Boston & North Shore Roofing
Commercial Roofing Contractors in Boston, MA
A commercial roof fails on a schedule nobody controls. Tenants call, boards meet, and the water always lands over the same unit. We survey the deck, cut cores, price the honest options, and phase the work so the building stays open.
- TPO, PVC and modified bitumen systems
- Board-ready scopes for condo associations
- Phased work keeps tenants operating
- Core samples before any recover or coating
A commercial roof leak is a business problem first. Stock gets wet. A tenant starts writing letters. A condo board calls a special meeting over one ceiling stain.
We roof condo and HOA buildings, three- and six-family rentals, mill and loft conversions, churches and small retail plazas. TPO, PVC, modified bitumen or a restoration coating, depending on the deck and what sits on it.
Paulo Silva walks the roof, cuts the cores and writes the estimate himself. We work on commercial buildings across Boston and the cities around it.
- TPO, PVC and modified bitumen systems
- Board-ready scopes for condo associations
- Phased work keeps tenants operating
- Core samples before any recover or coating
Free Commercial Roofing Estimate
Know The Signs
Signs a commercial roof is finished
Flat roofs warn you first, and the warning sits where nobody goes.
Blisters across the field
Moisture trapped between plies pushes up as blisters. One is a repair. A field of them is a tear-off.
Seams a probe slips into
TPO and PVC are heat welded, not glued. One cold lap feeds water sideways across the whole deck.
Cores that squeeze water
We cut a two-inch core and hold the insulation up. If it drips, a coating only seals the water in.
Ponding at the interior drains
These roofs drain to the middle, not the edge. A clogged strainer and no overflow turn rain into weight.
Grease near the exhaust fan
Kitchen exhaust drops cooking grease on the membrane. It softens EPDM and attacks TPO. PVC shrugs it off.
Coping you can rock by hand
Uplift starts at the corners, never the middle. Loose coping leaves first in a nor'easter, and then it is an [emergency roof repair](/services/emergency-roof-repair-boston/).
Picking the membrane: TPO, PVC, modified bitumen or a coating
No membrane is best. One fits your deck and your rooftop equipment better than the rest. Our EPDM, TPO and PVC comparison for Boston flat roofs goes deeper.
TPO
A white, heat-welded sheet. It keeps a top floor cooler in August, and a welded lap beats a taped one. Standard on condo buildings.
PVC
Also heat welded, and chemically resistant. Cooking grease and solvent exhaust chew through other membranes. With a restaurant downstairs, PVC earns its premium.
Modified bitumen
Two-ply SBS: base sheet and granulated cap. Tough underfoot, forgiving on a cut-up roof. Cold-applied or self-adhered, so no open flame over an occupied mill building.
Silicone restoration coating
Fluid-applied over a roof still sound and dry. It buys years without a tear-off. Over wet insulation it is the wrong answer, and quoting one without cutting a core is a guess.
The buildings we roof around Boston
- Condo and HOA buildings, where the roof is a reserve line and an owner vote
- Three-family rentals with flat rear decks
- Mill and loft conversions on timber plank decks
- Churches and function halls with low-slope additions
- Retail plazas with rooftop HVAC and kitchen exhaust
Fort Point Channel is a landmark district, and its lofts carry parapets on four sides and rows of monitor sash. We roof commercial properties in South Boston and reflash the curb-mounted skylights.
Snow load, drift and freeze-thaw
A pitched roof sheds snow. A flat roof stores it. The 780 CMR Eighth Edition table sets design ground snow load at 40 psf for Boston, Cambridge and Quincy, 50 psf for Danvers and Gloucester. Drift is the commercial problem: it piles against parapets and equipment curbs, so the load is never even.
Boston averages 49.2 inches of snow a year; 2014-15 put 110.6 inches on Logan. Freeze-thaw does the slower damage: about 92 days at or below freezing, only 23 frozen all day. That gap drives meltwater into a lap and freezes it by midnight. Small buildings fail the same way, so we also do flat and low-slope roof replacement in EPDM rubber.
Condo boards: the protections that do not apply here
Massachusetts HIC registration under M.G.L. c. 142A covers owner-occupied homes of one to four units, and its Guaranty Fund caps claims at $10,000 per project. Commercial and association roofs fall outside it. Your protection is the contract, the insurance certificate and the Construction Supervisor License on the permit. Ask for all three before the board votes.
