Commercial roofing in Boulder, CO

Boulder's commercial buildings

Boulder packs a lot of building types into a city bounded by open space, and each part of town brings its own roofing work.

• Downtown and Pearl Street. Historic brick commercial buildings with low-slope roofs behind parapets, rooftop decks, skylights and tight access from the street and alleys. Staging and material handling take as much planning as the roof itself.
• Twenty Ninth Street and the Arapahoe and 28th Street corridors. Retail centers, restaurants, hotels and medical offices, mostly on single-ply membranes with a lot of mechanical equipment.
• East Boulder, Flatiron Park and Gunbarrel. Office, flex, light manufacturing and laboratory buildings. Lab roofs carry exhaust fans, fume hoods and heavy air handling, which means many penetrations and equipment that can't be shut down casually.
• Campus areas and multifamily. The University of Colorado and federal research facilities anchor large parts of the city, surrounded by apartments, student housing and condominium and townhome associations, many built in the 1960s through the 1980s.

Permits: City of Boulder Planning & Development Services

Inside city limits, permits and inspections run through the City of Boulder's Planning & Development Services. Roofing has its own trade permit, required for roofing work larger than one square (100 square feet), and roofing contractors must be licensed with the city. The city's roofing guidance calls for a Class A roof assembly, with the rating documented at application, and properties in the wildland-urban interface may need additional ignition-resistant construction.

We handle the city license, the permit, the documentation of the Class A assembly and the inspections, and we include all of it in our proposal. The city's building permits and inspections page has the current process. Parts of Gunbarrel and the areas around the city are unincorporated Boulder County, where Boulder County's Community Planning & Permitting department issues permits instead, so we confirm jurisdiction first.

The energy code

Boulder adopts its own energy code amendments, and they go further than most Front Range cities. On a low-slope commercial re-roof, insulation is usually where that shows up. We price the insulation the code calls for at the start, so the scope doesn't grow after the permit review.

Wind, fire and hail

Boulder's weather is some of the hardest on roofs anywhere in the metro area.

• Downslope windstorms. Boulder sits directly below the steep east face of the Front Range, and downslope windstorms here are well documented, with gusts topping 100 mph recorded on several occasions. Winds are strongest from late fall through early spring. Roofs need properly secured perimeters, enhanced corner attachment and rooftop equipment that's anchored, not just set in place.
• Wildfire. The city has required fire-resistant roofing for decades, going back to its phase-out of wood roofs after the 1989 Black Tiger Fire. The 2021 Marshall Fire, driven by downslope winds, burned just southeast of the city. Class A assemblies, metal gutters, cleared debris and sealed openings all reduce ember risk.
• Hail. Storms building over the foothills can drop hail on Boulder from mid-April to mid-August, often moving quickly east along the Diagonal and US 36.
• Heavy snow. Upslope storms bring deep, wet snow to the foothills, and drifting behind parapets and rooftop units is common.

What we do in Boulder

• TPO and EPDM as Class A assemblies, with wind-rated attachment
• Standing seam metal roofing
• Built-up roof repair and replacement downtown
• Spray foam roofing where added insulation and a seamless surface help
• Inspections after windstorms and hail, plus infrared moisture surveys
• S.M.a.R.T. maintenance, with spring and fall visits grouped for Boulder clients
• HOA, condominium and apartment roofing

Boulder roofing FAQs