Residential Roof Repair in Pasadena, CA — Every Home Style, Done Right

Walk down any street in Pasadena and you see 120 years of housing history. A 1924 Craftsman on Mentor Avenue. A 1931 Spanish Colonial on Garfield. A 1962 Mid-Century ranch on Hastings Ranch Drive. Each one is built differently. Each one has different roofing problems.

A roofer from outside the area does not know this. They look at your roof from the driveway, give you a number, and show up with the wrong material or the wrong method.

We have been based in Pasadena since 2010. We know the housing stock here. We know which neighborhoods have skip sheathing, which ones need CHRD approval, and which clay tile profiles match 1920s S-tile. That local knowledge saves you money and avoids expensive mistakes.

Here is what we fix, broken down by the home styles you actually find in Pasadena.

Craftsman bungalows are the most common home in Pasadena. Neighborhoods like Bungalow Heaven, Prospect Park, and Linda Vista are full of them. These homes have two roofing features that most roofers get wrong.

Skip sheathing. Pre-1940 Craftsman roofs use individual 1×4 or 1×6 boards with gaps between them — not solid plywood decking. Roofers who do not know this sometimes damage the boards trying to walk on them, or they over-quote the job because they assume the decking needs to be replaced. We inspect skip sheathing carefully and replace only the boards that have actually rotted or failed.

CHRD permits. Homes in the Bungalow Heaven Landmark District need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the City of Pasadena’s Cultural Heritage and Recognition Department before any major roofing work. We have filed these successfully. We know which materials the Historic Preservation Commission approves. Most roofers in Pasadena have never heard of this process.

What we repair on Craftsman bungalows:

• Chimney flashing and cricket installation — the most common repair we do
• Valley flashing where roof planes meet
• Composition shingles in period-correct dark colors
• Skip sheathing board replacement (only what has failed)
• Pipe boot and vent flashing
• Moss removal and prevention

Spanish Colonial homes are all over Madison Heights, San Rafael Hills, and the streets around the Rose Bowl. They have clay S-tile or barrel mission tile roofs. These are gorgeous roofs — and they last 60 to 100 years or more.

Here is the thing most homeowners do not know: the tile is almost never the problem. The underlayment beneath it is.

Clay tile can outlast everyone who lives in the house. But the felt underlayment beneath it has a lifespan of 20 to 30 years. When your roof leaks, it is almost always because the underlayment has failed — not the tile itself.

We lift your existing tile carefully. We remove the old underlayment. We install new synthetic underlayment. Then we relay your original tile. You keep your historic clay tile and pay a fraction of what a full replacement would cost.

A homeowner in Madison Heights recently got two quotes of $26,000 and $31,000 for full tile replacement. We came out, lifted 12 tiles, confirmed the tile was in excellent condition, and repaired the underlayment for $2,800. Her tile will likely outlive her.

What we repair on Spanish Colonial homes:

• Underlayment replacement with original tile preserved
• Cracked or broken tile sourced to match original profile
• Ridge cap re-mortaring and replacement
• Hip and valley flashing
• Chimney flashing — critical on these multi-chimney homes

Ranch homes and Mid-Century houses fill Hastings Ranch, Chapman Woods, and the neighborhoods east of Lake Avenue. Many of these homes have composition shingle roofs installed in the 1990s or early 2000s — meaning they are now 25 to 30 years old.

A 30-year-old composition shingle roof in Pasadena has been through a lot. Santa Ana winds. Summer heat that exceeds 100 degrees. Hot and cold cycles that crack shingles and separate seal strips over time.

Many of these roofs have flat or low-slope sections too — common in Mid-Century design. We repair TPO membrane and modified bitumen on flat sections.

Common issues on post-war Pasadena homes:

• Shingle granule loss — the surface wears away, leaving the fiberglass mat exposed
• Curling and lifting shingle edges from heat cycling
• HVAC curb flashing failure — a major leak source on flat sections
• Valley flashing wearing through on composition roofs
• Gutter damage from heavy rain after dry periods

If your post-war home’s roof is approaching 25 to 30 years, a free inspection will tell you how much life it has left and what repairs to prioritize.

If your home is north of the 210 freeway, you are likely in a Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) zone. After the January 2025 Eaton Fire, these zones now require Class A fire-rated roofing materials for any major repair or replacement work.

We verify your zone designation before recommending any materials. We only spec products that meet the current WUI requirements. This protects you from failed inspections and potential insurance issues.

Many north Pasadena and Altadena homes also have invisible ember damage from the Eaton Fire. Embers scorched ridge caps and softened seal strips on hundreds of homes. The damage does not show from the ground, but it shows up as a leak 6 to 12 months later. We inspect for ember damage specifically in affected areas.

We work the same way on every job, whether it is a $400 flashing repair or a $15,000 re-roof.

• We inspect before we quote. We go up on the roof and check the actual problem. No ground-level guesses.
• You get photos of everything we find. Every issue is photographed before we touch anything. You see what we see.
• Written estimate with a fixed price. The number in the estimate is the number you pay. No additions after we start.
• We pull permits. Every job that requires a City of Pasadena permit gets one. No exceptions.
• We clean up completely. Magnet sweep for nails after every job. Debris hauled same day.
• 2-year workmanship warranty. If our work fails, we come back and fix it. No argument.