Apartment, Condo & HOA Roofing in Troy, MI

Two- and three-story condo and apartment buildings often carry asphalt shingles, priced and scheduled one building at a time. The code allows shingles only on slopes of 2:12 or steeper and calls for a double layer of underlayment between 2:12 and 4:12. Where ice has a history of backing up at the eaves, an ice barrier has to run from the edge to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line. Southeast Michigan winters make that a standard line on the bid. Low-pitch porch and dormer sections tucked between steeper slopes are where shingle buildings tend to leak first.

Mid-rise apartment blocks usually have a TPO, EPDM or modified bitumen roof with rooftop units, plumbing vents and an access hatch. On these buildings a leak doesn't find an empty warehouse floor; it finds a resident's ceiling. A building four or more stories tall must have a stairway to the roof unless the roof is steeper than 4:12, and buildings without an occupied roof may use a roof hatch instead of a penthouse. That hatch is how crews, tools and debris move, so ask how they will get to the roof without using the residents' stairs and corridors, and see skylights and hatches for hatch and guard rules.

The small roofs are the ones bids forget: low-slope roofs over top-floor balconies, covered breezeways between buildings, entry canopies and mailbox shelters. Each meets a wall, and the code requires flashing at every wall and roof intersection. Those wall joints, along with the drip edges over walkways, are common leak points, and residents notice water dripping on stairs long before anyone checks the main roof. Where those roofs drip onto walks and stairs, Detroit's winter pattern of daytime thaw and overnight freeze turns the drip into an ice patch at a building entrance. Ask that every small roof be listed by location in the scope, with its own flashing detail and a plan for where its water goes.

Carports usually carry metal panels or a light membrane, detached garages often have shingles, and a clubhouse may have a mix of both. Folding these into the main project usually costs less than bidding them later, and it puts every roof on the property on one schedule and one set of warranty records.