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from $4.25 / sq ft

Protective Flat Roof Coating

Seal the roof you have instead of paying for the roof you don't need yet

See pricing
Protective Flat Roof Coating completed by Fresh Build in Los Angeles

A flat roof in Los Angeles does not usually fail because the membrane wore out. It fails at the seams, the parapet flashings and the drains, and it fails after fifteen years of UV rather than fifteen years of rain. A coating addresses exactly that: it goes over the existing roof as one seamless membrane with no seams left to open up.

A coating works on a roof that drains. Where water stands for days after rain, no coating is the answer on its own — the drainage has to be fixed first, which usually means re-sloping to the drain, clearing or adding scuppers, and rebuilding the low spot. We check that during the inspection and tell you honestly if your roof needs that work before anything gets sealed.

There is a second payoff most homeowners do not expect. A white reflective coating drops roof surface temperature dramatically in an LA summer, and the rooms directly underneath feel it. Clients regularly tell us their upstairs finally holds temperature after a coating went on.

Pricing

Three ways this gets quoted

Priced per square foot of roof area including cleaning, primer, seam reinforcement and the coating itself. Repairs to rotten decking are quoted separately if we find any.

  • Most requested

    Acrylic Elastomeric

    The standard system for a sound roof that drains properly.

    from $4.25per sq ft

    • Power wash and full surface prep
    • Primer plus two coats of acrylic elastomeric
    • Seams and penetrations reinforced with fabric
    • Highly reflective white finish
    • 10-year material warranty

  • Full Restoration

    For roofs that need repair before they can be sealed.

    from $8.50per sq ft

    • Wet insulation located and replaced
    • Failed seams and blisters cut out and rebuilt
    • Drains, scuppers and parapet flashings reworked
    • Full fabric reinforcement across the field
    • Elastomeric topcoat with 10-year warranty

How it runs

Our flat roof coating process

  1. 1

    Roof inspection

    We walk the roof, probe for soft spots and wet insulation, photograph every seam and flashing, and send you the photos. If the roof is too far gone to coat, we say so — coating a rotten deck is throwing money away.

  2. 2

    Clean and repair

    Power wash the entire surface, cut out blisters, rebuild failed seams, and replace any saturated insulation we found. Drains and scuppers are cleared and re-flashed.

  3. 3

    Reinforce and prime

    Fabric reinforcement is embedded at every seam, penetration and parapet transition — the places roofs actually leak. Then the correct primer for your substrate goes down.

  4. 4

    Coat and document

    Two coats applied at the manufacturer's specified thickness, checked with a wet-mil gauge as we go. You get before-and-after photos and the warranty paperwork registered in your name.

“Another company quoted me twenty-six thousand for a tear-off. Fresh Build climbed up, showed me photos of a deck that was completely fine, and sealed it for under eight. No leak since, and the back bedroom is noticeably cooler in summer.”

Michael T. — Burbank

FAQ

Flat Roof Coating questions

The things people ask before they book. If yours is not here, call and ask it.

Coating starts around $4.25 per square foot, and a roof that needs repair before it can be sealed runs from $8.50. For a typical 1,200–1,800 sq ft flat roof that works out to roughly $5,200–$11,000 all-in. A full tear-off and replacement on the same roof would usually run $18,000–$30,000, which is why coating makes sense whenever the deck is still sound.

The system carries a 10-year material warranty and typically outlives it in LA's dry climate, as long as the roof is kept clear of debris and the drains stay open. A wash and a look every couple of years is the whole maintenance job.

If the leak is at a seam, flashing or penetration — which is where almost all flat-roof leaks are — yes. If water has already saturated the insulation below the membrane, coating over it traps the moisture and the leak comes back. That is why we probe for wet insulation first and replace it before anything gets sealed.

Not until the water has somewhere to go. Standing puddles break down any coating from above, so the drainage gets fixed first: re-slope the low spot to the drain, clear or add scuppers, rebuild the flashing around them. Once the roof drains, the coating goes on and lasts. Anyone who offers to coat straight over ponding water is selling you a repeat visit.

Yes — that is the whole point. Coatings go over built-up, modified bitumen, TPO, EPDM and most existing systems with no tear-off, which is where the savings and the much shorter timeline come from.

Coverage

Flat Roof Coating across Los Angeles & Orange County

Pick your city to see how the local housing stock changes what this job involves.

Other things we do

Free estimate

Get a fixed price for flat roof coating

Priced per square foot of roof area including cleaning, primer, seam reinforcement and the coating itself. Repairs to rotten decking are quoted separately if we find any. Free walkthrough, written quote, no follow-up sales calls.

(213) 375-0868

Calls answered 24/7

CA License #1166332 — licensed, bonded and insured