Patio cover and carport roofing in Long Beach, CA

Patio covers and carports are small roofs treated like afterthoughts. Many were built decades ago with very little slope and cheap roofing. They bake in the sun all summer, then get tested by the first winter storm. By then the rolled roofing is cracked, the joint at the house has opened, and the rafter tails are starting to rot.

Our crews re-roof and repair these structures with low-slope systems: rolled roofing, torch-down, TPO and coatings. We focus on the two places they fail: the tie-in at the house wall and the wood under the roofing. We work on existing wood patio covers, patio roofs framed into the house, and apartment and condo carports. We do not build new aluminum patio covers.

Roofing that works on a shallow patio or carport roof

Slope decides what roofing will last. Many patio covers fall only a little from the house to the front edge, too flat for shingles. Shingles on a roof that shallow let wind-driven rain back up under the laps, one of the most common problems we replace. Here we use materials sealed at the seams.

Rolled roofing is the budget choice for a small cover. Torch-down, a two-ply modified bitumen, stands up better to sun and foot traffic. TPO is a white heat-welded membrane that keeps the patio below cooler. A coating can extend the life of a sound, weathered roof. We pick by slope, size and drainage.

The tie-in flashing at the house wall

Most patio cover leaks start where the cover attaches to the house. It hangs off a ledger board bolted to the wall, and the roofing has to turn up that wall under flashing that sheds water away. Many older covers have no real flashing, just roofing cement smeared on the stucco. It cracks and water runs down behind the ledger.

On stucco we cut in a reglet or set counterflashing under the stucco line so the metal laps over the roofing turned up the wall. Where the patio roof ties under a house eave, we flash the inside corner and keep house roof water off the joint. Where it meets the house roof directly, we tie the two systems together.

Rafter tails, ledgers and the wood under the roofing

Patio covers are open on three sides, so the wood takes more abuse than a house frame. Exposed rafter tails soak up runoff and are often soft or split on older covers. Ledgers rot from water behind poor flashing. Flat spots pond, the wood sags, and the low spot deepens every winter.

We open the roof, probe the wood and replace what has failed: rafter tails, ledger sections and soft sheathing. Where ponding is the cause, we add tapered strips or reset the slope so water reaches the edge. If posts or beams are past saving, we tell you before the roofing goes on.

• Dry rot on exposed rafter tails at the drip edge
• Rotted ledger boards behind failed flashing
• Sagging bays that hold standing water
• Soft sheathing and loose fasteners near the edge

Carports on apartment and condo properties

Apartment and condo carports are long, low roofs over parking stalls, often sloped to a gutter at the back. Nobody lives under them, so they get neglected: ponding at the low edge, rusted gutters, torn seams and leaks over tenant cars. Boards usually hear about it in the first big rain.

We work carports in sections so only a few stalls close at a time, with a schedule the manager can post. We protect stalls from debris and clear the area each day. Common choices are torch-down, TPO, or a coating over roofing still in fair shape.

When to call about patio cover & carport roofing

Patio covers and carports around Long Beach

The post-war ranch tracts in Los Altos, the Plaza, Lakewood Village, El Dorado Park Estates and North Long Beach are full of wood patio covers added over the decades, many with little slope and no flashing at the house. Cliff May ranchos in Rancho Estates have low-slope patio roofs that blend into the main roofline and need careful tie-in work. In Bixby Knolls and California Heights, rear patio roofs often hide rot at the rafter tails.

Carports fill apartment and condo properties downtown, in Alamitos Beach and in East Long Beach. Near the coast in Belmont Shore and Naples, salt air rusts fasteners, gutters and drip edge faster. Strong UV cracks old rolled roofing, and leaks often appear only in the first atmospheric-river storm. Long Beach requires a building permit for re-roofing, and we check what applies before work starts.