Where flat roofs show up in Burlington
Burlington’s residential stock spans more than a century, and that range is exactly why we get so many low-slope calls here. In the older neighborhoods around downtown — the homes north of Front Street and along the historic mill-village streets — we constantly find front-porch roofs, rear additions, and sunrooms framed at a slope too shallow for shingles. Someone shingled them anyway, and now they leak at the wall flashing every time a hard rain blows in off I-40. Asphalt shingles need at least a 2:12 pitch to work; most of these porch and addition roofs sit well below that.
In the newer subdivisions north and east of I-40, toward Elon and Mebane, the flat-roof calls look different: 1990s and 2000s sunroom additions and bonus-room overhangs that were built with shingles on too-flat slopes and have now reached the end of any patch’s usefulness. The fix in both cases is the same — pull the wrong system off and install one engineered for low slope.
What we install on Burlington low-slope sections
TPO membrane is our default. It’s a white, heat-welded single-ply that lasts 20-25 years and reflects heat — a real benefit on a south-facing porch addition that bakes through an Alamance County summer. The seams are mechanically fused, not glued or taped, so they don’t open up as the building moves. We use it on most residential flat sections under 1,000 square feet and on virtually all of Burlington’s commercial work.
EPDM rubber still earns its place. On the tree-shaded older lots downtown, the black surface won’t drive heat into the house, and it’s the economical choice when we’re re-roofing over existing sound EPDM. On smaller porch and bay-window roofs under 400 square feet, modified bitumen often makes more sense than a full TPO mobilization.
Burlington’s converted mills and industrial roofs
Burlington has a particularly high concentration of older industrial buildings — many of them textile-manufacturing plants converted to other uses, especially around downtown and the mill-village core. A lot of these still carry built-up roofing systems from the 1960s through the 80s. When they’re aging but not yet flooding the deck, a silicone restoration coating can buy 10-15 more years at a fraction of replacement cost. When they’re truly done, we tear off and rebuild to a modern single-ply system. We’re a Carlisle SynTec authorized applicator for commercial single-ply, with manufacturer system warranties up to 30 years on full installs.
Before we commit to any scope, we answer two questions: is the deck under the membrane wet, and how many separate leaks are you really seeing? On a converted mill, putting a new membrane over saturated insulation just traps the problem. We’ll do a moisture survey or test cuts first — no surprises mid-project.
Set up for the drive
Our shop is on Reynolda Road in Winston-Salem, about a 40-minute run east on I-40 to Burlington. We work the city regularly enough that the logistics are routine. For multi-day flat-roof tear-offs on a mill building or a larger commercial property, you may see our trucks parked overnight at the site so commute time doesn’t eat into install time. A 500-square-foot porch is usually a one-day job; a 2,000-square-foot commercial roof runs three to five days.
Why Burlington property owners choose Mid Atlantic
- The right system for the application — we don’t shingle slopes that can’t handle them
- Carlisle SynTec authorized for commercial single-ply; Owens Corning Platinum Preferred for residential
- Dedicated commercial/low-slope crew — in-house W-2 employees, never subcontractors
- A+ BBB, 4.8★ on Google and Facebook
- 3-year workmanship warranty on every install
Schedule a Burlington flat roof inspection
Call (336) 671-5208 or request an estimate online. For commercial properties, we coordinate site visits around tenant operations, and we typically scope Burlington inspections within a week.