Silver Lake put modern houses on hills once called unbuildable. Many of them have flat roofs.
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If the roof still has good years left, the report tells you.
Roof replacement and free written roof inspections across Silver Lake. The median home in ZIP code 90026 was built in 1945. The hillsides hold one of the most important collections of modernist houses in Los Angeles, many with flat roofs, and Silver Lake is on the fire department’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone list.
Deck, underlayment, then shingles or tile. The underlayment keeps the water out, and you can only check it from up on the roof.
What we check on a Silver Lake roof
A flat roof on a steep lot fails in its own particular ways.
Where the water leaves
A flat roof depends on its drains. We check every drain, scupper and overflow, because one blocked outlet is enough to pond water over a bedroom.
Thin edges, deep overhangs
Schindler and Neutra houses here were built with crisp fascias and long overhangs. A new membrane has to turn up and over those edges without thickening the line the architect drew.
Under the old layers
With almost half the homes in 90026 built before 1940, many flat roofs have been covered more than once. The report says how many layers are there and what the deck looks like where we can see it.
Before the rain in Silver Lake
Flat roofs, hillside lots and a great many houses from before 1940.
Clear the scuppers
Leaves and grit collect at flat roof drains through the fall. One clogged outlet in a long storm turns a roof into a shallow pool.
Walls that meet the roof
On modernist homes the flat roof often runs into a taller wall or a clerestory. That flashing is where most winter leaks begin.
Lots that drop away
Many homes here sit on steep, stepped lots. Water off the roof should be carried to the street, not onto the slope below the house.
Before the first big storm: book the free roof check, or read our winter storm roof guide.
From our roofs
Recent MAMOS roofing work: shingle re-roofs, flat ADU roofs and tile.
The rules that apply to a Silver Lake roof
Set by the city. On a flat roof, watch the cool roof rule.
Replace more than half the roof and LADBS requires a CRRC-rated cool roof product. On a low-slope roof that usually means a light, reflective membrane.
Silver Lake is on the city’s list of Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone communities. Inside the zone, the whole roof assembly must be Class A.
Silver Lake has no historic overlay zone. A designated Historic-Cultural Monument, like Schindler’s How House, needs city preservation approval before a permit is issued.
We get on the roof, photograph what we find and write it up.
Get my free reportA modern roof should still look like the original.
On a modernist house, the roof edge is part of the design. We document what is there now, with dated photographs, and plan the new roof so the profile stays the same.
of homes in ZIP code 90026, which Silver Lake shares with Echo Park, were built before 1940. In 90039, on the east side of the reservoir, it is 41 percent.
Roof questions in Silver Lake
Repair or replace?
Usually the underlayment decides it, and you have to get on the roof to check that. The report gives you the answer, with photos.
What does a new roof change for my insurer?
Most letters name roof age. The permit and completion papers show the new roof’s date; what the carrier does with them is its decision.
Can a flat roof be fixed, or does it have to be replaced?
Often it can be repaired. Blisters, open seams and failed flashing at the walls can be fixed on their own. When the membrane is worn out across the whole roof, or water has reached the deck, replacement is the right call. The report says which.
Flat roof inspection in Silver Lake
The report gives you membrane condition, drainage, layers, remaining life and fire zone status, in writing. Sometimes the fix is as small as a drain and a seam.
“Mamos did a beautiful job renovating my new kitchen. They were patient, passionate, and attentive. They listened to my all of my personal preferences and installed beautiful new cabinets and granite countertops. Couldn’t be happier.”
HADAS M. · YELP
Request your report
Drainage, membrane condition, fire zone status and remaining roof life. We call back within 15 minutes: 8am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, 8am to 2pm Friday.
Got it.
Rather talk? Call (818) 934-0075.
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Silver Lake · Echo Park · Los Feliz · Atwater Village
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