LESLIE: Robert in New Jersey needs some help with a roofing question. What can we do for you today?
ROBERT: Yes, I’ve got this mobile house trailer; it’s about 10×22. And the roof has been 10 years and needs some kind of sealing up; the summer/winter type of tar or something; whatever that I can put on there. Can you suggest something that’ll last another 10 years? (chuckles)
TOM: Yeah, another 10 ten years? Well, the roofing surface right now, is it leaking or does it just look worn?
ROBERT: No, it’s cracked. My neighbor said he saw it and he’s up higher and he said it seems to be cracking in spots. You know?
TOM: Is it flat roof?
ROBERT: Flat; yeah, flat.
TOM: Flat roof. OK. Well, the best, most durable roof would be one that’s a built-up roof and, to do that, you’d have to kind of pull out what’s there and put up multiple layers of hot tar and tar paper to build up a proper flat roof. Another option might be a rubber roof which could go on top of what you have there and be sealed down at the edges. The good news is there’s been a lot of advances in flat roof technology.
I will tell you this: make sure you hire somebody that does flat roofs all the time because there’s a lot of residential roofing contractors out there that hardly ever see a flat roof but once a quarter and they don’t know how to handle it. But if you can find somebody that’s a commercial roofer that wants a side job, that’s the guy you want to hire to do your flat roof.
ROBERT: Right. OK. Thanks.
TOM: Alright, Robert. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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