Roofing Services in Pilsen, Chicago

Pilsen carries a distinctive 19th century building stock: Italianate and Queen Anne influenced brick cottages and two-flats, very often built with a raised basement so the main floor sits well above grade, with prominent front steps. Roofs are low-slope behind parapets, frequently with decorative cornices and pressed metal detail at the front elevation. There is also a substantial stock of converted industrial and commercial buildings along the corridors and the rail lines, carrying large low-slope roof areas.

Decorative front cornices are a specific issue here - the transition from the roof membrane over and behind an ornamental cornice is a difficult detail, and when it fails, water gets into the masonry and the cornice itself. Parapet coping joints on century-old masonry are the other constant. Rear porches, common on this housing type, carry their own roof sections and their own problems.