Do this first
What to do right now
- Photograph the interior damage from directly underneath, with something in frame for scale, and note the date and time.
- Sketch or note the ceiling grid coordinates of every drip, a contractor can translate that into a roof location much faster than a verbal description.
- Protect the space below: move stock, cover equipment, place containment, and shut off electrical circuits that water can reach.
- Check the obvious suspects if the roof is safe to walk: clogged drains and scuppers, HVAC condensate lines, and sealant at pipe boots and curbs.
- Do not have anyone smear roof cement over a suspected area before it is documented: it can complicate both the diagnosis and an insurance claim.
- Request a leak-detection visit in Round Rock and ask whether they use infrared, moisture meters or flood testing rather than visual inspection alone.
Where commercial leaks actually start
Across Texas low-slope buildings the same short list comes up again and again: base flashing at parapet walls and
HVAC curbs, pipe boots and pitch pans that have dried out, drains and scuppers with failed clamping rings or blocked
sumps, seams and laps that have opened with thermal cycling, and punctures caused by service technicians walking a hot
membrane in summer. Skylights and roof hatches are next. On a Round Rock building with heavy rooftop equipment, mechanical
traffic is often the real cause, an HVAC contractor drops a tool, nobody says anything, and six weeks later there is a
stain.
Condensate and mechanical leaks are not roof leaks
Before authorising roof work, rule out the cheap answers. A blocked condensate line or a rusted-out drain pan on a
rooftop unit produces exactly the same ceiling stain as a membrane puncture, and it appears when the air conditioning
runs rather than when it rains, which in a Texas summer means most of the time. If your stain grows on dry days, the
leak is probably mechanical or plumbing, and a roofer who tells you otherwise without checking is guessing.
Wet insulation is the expensive part
The membrane repair is usually the cheap portion of the job. The cost sits in the saturated insulation underneath,
which loses R-value permanently, corrodes a steel deck and keeps feeding the leak long after the hole is closed. Any
serious Round Rock contractor will want to determine how far the moisture has spread, infrared scan on a clear evening,
nuclear or capacitance moisture survey, or core cuts, and cut out the wet board before patching. A patch over wet
insulation buys weeks, not years.
Repair, restore, or replace
Rough guidance used across the industry: if the wet area is a small percentage of the roof and the membrane still
has flexibility and thickness left, repair. If the membrane is intact but weathered and the insulation is dry, a
coating or restoration system can add service life for a fraction of a tear-off. If the insulation is broadly saturated
or the membrane is at the end of its life, replacement is the honest answer. Ask for the core-cut photos or scan
results that support whichever recommendation you are given.
