News", "image": {"identifier": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AdobeStock_295087966.jpeg?w=1024&h=684", "width": 1024, "height": 684}, "locale": "en_US"}, "article": {"published_time": "2020-01-01T16:00:38+00:00", "modified_time": "2019-12-30T22:07:45+00:00"}, "twitter": {"site": "@mercnews", "text": {"title": "Sponsored: Flat roofs tend to have more problems than non-flat roofs"}, "image": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AdobeStock_295087966.jpeg?w=640", "card": "summary_large_image"}, "msapplication-TileImage": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/32x32-mercury-news-white.png?w=32", "Googlebot-News": "noindex, nofollow"}, "canonical_link": "http://www.mercurynews.com/sponsored-flat-roofs-tend-to-have-more-problems-than-non-flat-roofs"}