Leak Repairs

We Trace Flat Roof Leaks to the Source and Stop Them for Good

A drip through the ceiling, a brown ring that spreads after every storm, water standing around a rooftop unit - across Brooklyn's flat roofs we follow each one back to where it's actually getting in, repair it in your roof's own EPDM, TPO, or modified bitumen, and water-test the fix before we leave.

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FlatTop Roofing

What If the Water Isn't Coming From the Roof at All?

Not every leak on a flat roof is a membrane failure. Water tracking down an interior wall often turns out to be open mortar joints in the parapet or a cracked coping cap, an air-conditioning unit dumping condensate where its line has come apart, or a plumbing vent that's separated below the roofline. The membrane can be perfectly sound and you'll still get water inside. So the first thing we settle on a leak call is whether the roof is even the culprit - because re-flashing a curb does nothing if the water's coming through the brick two feet up the parapet. A few minutes ruling sources in or out keeps you from paying for a repair that was never going to dry the ceiling.
Angle of Flat roofs in Brooklyn NY with roofers

A leak that appears days after the snow rather than during the rain is meltwater finding a path as it refreezes and backs up at the edge. None of these patterns is random - each one points to a different opening behaving in a different way. So the timing you describe when you call isn't just background detail; it tells us where to look first and saves a round of guesswork on the roof.

Why Does My Roof Only Leak in Some Storms and Not Others?

An intermittent leak is usually telling you something specific about the opening. Wind-driven rain pushes water sideways under a lifted flashing edge that sheds an ordinary vertical rain just fine - so it only lets go when the wind's coming from the wrong direction. A leak that shows up only in a long, heavy downpour points to water having to build to a certain depth before it reaches a seam sitting slightly high. And one that appears days after the snow rather than during the rain is meltwater finding a path as it refreezes and backs up at the edge. The pattern is a clue, not a mystery - the timing you describe when you call tells us where to look first.

Flat top roofing roofer standing on top a residential home roof
About FlatTop Roofing

Two Kinds of Leak Calls Come Through the Door

The leak calls split into two kinds. One is the fresh failure - a seam that opened in a windstorm, a drain that overflowed in a downpour, flashing that pulled off a curb over a hard winter. The other is the leak that's already been chased: a roof one or two crews have patched that drips anyway, because nobody ever pinned down where the water was getting in.

Both land on the three systems we run all week - EPDM, TPO, and modified bitumen - over warehouse decks, apartment and office buildings, and the smaller flat roofs at the back of a brownstone or a storefront. Licensed and insured in New York, and certified on the membranes we repair, so a roof still under its manufacturer warranty stays covered after we've worked on it.

The Water Stops the Day You Call, the Fix Comes Once It's Dry

An active leak gets stopped on the first visit, not repaired on it. We get a temporary cover over the breach so the ceiling, the stock, or the equipment below stops taking water that afternoon, then come back for the permanent membrane repair once the surface has dried out - a weld or an adhesive won't bond to a wet roof. The inside stops getting wet the first day; the roof gets fixed right the second time up.

No Price Until We've Confirmed Where It's Getting In

A patch costs the same whether it lands in the right place or the wrong one - but only one of them stops the leak. So we don't hand you a repair price off a photo or a hunch about the nearest seam. The crew gets on the roof, pressure-checks the joints that look suspect, and flood- or hose-tests a section until the water shows its actual path. The figure you get covers fixing the opening we've found, not the one that looked likeliest from the ground.

A Storm Leak Gets Written Up for Your Insurer

Wind and hail leaks come with a second job: the claim. The damage has to be recorded before it's repaired, or there's nothing left for the adjuster to see - so we photograph the lifted seams and torn flashing, note what gave way and where, and send it over with the repair write-up. You get the leak closed and the documentation in a single trip up the ladder.

Our Services

Expert Flat Roofing Services for Every Need

Professional roofers doing Roof Maintenance & Inspection
Cost Guides
A new TPO or EPDM system, a modified-bitumen recover, a coating, or a one-off leak repair sit at very different price points - and the building's size, roof access, drain count, and how much wet insulation has to come off all move the number. Our cost guides walk through what drives each, so you can read a quote and know exactly what you're paying for.
Professional roofers doing flat roof repairs

Leak Repairs

We don't guess at flat-roof leaks. Flood-testing, seam probing, and infrared moisture scanning on larger roofs let us pinpoint where the membrane has opened up and how far the water has spread underneath before we cut into anything.
Professional roofers doing flat roof repairs

