Not every water problem is on the open roof. Walk-on decks, balconies, planter boxes, and parapet walls all sit in the path of rain, and each one can leak into the rooms and walls below. Orian Construction & Roofing waterproofs these areas across Los Angeles County so the water stays outside where it belongs.
Waterproofing is the work of sealing a surface so water cannot pass through it into the structure. On a roof, that overlaps with roofing. But a lot of the water damage we get called about is not on the roof at all. It is a second-floor deck leaking onto the ceiling below, a balcony that pools water at the door, a planter box wicking moisture into a wall, or a parapet cap that lets rain run down behind the stucco. These spots need a proper waterproof membrane, not a bead of caulk.
The reason this matters in Los Angeles is our building stock. Homes here have flat roof decks, rooftop patios, balconies over garages, and the parapet walls common on mid-century and Spanish style buildings. Each of these puts a walking or sitting surface directly over living space, so a failure does not just weather a wall, it drips into a bedroom. When we trace one of these leaks, the skill is the same as our leak detection: find the true entry point, then seal it right.
Waterproofing sits alongside our flat roofing and roof coating work. A coating renews a roof field, while waterproofing seals the trickier transitions, decks, and walls where water finds a way in.
These are the areas we seal most often, and the ones behind a lot of the interior water damage we see across the county.
A deck over a room is a roof you walk on. It needs a membrane built to take foot traffic and still shed water, sealed tight at the door threshold and the edges.
The low walls around a flat roof take rain on top and on the face. A failed cap or coping lets water run down inside the wall, which shows up as staining far below.
Built-in planters hold soil and water against the house. Without a proper liner, that moisture works into the adjoining wall and rots the framing over time.
Anywhere a pipe, post, or railing passes through a surface, or where a deck meets a wall, is a natural weak point that needs sealing.
A liquid coat that cures into a continuous, seamless layer, ideal for decks and surfaces with lots of corners and penetrations to seal around.
Coatings →Rolled membrane systems for larger flat areas, lapped and sealed to form a strong barrier across the surface.
Flat roofing →New metal and sealed transitions at doors, walls, and edges, since these details are where waterproofing usually succeeds or fails.
Flashing →Family owned and based on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. Most water gets in at an edge, a threshold, or a penetration, so that is where we spend the care.
Waterproofing problems tend to announce themselves inside the house before you notice anything outside. Watch for these.
A ceiling stain directly below an upstairs deck almost always means the deck membrane has failed at a seam, an edge, or the door.
When the walking surface of a deck cracks, peels, or bubbles, water is reaching the layer beneath and it is time to reseal before it rots the substrate.
Staining or soft drywall next to a built-in planter points to moisture wicking through from the soil against the wall.
The chalky white residue on a wall means water is moving through it, a common sign around parapets and retaining walls.
We waterproof decks, balconies, walls, and flat roofs for homeowners and property managers across the county from our shop on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. A few of the areas we serve:
Tell us where the water is getting in. We come out, find the failure point, and give you a written estimate to seal it.