Red flags on a commercial roof bid
- A coating price with no core samples
- No membrane thickness or fastening pattern named
- A warranty promised out loud, never registered with the manufacturer
- Any offer to cover your insurance deductible, which is illegal in Massachusetts
Our Process
How a commercial roof job runs
Same sequence on a 40-unit condo building or a 12,000-foot plaza.
Survey and core samples
Paulo counts penetrations, checks the drains and cuts cores. Those give us the layer count and the deck type.
Three prices, side by side
Tear-off, recover and coating, with what each one buys. A photo-documented [commercial roof inspection](/services/roof-inspection-boston/) comes with it.
Paperwork a board can act on
Line-item scope naming membrane and thickness, insurance certificate, license copies, schedule. Not one lump sum on a page.
Permit, staging, tenant notice
The ISD short form is the residential path. Commercial and larger multi-family work runs on a standard building permit. We confirm it with ISD.
Open only what we can close
We tear off in sections and dry each one in before the crew leaves. An overnight storm stays outside.
Insulation, curbs, then a test
Polyiso to spec, tapered fill and crickets uphill of HVAC curbs, drains reset. Seams probed end to end, then water tested.
On The Roof
What commercial roofing looks like in progress
What Drives The Price
What drives commercial roofing cost in Boston
These roofs price per square foot, then the details take over. The open field is the cheap part.
Penetration count, not just size
Twelve HVAC curbs and four drains on 5,000 feet costs more than 8,000 clean feet.
Membrane and thickness
60-mil TPO, 60-mil PVC and two-ply SBS are three prices. PVC costs the most and earns it over a kitchen.
What comes off, and the deck under it
Disposal prices by weight, and gravel-surfaced built-up roofing is heavy. Mill timber decks need boards; steel decks need fasteners.
Insulation and tapered slope
New polyiso and a tapered package that moves water to the drains. Skipping it is why the last roof ponded.
Access, occupancy and hours
A boom lift on a city street, an alley with no dumpster room, a crew starting after closing time.
Perimeter metal and warranty term
Coping, edge metal, overflow scuppers and warranty length all move the number. Near saltwater we use 300-series stainless fasteners.
Cost drivers, not a quote. A coating on a sound, dry roof costs a fraction of a tear-off, if the cores come back dry.
FAQ
Commercial Roofing questions we get asked
Straight answers, including the ones that cost us work sometimes.
It prices per square foot. The perimeter and the rooftop equipment cost more than the open field, so the spread is wide. We price tear-off, recover and coating side by side.
Only if the insulation is dry and the deck is sound. We cut cores first. Silicone over wet insulation traps water and rots the deck.
We open only what we can make watertight that day and stage material clear of tenant entrances. Restaurant roofs run after close.
Usually not. HIC applies to owner-occupied one- to four-unit homes and caps Guaranty Fund claims at $10,000. Association work runs on the contract, the insurance certificate and the CSL.
Yes, and we file it. The ISD short form at $20 plus $10 per $1,000 is the residential path; commercial jobs use the standard building permit. In a landmark district, Landmarks approval comes first.
Related roofing services
Work that often comes up on the same roof.
- Flat & Low-Slope RoofingFull tear-off and 60-mil EPDM rubber replacement for triple-deckers, row houses and mansard decks, with tapered insulation that ends ponding water for good.Learn more
- Roof InspectionsFree, documented roof inspection. We get on the roof, check the attic, and hand you photos, a written report, and an honest verdict.Learn more
- Emergency Roof RepairStorm damage or a sudden leak? We take after-hours calls, tarp exposed decking the same day, and handle the permanent repair once the weather clears.Learn more
Read more before you decide
Longer guides on the parts of this that homeowners ask about most.
- MaterialsEPDM vs. TPO vs. PVC: Choosing the Right Flat Roof for a Boston Triple-DeckerMost of Boston's housing has a flat or near-flat deck, which makes membrane choice a real decision. Here is how EPDM, TPO and PVC actually differ — and why the tapered insulation under them matters more than the sheet itself.6 min read
- Permits & CodeCSL vs. HIC: What Licenses a Massachusetts Roofing Contractor Actually NeedsTwo different credentials, two different jobs, and one free state lookup that takes ninety seconds. Hiring an unregistered roofer costs you Guaranty Fund access and weakens your position under Chapter 93A.5 min read
Commercial Roofing across Greater Boston
We run this service in 34 communities. Here is where it comes up most often:
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Get a real number for commercial roofing on your roof
Free on-site inspection, photos of what we find, and a written itemized estimate you can compare line by line against any other bid.
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- Licensed & fully insured in Massachusetts
- Written workmanship warranty on every roof
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