Repair Services

Lifting seams, sun-blistered membrane, cracked flashing, failed pitch pockets, separated drain rings - these are the everyday repairs that keep a sound roof watertight. We use the manufacturer's own seam tape, primers, and flashing details so the fix bonds to your existing system instead of fighting it.
Flat top roofing roofers working on a residential home flat roof

Residential Flat Roofs

Rear roofs on brownstones, rowhouse extensions, and small apartment buildings almost all run flat or low-slope, and they carry their own headaches - tight access, shared parapets, neighbors a few feet away. We repair and replace residential flat roofs with that reality built into the plan.
Flat top roofing group of roofers repairing flat roofs

Roof Construction

Tear-off down to a clean deck, fresh insulation and cover board, then the membrane - a fully-adhered EPDM, a mechanically-fastened TPO, or a torched modified-bitumen buildup. New construction and gut rebuilds get the same treatment, spec'd to the structure and the load. When a building wants more from its roof, we also install vegetated green-roof assemblies and the curbs, mounts, and flashing that rooftop solar needs to sit watertight.
Flat top roofing group of roofers doing works on a flat roof

Roof Damage and Problems

Water that never drains, blisters bubbling up under the heat, membrane shrinking and pulling off the parapets, hail bruising, wind-lifted edges - flat roofs fail in specific, recognizable ways, and each one calls for a different fix: re-sloping, re-flashing, a recover, or a full replacement depending on how far it's gone.

Leak Questions, Sorted Out Before You're On the Phone

The articles here cover the calls a leak forces fast: what to do in the first hour of an active leak to limit the damage inside, how to tell a roof leak from water coming through a wall or an AC condensate line, what it means when a roof still under its manufacturer warranty starts dripping, and whether a slow stain that hasn’t dripped yet is worth a call. Written from leak jobs we’ve actually run.
Categories

Leak Questions We Get Asked Most

We just had this roof done and it's already leaking - what now?
A new roof that leaks early usually isn’t the membrane failing – it’s a detail that wasn’t finished right: a seam that didn’t fully weld, a pipe boot left loose, flashing that was never terminated into the wall. If the roof’s still under the installer’s workmanship warranty, going back is their obligation. If they won’t return, or they’re out of business, we’ll find the unfinished detail, repair it to the manufacturer’s spec, and document what was wrong in case you need it later. Tell us who put the roof on and we’ll keep our work inside whatever coverage you’ve still got.
Almost never. The diagnosis happens up on the roof, not inside your space – testing seams, flooding a section, lifting flashing at the penetrations. The one reason to open a ceiling is when it’s already holding water and bulging, where draining it on purpose is safer than waiting for it to come down on its own. We’d rather find the opening up top and leave the inside of your building alone.
A stain that’s dry and hasn’t grown in months is often a leak that already stopped on its own – a seam that resealed when debris washed into it, or a one-time overflow that hasn’t repeated. A stain that darkens or spreads after rain is live and getting worse under the surface. The way to know without guessing is to wet the area and watch where it travels, which is part of any leak diagnosis. If it turns out to be an old, dead stain, you don’t need a repair, and we’ll say so rather than sell you one.
A good flood or hose test brings most leaks out once we work the suspect areas in sequence. A stubborn one – an intermittent, wind-driven leak that won’t repeat on a calm, dry day – sometimes takes a second look in the conditions that set it off, or isolating the roof into sections and testing each until it shows itself. We won’t seal a patch over an unconfirmed spot and call it fixed; if we haven’t found the source yet, we tell you and keep at it.
Yes, for most flat roofs reached by an exterior stair, a roof door, or a hatch we can get to. Give us access and we can diagnose, price, and repair the leak without you there, then send the photos and the write-up afterward. The only time someone has to let us in is a roof reachable solely through the interior of the building – and even then it’s usually one short window of access for the whole job.
How it works

From the First Drip to a Tested Repair

Four stages, from the first call to the day the leak's confirmed closed.

Describe the leak - when it shows up, where it's showing inside, and whether it's running right now. An active leak gets a temporary cover the same day so the interior stops taking water before we schedule the permanent fix.

On the roof, we settle two things: whether the roof is even the source, and exactly where the water's entering. That's a test, not a glance over the surface - and we don't move to a price until the spot is confirmed.

The repair comes to you in writing - what failed, the membrane and materials it takes, the area involved, and a price that holds once the job starts. If there's wet board to cut out and dry, it's in that number up front, not a surprise halfway through.

We make the repair in your roof's own EPDM, TPO, or modified bitumen, water-test the finished detail to confirm it's sealed, and send you the photos so you've got a record the leak is closed.

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Licensed Brooklyn Contractors Ready to Help

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