Commercial Roofing
A room taken out of inventory for a ceiling stain costs a hotel a night's revenue, and the same room taken out for a week costs the week, which is why the date of the first stain matters more than its size. Edinburg, TX counts healthcare, higher education, government and logistics among its employers, and a hotel serving that mix may be a limited-service building or a larger property with meeting rooms and a pool, and its roof covers guest rooms, corridors, lobbies, kitchens and mechanical spaces, with different heights, different slopes and rooftop equipment on every level.
We start by pairing the roof drawing with the room list, so each roof zone is tied to the rooms under it. A leak is traced from the stain backward across the roof, and the photo record shows what is sound, what has moved and what needs a test.
Hotels are made of many roof sections joined together. A low porte-cochere or lobby roof meets a taller guest wing. A kitchen wing meets a ballroom. A stair tower rises above everything. Each meeting point is a roof-to-wall transition, and each has flashing that moves with the structure. Parapets, mansard sections and decorative elements add more.
On the roof surface, the usual suspects are rooftop unit curbs, bathroom exhaust vents, plumbing vents and drains. A guest wing may have dozens of small exhaust penetrations, one per bathroom stack, and each is a small boot that can crack in the sun. We check transitions first, then penetrations and drains, then seams. Swapping cracked boots and rebuilding curb flashings, which is the work of a penetration flashing repair, is often the most economical fix for a hotel roof with scattered stains.
In a typical hotel, water that passes the membrane enters the insulation and travels along the deck until it finds a joint, a vent chase or a penetration. It can run down a plumbing chase or along a corridor ceiling and appear in a room far from the entry. Stains often show first at a bathroom exhaust grille or a ceiling corner.
We collect the room numbers, dates and weather from the housekeeping and engineering staff, map them on the drawing and walk the roof along the lines. Moisture readings or an infrared scan show how far wet insulation extends. The extent drives the decision: a small wet area can be cut out and replaced, while a wide area changes the question to a wider scope. Because wet materials above guest rooms need quick attention, we tell the property engineer about readings that suggest the ceiling space is affected. An infrared moisture survey maps wet insulation without opening the roof.
Hotels often combine low-slope membranes over flat sections and steeper sections with shingles, tile or metal in decorative elements. The low-slope areas are typically single-ply membranes such as TPO or built-up and modified bitumen. Each material is repaired differently, so we confirm the system from samples and records.
Wind is the main design load, and attachment matters at the edges and corners. Storm season in the Valley stretches June through October. Hurricane Dolly's gusts crossed the county years ago, and Hurricane Hanna arrived in July 2020 with wind and flooding in Edinburg. After a tropical wind event we check edges, flashings, decorative elements and rooftop equipment before the membrane. A hurricane damage repair record documents what moved for the owner and the insurer.
A hotel's cooling runs around the clock in the heat-safety season that spans May through October, and the roof takes sun over every guest room. Heat ages membranes and sealants and drives the daily expansion that works on curbs, edges and vent boots. A guest wing with a flat roof over upper-floor rooms feels it first, since the ceiling below is the thin layer between the sun and a sleeping guest, and a boot that fails in August can mean a room out of inventory by the weekend.
We look for crazing, shrinkage, cracked boots and hardened sealant, and for pools of condensate where rooftop units drain. A reflective surface runs cooler, so a hotel replacing a section may weigh cool roof installation against the cooling bill it carries. A heat-aged membrane may still keep water out in the field and fail at a boot, so the repair list gives the boots and curbs the first attention. Repairs are grouped by wing.
Repairs are the answer while moisture is limited and the membrane is sound. A reroof enters the conversation when insulation is wet across several rooms' worth of roof, when seams are failing across the field or when repairs recur faster than the budget for them. The deciding evidence is moisture readings, membrane condition and the leak history by room.
For a hotel that cannot close, we compare a phased replacement with a coating restoration where the roof qualifies. Phasing works one wing at a time, in an order that keeps occupied wings dry, with the noisiest work saved for slow periods. Price follows the layers, the wet insulation, the equipment lifts, access and the hotel's calendar. The permit goes through the city under its adopted 2018 codes, and any brand standard for roof color, parapet height or rooftop signage is checked before the order is placed.
Noise is the first concern. We ask the general manager for occupancy patterns, event dates and rooms that can be blocked, and we place noisy steps in the hours with the fewest guests above the work. Wings under work can be taken out of inventory in sequence, which is cheaper than closing the hotel.
Lifts, staging and dumpsters stay clear of the entrance, the pool deck and guest parking. Intakes get covers or are shifted away from the work. No section stays open overnight, and covers are kept on the roof for sudden rain. Guest-facing signage and a staffed walkway protect the entrance while materials move. We record the times so the front desk and the engineer have a clear, dated account if a guest or a manager asks. Pool decks and rooftop terraces, where they exist, get their own line in the plan, since pavers, pedestals and planters have to be lifted before the membrane beneath can be inspected or repaired, and then reset in the same pattern. A group with hotels in Edinburg and McAllen gets the same dated record for each. The sleeping-room logic carries over to apartment roofing, and the kitchen wing shares concerns with restaurant roofing.
By the roof zone above them. The room list tied to the roof drawing shows which wings are under repair and for how long.
Usually. We work in sections, time noisy steps for the quietest hours and close each section the same day.
Small boots crack in sun and heat. A hotel can have dozens of them, and each is a cheap repair that prevents a room closure.
Edges, decorative elements, flashings and rooftop equipment first, then drains and membrane.
A city permit under its adopted 2018 codes, plus the owner's brand standards and a schedule agreed with the general manager.