Roofer, constructor, S.Engr, or architect. Modify flat roof on church: where to start? 1

[objengrs]

The attached 2-slide file shows a troublesome church roof (aren’t they all?) If you are knowledgeable in commercial building engineering, might you have a look?

BACKGROUND
• I find myself the perennial “property guy,” at our small church. (Roughly 50 members in post-covid days—money is tight.)
• The building was added-on-to at different times. Now, the church has two small flat roof sections (EPDM membrane) fed by much bigger sloped sections (shingle).
• The flat roofs are a pain in the neck.

POSSIBLE RE-DESIGN?
If I were asked to find a permanent solution today, my (feeble mech. engr.) approach would be to lessen the slope of the adjacent gable roof and widen it to replace each of the two flat roof sections.

THE QUESTION
How do I get some ballpark (but realistic) cost estimates to bring to the church council?
Do I start with:
Structural engr?
Architect?
Roofing company?
Commercial builder?

Thanks for any feedback!

Sincerely,
Bill Shust (Mechanical, P.E.)

 

[phamENG]

Best bet would be to talk to an architect with experience working with churches. Understanding church finances is as important a part of this job as knowing how to redesign the roof, and a good specialist will be able to guide you with your unique requirements in mind.

What's the issue with the flat roof? Just not draining/experiencing ponding? Leaking? You may be able to get by with just raising the pitch of that flat roof - tapered insulation isn't cheap, but may be a good solution here - and improve drainage from those areas. A good architect can take it all in and figure out the best way to handle it, as well as figure out all of the associated flashing issues that will come up with merging several roof planes.

Good luck!

 

[StrucPatholgst]

Flat roofs that don't leak and don't pond water literally exist everywhere. Talk to a professional roofing company (NOT THE CHEAP GUY). Make sure the job will have a real, branded warranty. Then maintain it.

If you can't commit to those three things, then don't even bother getting involved. This is not rocket science. You get what you pay for.

 

[Brad805]

If you need to fix the roof and not get a number of competitive bids, then I would start with contractors and save yourself the cost of an arch that may or may not know how to fix this. I would start with the best roofing company in the area. Toss the EPDM away and replace with a SBS torch on with 2% slopes to internal drains. Standing water on a flat roof is common, leaking should not be. I would look to see how high the membrane goes up the wall. It could be finding a path through the brick or something else.

 

[JedClampett]

From my 30 second review, the gable roofs are draining onto flat roofs. Not the greatest idea. If roofs 2, 3 and 4 don't have adequate gutters and downspouts (I can't tell from the pictures), provide them. Then slope the flat roofs as steep as practical (2% is a good number) using tapered insulation. I'm a fan of modified bitumen roofs, but there are a lot of good roofs, if applied professionally. It is important to wrap the roofing material up the parapet about 18 inches and attach in a watertight manner. Then make sure the rainwater has someplace to go. Scuppers are OK, although internal drains are better in my opinion.

 

[RontheRedneck]

In my not-at-all humble opinion there are 2 kinds of flat roofs. Flat roofs that leak, and flat roofs that are going to leak.

If you aren't concerned about appearance, I'd say any competent carpenter could over-frame the flat areas with rafters and make a roof that would take shingles.

If appearance is an issue, I'd suggest hiring an architect. They can draw it in different ways to submit to the building committee, do 3D drawings, and maybe eventually get them to agree on how it should look. (That may be the worst part of the process)

 

[dik]

I second the roofer solution. A good roofing contractor will know how to install a flat roof (likely a single ply membrane) and know hot to insulate and flash it. The latter being critical to prevent the ingress of moisture. Finding a good roofing contractor may be tricky and you might check with some good general contractors that use them.

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So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik