A flat commercial roof does not fail because of how much rain falls on it. It fails because of how fast the water leaves. The drains, strainers, and scuppers that decide how fast water leaves are among the cheapest items on your building and the least likely to have been looked at this year.
RueVac has been serving commercial and industrial property across Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties since 1975. We photograph the roof, photograph and map every drain on it, clear what is blocked, and hand you a written report you can put in a file.
One roof, one visit
Four photos from a single visit to one commercial roof in Orange County, taken within a few minutes of each other. There were more spots like these on the same roof. Nothing here required a specialist, a permit, or a shutdown. It required somebody to go up there and look.
Before
Dried palm fronds and litter packed into a parapet corner, right where the water needs to go.
Clearing the roof
Our crew clears debris from the parapet edge with a blower and push broom.
Drain outlet cleared
Dry grass and twigs pulled out of the drain outlet.
Water moving again
Water running through the drain outlet after cleaning.
A supplement to your roofer, not a replacement
We are not a licensed roofing contractor, and a RueVac clean-off does not replace the annual inspection your licensed roofer performs to keep your warranty in force. Keep that inspection.
What a clean-off does is cover the rest of the year. Savvy property managers use us to keep roof litter down and to stay on top of what is happening up there between roofer visits, because a roof accumulates problems on a schedule nobody controls.
We do not install roofs, we do not re-roof, and we do not perform structural roof repair. We clean roofs, clear drains, document condition with photographs, and handle minor repairs within our scope. When we find something that belongs to a roofer, we tell you, and we tell you who to call.
What our teams find up there
Most of what goes wrong on a commercial roof was left there by somebody else.
Contractors access the roof for HVAC work and other service and regularly leave equipment behind. Compressors, hose, belts, and hardware sit up there and decay. A condensate line breaks and runs water across the roof surface month after month, which erodes the surface and grows algae long before anyone inside notices a stain. Leaves, bags, and trash blow up and collect until they are packed against a drain. Wind tears flashing loose from around penetrations and parapets.
None of that announces itself. Our teams photograph and report every one of those conditions during the visit, and we make sure your drains are clear before we leave.
Roof surface cleaning and debris removal
We remove everything that has landed on the roof since the last visit, which in Southern California means palm fronds, leaf litter, blown trash, packaging, and whatever the last four dry months deposited up there. That material is harmless while it is loose. The first real rain turns it into a mat, the mat travels to the nearest drain, and the mat becomes a seal.
We work the whole roof surface, not only the area around the drains, because debris does not stay where it lands. We clear the parapet edges, the equipment curbs, and the spaces behind rooftop units where a blower pushes things and leaves them.
Roof drain cleaning and annual reporting
Clearing a drain means clearing all of it. We pull every strainer and clear the bowl and the throat, not just what is sitting on top. A partial clog is more dangerous than a full one. A full clog announces itself in the first storm. A partial clog drains just fast enough to keep everyone comfortable, right up until the rain comes down faster than it can move.
Every drain is photographed before and after and pinned on a map of your roof. You receive a written report listing each drain, what we found, what we cleared, and what still needs attention. Most customers schedule this once a year, ahead of the rainy season. Properties with mature trees nearby usually go twice.
What you actually get
Most companies say they provide a written report. Here is one, all seven pages, with the property details removed.
The cover
Capture date, who was on the roof, and the item and photo counts for the visit.
Items 3 and 4
Each drain logged with timestamped photos and pinned on the roof map.
Items 5 and 6
A plain-language summary of what was done at each drain.
Items 7 and 8
Before and after photos of the same drain, seconds apart.
Items 9 and 10
Water flow tests confirmed on the cleared drains.
Item 11
Debris cleared and removed, with positive flow verified.
Item 12
The last drain on the roof, cleared and flow tested.
Every item is numbered, dated, and pinned to where it sits on your roof. Every photo is time-stamped, and each drain gets a before and an after, so you can see which drain it was and what we cleared. A bigger roof with more drains means a longer report.
The before and after photos are the part worth looking at twice. They show what was sitting in each drain when we arrived and what it looked like when we left.
You get this as a PDF you can file, forward to ownership, or attach to a budget request. Download the full sample report, seven pages, with the property details removed.
Overflow scuppers and secondary drainage
The opening you see in the parapet wall is a backup system. An overflow scupper exists so that when the primary roof drain fails, the roof sheds water instead of holding enough weight to fail structurally. It is the smoke alarm, not the sprinkler.
If water pours out of a scupper during a storm, that is not the system working as designed. That is the system telling you the primary drain failed some time ago and nobody noticed. We check secondary drainage on every visit and note it in the report, because a building owner who only hears about the primary drains is only hearing half of what is up there.
Algae on roof tile
Tile roofs grow algae wherever shade and moisture sit together, usually the north slope and anywhere an HVAC condensate line has been dripping. Algae holds moisture against the tile, and moisture is what breaks tile down.
Roof tile is not a large part of what we do, so we will be straight about it. We address algae on tile where it is part of a roof clean-off we are already performing. If your roof needs tile work beyond cleaning, that is a roofer’s job and we will say so. Our hot water and steam work is mostly ground level, on exterior floors, walkways, and walls. That is covered on our Hot Water Power Washing and Steam Cleaning page.
