Ireland Contracting repairs and installs flat and low-slope roofs across the Pittsburgh area: home additions, porches, garages, rowhouse rear roofs, dormers, and any roof section where the pitch is too low for shingles. We install complete Mule-Hide and Versico VersiGard EPDM rubber membrane systems, and we repair existing rubber roofs: open seams, pulled edges, failed flashing, blisters, and ponding. Same crews, same free evaluation, and a straight answer on whether your flat roof needs a repair or a new membrane.
EPDM is a synthetic rubber roofing membrane with more than 50 years of proven, watertight performance on low-slope roofs. Unlike a shingle roof made of thousands of individual pieces, EPDM covers the roof in large continuous sheets, engineered to resist UV, ozone, hail, moisture, and extreme temperature swings, and to stay flexible through freezing winters as the building naturally expands and contracts. A properly installed EPDM roof lasts 25 to 30 years in our climate.
Flat roof repair: rubber roofs rarely fail in the field of the sheet. They fail at the details. The seam tape lets go and a lap opens; the membrane shrinks over the years and pulls away from the edge metal or a wall; a pipe boot cracks; a dropped tool or a limb punctures it; water ponds in a low spot and eventually finds the one bad seam under it. All of those are repairs. We clean and re-seam with new tape and primer, re-flash the penetration or the wall, patch the puncture, and correct the drainage that caused the pond. When the membrane itself has gone brittle and chalky across the roof, we tell you that, because patching brittle rubber is throwing money at it.
Asphalt shingles are designed to shed water down a sloped roof. When the pitch is too low, water lingers and can work underneath the shingles, which is why we evaluate the roof pitch and application first instead of installing shingles everywhere. On a flat or low-slope section, a properly designed membrane system is the right tool for the job.
A quality rubber roof is more than the membrane. We install EPDM as a complete system, with careful attention to the roof deck, insulation where applicable, membrane attachment, seams, flashing, penetrations, edges, transitions, and drainage: the places where low-slope roofs actually fail. Where a roof has been ponding, we look at the drain, the scupper, or the gutter first, because a new membrane over the same low spot will pond the same way.
Shingle roof leaking instead? See our Pittsburgh roof repair .
Flat section tying into a pitched roof that's also due? See our Pittsburgh roof replacement .
Most flat roof failures start with drainage. See our gutter repair and installation .
Why EPDM fits Western Pennsylvania roofs
Pittsburgh weather swings from summer thunderstorms to weeks below freezing, and low-slope roofs bear the brunt of it: standing snow load, ponding meltwater, and freeze-thaw cycling. EPDM is identified by its manufacturers as an ideal material for northern climates because it stays flexible in cold temperatures instead of becoming brittle, and its continuous sheets leave far fewer places for water to get in.
The region's housing stock makes flat roofs common. The rowhouses and duplexes of Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, the South Side, and Mt. Washington almost all have a flat rear roof over the kitchen; the older neighborhoods are full of flat-roofed detached garages; and the 1950s and 60s ranches and split-levels of the North Hills and South Hills carry low-pitched shed-roof additions and porch roofs. Many were shingled anyway at some point, or covered in a hardware-store roll roofing that has cracked, and those are the roofs that leak. Replacing them with a purpose-built membrane system solves the problem for good.
The other local problem is drainage. Pittsburgh's flat roofs drain to a single scupper or a short gutter run that fills with maple seeds and leaves, and once the water can't get off the roof, ponding does the rest. We check that first on every flat roof call.
What's included
- Free evaluation of your roof's pitch, decking, drainage, and condition
- Flat roof repair: seams, edges, flashing, punctures, and ponding
- Full EPDM installation and replacement of aging rubber roofs
- Mule-Hide and Versico VersiGard membrane systems
- Standard and reinforced membranes in multiple thicknesses
- Complete-system detailing: seams, flashing, penetrations, edges, and drainage
- Licensed and insured under PA #026195, family-owned since 1994
Options we offer
- Mule-Hide EPDM roofing systems
- Versico VersiGard EPDM roofing systems
- Existing rubber roof replacement
- Rubber roof repair
Rubber Roofing products we install
We install premium, manufacturer-backed product lines. Here are the brands we trust.
Mule-Hide EPDM Roofing Systems
A durable, flexible synthetic rubber membrane engineered to protect low-slope roofs through Western Pennsylvania's changing seasons.
- Resists UV radiation, ozone, moisture, and extreme temperatures
- Stays flexible in cold weather to accommodate building movement
- Excellent hail and impact resistance
- Standard and reinforced membranes in multiple thicknesses
Versico VersiGard® EPDM
A proven EPDM membrane with more than 50 years of black-EPDM track record, identified by Versico as ideal for northern climates like ours.
- Outstanding resistance to weathering, UV, ozone, and hail
- Elasticity that handles seasonal expansion and contraction
- Large continuous sheets, far fewer seams than shingles
- Multiple configurations to fit the structure's requirements
Our rubber roofing process
- 1 Roof evaluation. We assess the pitch, existing materials, decking, drainage, and penetrations, and whether the existing membrane is repairable or due for replacement.
- 2 System design & estimate. For a repair, we scope the seams, flashing, and drainage fix; for a new roof, we spec the membrane, attachment method, insulation where applicable, and edge details. Either way you get a written, itemized estimate.
- 3 Tear-off & deck prep. On a replacement we remove the old roofing, inspect the deck, and replace any compromised decking before the new system goes down.
- 4 Membrane installation or repair. We install or repair the EPDM with careful attention to seams, flashing, penetrations, edges, and transitions, where low-slope roofs are most likely to fail.
- 5 Final inspection & cleanup. We verify the details, confirm the roof actually drains, and leave the site clean.
Rubber Roofing across Western PA
We provide rubber roofing throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area and Western Pennsylvania, including:
- Allegheny County
- Butler County
- Washington County
- Westmoreland County
- Beaver County
- Glenshaw
- Wexford
- Gibsonia
- Fox Chapel
- Sewickley
- Shaler
- Mount Lebanon
- Upper St. Clair
- Bethel Park
- Monroeville
- Cranberry Township
- Mars
- Butler
- McMurray
- Canonsburg
- Murrysville
- Monaca
- Beaver Falls
- Beaver
- Aliquippa
- Conway
- Chippewa
- Darlington
- Freedom
- Baden