Built up roofing has protected low-slope buildings in Southern California for more than a century, and it still earns its place today. LA Roof Kings installs, repairs, and replaces BUR systems for warehouses, retail centers, office buildings, and multi family roofing properties across the county.
We are a family-owned commercial roofing contractor with more than 20 years of experience. We install built up roofing Los Angeles property managers can rely on, specified for the deck it sits on and backed by a written warranty.
Built up roofing, usually shortened to BUR, is a multi-layer low-slope roof system. Alternating layers of bitumen and reinforcing ply sheets go down over a base sheet, then get finished with a protective surfacing. The result is a thick, seamless membrane instead of a single sheet stitched together at the seams.
That layered build is the whole point. If one ply gets punctured, the plies underneath still hold water back. No single point of failure, no field seams across the middle of the roof. Most built up roofing Los Angeles crews install goes on flat commercial buildings where long service life matters more than how fast the roof goes down.
A built up roof is assembled on site, one layer at a time.
Ply count and surfacing are decisions we make with you after we look at the deck.
Most owners here call built up roofing by its older names. Hot mop describes the application method, where hot asphalt is mopped between the plies. Tar and gravel describes the finished roof. Same family of system, and most built up roofing Los Angeles buildings already carry was installed as a hot mop.
We still hot mop when the specification calls for it. We also install cold-applied BUR when fumes, occupancy, or rooftop access rule out hot asphalt.
Every built up roofing Los Angeles installation we take on starts at the deck. We verify the substrate, correct drainage problems before they get buried, set the insulation, then build the plies. Flashings at parapets, curbs, and drains get detailed by hand, because that is where low-slope roofs actually fail.
Blisters, splits, ridging, open laps, and gravel loss are the usual suspects on an aging BUR roof. We cut out the failed section, rebuild the plies, and re-surface. If the roof still has service life in it, commercial roof repair is the right call and we will say so.
When the plies are saturated, the insulation is wet, or the roof has been patched past the point of return, commercial roof replacement is the honest answer. We tear off, inspect the deck, and rebuild. Where the assembly allows, a recover may be an option instead of a full tear-off, and we will tell you plainly if it applies to your building.
Modified bitumen is the closest relative. Same asphalt chemistry, but factory-made rolls with polymer modifiers, so it installs faster and flexes more. Modified bitumen roofing gives you speed. BUR gives you layers and redundancy.
Single-ply systems like TPO roofing and EPDM roofing are lighter and reflective out of the box, but they rely on seams and one layer of protection. We walk the roof and tell you which system we would actually put on it.
You get a real inspection first. We go up, document what we find, and show you the photos. Then you get a written scope that says exactly what we are doing. Start with a free roof inspection.
Russ, the owner, is on the job sites. We hold California Contractor License #600662 and we have been on Los Angeles County roofs for more than 20 years. If your roof has a few more years left in it, we will tell you that instead of selling you a new one.
Built up roofing is a low-slope roof system made from alternating layers of bitumen and reinforcing ply sheets, applied over a base sheet and finished with gravel, a mineral cap sheet, or a reflective coating. It is built on site, layer by layer, which is where the name comes from. It is also called BUR, hot mop roofing, and tar and gravel roofing.
Four components. A base sheet fastened or adhered to the deck. Two to four ply sheets of reinforcing felt or fiberglass mat. Bitumen between each ply to bond and seal the assembly. A surfacing layer of gravel, mineral cap sheet, or coating that protects everything underneath from UV and fire.
It depends on the ply count, the surfacing, the flashing details, and whether the roof gets maintained. A well built, well maintained built up roof is one of the longest lasting low-slope systems available. We give you a realistic expectation for your roof after we inspect it, not a number pulled out of the air.
Hot mopping is the traditional way of installing built up roofing. Hot asphalt is applied with a mop between each ply sheet, bonding the layers into one sealed membrane. Cold-applied adhesives are the alternative when hot asphalt is not an option.
Yes. Built up roofing Los Angeles contractors install today still goes on commercial and multi family buildings, especially where the roof carries heavy equipment, takes regular foot traffic, or needs a fire-rated assembly.
Yes, and that is one of its strengths. The multiple plies and the gravel or mineral surfacing make BUR more tolerant of foot traffic than most single-ply membranes. On roofs with frequent service access we add walk pads along the routes crews use.
