Commercial Roofing in New Orleans for Buildings That Can't Afford to Close

What a Gulf Coast Climate Does to a Flat Roof

Pitched roofs is a roof design that allows water to fall down by gravity. A low slope roof system must transport it across a near-level surface to a drain, a scupper or a gutter and New Orleans is constantly putting it through the paces. More water can be poured into a storm drain in an hour than can be cleaned out of the clogged drain, so it remains. Trapping or ponding water after more than a couple of days after a storm, breaks seams, stresses a deck's weight and enters all small holes.

The other half is wind. Uplift is greatest at corners and around the perimeter on a flat roof, and is where most storm failures begin. Hurricane Ida in 2021 caused many low slope roofs throughout the area to lose roof membrane, most of which started peeling from a loose edge or a failed coping cap. Once the wind gets the edge on you it can pick up whole sections. This is why we consider edge metal, coping and fastening patterns to be a part of the roof itself and not trim.

There is also the sun. During an August heat wave, a dark roof can be much hotter than the air around it and it will directly enter the space under the roof and into your cooling cost. White reflective membranes and coatings have significant impact on large flat buildings here.