Why flat roofs need a different approach
On a pitched roof, gravity does most of the work — get a tarp over the hole and water runs off. On a low-slope commercial deck, water sits. A tarp laid the way it would be on a house creates ponding, and ponded water finds every seam and edge given time. Commercial roof tarping has to be planned around where the water will actually go.
What we account for on a commercial deck
- Drains and scuppers. A tarp that covers a drain converts a contained leak into a flooded roof. Drainage paths stay open, and the cover is laid to direct water toward them.
- Existing membrane type. TPO, EPDM, modified bitumen and built-up roofs each behave differently and have different repair implications. Penetrating any of them for a temporary cover is almost always the wrong call.
- Rooftop plant. HVAC units, ducting, conduit, vents and walkway pads all have to be worked around, and units generally need to stay serviceable.
- Parapets and edge detail. These are useful anchor points and also common leak sources in their own right.
- Load limits. Ballast has to be adequate but distributed — concentrating weight on a deck already compromised is not acceptable.
Ballast, not fasteners
Commercial covers are held by weight in nearly every case: sandbags, weighted battens and water bladders placed to spread load across the deck. This protects the membrane, avoids creating new penetrations that a roofing contractor then has to chase, and keeps any eventual warranty conversation simpler. Screwing battens through a TPO membrane to hold a temporary tarp is how a contained repair turns into a membrane replacement argument.
Business continuity comes first
The point of a commercial tarp is usually to keep the business trading. That shapes the work:
- Out-of-hours scheduling where daytime work would disrupt trading, and we will work overnight when that is what keeps the doors open.
- Protecting what is underneath — server rooms, stock, kitchen equipment and production lines get priority in the sequencing.
- Clear access and signage so customers and staff are not routed under the work.
- Documentation for the claim, which on a commercial policy frequently has to satisfy a broker and a loss adjuster as well as the carrier.
Building types we cover
- Retail units and strip centres — often multi-tenant, where one breach affects several businesses and the responsibility split matters
- Warehouses and distribution — large spans, high decks, significant stock exposure
- Offices — IT and document exposure, and ceiling systems that show damage quickly
- Restaurants — health inspection implications if water reaches a prep area
- Schools, churches and civic buildings — usually needing work scheduled around occupancy
- Light industrial — where production downtime dominates the cost of the loss
Property managers and multi-site operators
If you run a portfolio across Texas metros, one point of contact for tarping across all of them is usually simpler than a different local contractor per site. We work statewide — see service areas — and can provide consistent documentation across sites, which matters when a single carrier is handling several claims from one storm event.