Leak location and repair
Finding a roof leak is rarely a matter of standing where the ceiling is wet. Water travels along decking, along conduit, and along the underside of insulation before it comes through, so the entry point is often nowhere near the stain.
We locate the source, document it with photographs, and tell you plainly what we found. Some leaks are within our scope and we repair them. Some are a roofing job, and when that is the case we say so and tell you who to call.
Minor wet roof patching
When a roof opens up during a storm, the problem is not next week, it is tonight. Our emergency crews perform minor wet patching to stop active water intrusion while the rain is still falling, so the tenant space underneath stops taking damage.
This is a temporary measure and we describe it that way to every customer. Wet patching buys you the time to get a permanent repair scheduled in dry conditions by the right contractor. It is available through our twenty-four hour emergency line. See our 24-Hour Emergency Cleanup page.
Water coming from roof drains in dry weather
If water is coming out of your roof drains and it has not rained, something on that roof is leaking. It is usually one of two things. A rooftop HVAC unit has developed a leak in its drain pan or condensate line, or a water line serving rooftop equipment or irrigation has a slow leak nobody has noticed.
Either one causes premature roof deterioration, because constant moisture breaks down roofing materials and grows algae. We photograph every drain exit during our visit and note which ones show moisture, which gives you a baseline. If a drain is dry in August and wet in November with no rain in between, you know something changed.
Downspout and gutter clearing and replacement
A clear roof drain that empties into a packed downspout has not solved anything. We clear gutters and downspouts as part of the roof visit and replace sections that have rusted through, separated at the joints, or been pulled loose by wind.
We also check where the downspout discharges. A downspout that dumps onto grade next to a building foundation, or into a planter that has silted up above the drain, moves your water problem from the roof to the slab. That gets noted in the report along with everything else.
Broken tree limb removal from roofs
Santa Ana winds put branches on roofs every year. A limb on a flat roof is a puncture risk on the membrane and a dam once the water starts moving. We remove limbs and storm debris from roofs as an emergency call during wind season, and as part of the regular clean-off the rest of the year. If the tree that dropped the limb is on your property, we can trim it before the next wind event. Tree trimming is covered on our General Maintenance page.
What this costs
For a single building, a roof clean-off with drain clearing typically runs $600 to $1,200, depending on the size of the roof and the number of drains. Properties with multiple buildings, or roofs with a lot of trapped debris, usually fall in the $1,200 to $2,500 range.
We walk the roof and scope the job before we give you a firm number. The ranges above are the ballpark to expect.
Compare that with emergency roof repair after a drain fails, which can run $5,000 to $50,000. Putting off the small number does not save the money. It moves it into a category with no ceiling and no schedule, and it hands the timing to the weather.
Get Your Drains Cleared Before the Rain
If you manage commercial or industrial property in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, or San Bernardino County, call RueVac Property Services at 714-998-0191 and we will get your roof on the calendar before the rainy season.
Get an EstimateFrequently Asked Questions
How often should a commercial roof be cleaned off?
Once a year at minimum, scheduled before the rainy season. Properties with mature trees within dropping distance, particularly pine and palm, usually need two visits.
Do you need to shut anything down?
No. A roof clean-off requires roof access and nothing else. No permit, no specialist, no interruption to your tenants.
Can you do this if my roofer is already booked?
Yes, and it happens every fall. Roofing calendars fill up as soon as the forecast turns. Our crews can clear your drains whether or not your roofer has been out.
What do I actually get at the end?
A written report with photographs, one entry per drain, listing what we found, what we cleared, and anything still outstanding. Customers file it, forward it to ownership, and use it for budget planning.
When should this be scheduled?
September and October. The work that prevents a bad winter happens before it starts raining, not in December when it is already coming down.
“We have been using their services for a MANY years now. They are always very professional and provide an excellent service for us.”
“We use RueVac at just about all of our Southern California properties. They have always done an amazing job at being responsive to our service requests while completing them in a detailed and professional manner.
They are highly dependable and proactive as well. I’d recommend RueVac for any of the many services they provide.”
“RueVac service goes above and beyond any vendor I have worked with. They are responsive, provide solutions to issues, work within your budgets, and exceed expectations every single time.
I have used them for various services such as fence repairs, graffiti removal, homeless encampment clean-up, exterior window cleaning, parking lot sweeping, and misc. services.”
“I have had the pleasure of working with RueVac Property Services for the past 4 years – and counting (in particular, with Ms. Hayley Perez). It is always a pleasure to work with Hayley. Her upbeat personality and positivity are refreshing. Regardless of how busy she may be, Hayley always responds rapidly and with the utmost professionalism.
And, no matter the circumstances or difficulties that the day may bring, there’s always a smile in her voice.
10 out of 5 stars!”
“It seems hard to find a company that can offer and perform services to the same standard, regardless of the service. RueVac is an exception to this and continues to amaze me and my team by delivering exactly what we need for all services we contact them for.
Thank you RueVac team for making our properties up to our standards and continuing to provide the great customer service that is needed for our team.”
“Partnering with you to be more than just a vendor but a valuable part of your team.”
Ronald K. Lyons - Founder
Trusted By
Service Area