From the BYLTup crew in Long Beach
Every trade has its own language, and ours sounds a little strange. On any given day in Long Beach, Lakewood or Seal Beach, you might hear us say "check the cricket" or "clear that scupper." Here's what we actually mean, so the next time a roofer walks your home, you'll be speaking the same language.
1. Square
We don't measure roofs in square feet. One square is 100 square feet of roof, so a roof that measures 2,000 square feet is 20 squares.
2. Pitch
How steep your roof is, measured as rise over 12 inches of run. A 4/12 roof is gentle, and a 12/12 roof is very steep.
Roof pitch is how steep the slope is.
3. Cricket
No bugs involved. It's a small peaked ridge built behind a chimney to push water around it instead of letting it pool.
A cricket behind a chimney on a Long Beach flat roof.
4. Blistering
Bubbles that form when moisture or heat gets trapped under roofing. You'll see it most on flat roofs after a few hot Southern California summers.
5. Coping
The cap along the top of a parapet wall that keeps water out of the wall itself.
Metal coping along the top of a parapet wall.
6. Cant strip
A beveled strip where a flat roof meets a wall. It softens a sharp 90-degree turn so the roofing doesn't crack.
7. Ponding
Water that still sits on a flat roof 48 hours after rain. Small puddles that dry up sooner are normal, but water that stays is a problem in the making.
8. Aggregate
The gravel or crushed stone on some flat roofs. It protects the layers underneath from the sun.
9. Sheathing
The plywood or OSB deck your roof is nailed to. It's the backbone of the whole system.
10. Fascia
The board along the edge of your roof where the gutters attach. It's one of the first places we look for rot.
Fascia with a seamless gutter on a Lakewood home.
11. Rafter
The sloped framing boards that hold your roof up, kind of like the ribs of the house.
12. Diverter
A small piece of metal that steers water where it should go, usually away from a door or wall.
13. Pitch pocket
A little metal "cup" filled with sealant around pipes or posts that go through a flat roof.
Pre-formed pitch pocket (sealant pocket).
14. Parapet
The short wall that sticks up above a flat roof. You'll see them all over Long Beach commercial buildings and Spanish-style homes.
Parapet walls on a Belmont Shore commercial roof.
15. Scupper
An opening in a parapet wall that lets water drain off a flat roof. When it clogs, ponding follows.
16. Heat weld
How we seal PVC and TPO roof seams. Hot air melts the sheets together into one solid, watertight piece.
Heat-welded PVC seams on a Long Beach commercial roof.
17. Cover board
A thin, tough board under a flat-roof membrane that protects the insulation and gives the roof a solid surface to walk on.
18. Drip edge
The metal strip at your roof's edge that directs water into the gutter instead of behind it.
Metal edge trim at the roof's edge.
19. Flashing
Metal that seals the seams where your roof meets a chimney, wall or skylight. Many leaks start here.
Roof-to-wall flashing in Long Beach.
20. Ridge vent
The vent along the very top of your roof that lets hot attic air escape, so your attic doesn't trap summer heat.
Now you speak roofer
Whether it's a pitched roof in Bixby Knolls, a flat roof with parapets in downtown Long Beach, or a scupper that keeps clogging in Belmont Shore, the BYLTup team is happy to walk your roof and explain what we see in plain English.
Call us at (562) 414-4425 or request a free roof inspection.