1970s Apartment Gets a New Roof System

The ROOF CONDITION

Built in the 1970s, this St. Catharines apartment building had been sitting under the same four-ply BUR roof for decades. By the time we got up there, the membrane had given out — worn through, leaking into units below, and well past the point where patch repairs made sense.

Insulation was the other problem. Whatever thermal protection the original system once provided had long since degraded, leaving tenants dealing with heat loss in winter and uncomfortable temperatures in summer. On top of that, the roof’s drainage design was limited — too few exit points meant water was sitting on the surface, accelerating the damage and creating ponding conditions that put the structure at further risk.

The REPLACEMENT PROCESS

We stripped the old 4-ply BUR system, installed tapered insulation starting at 5 inches in the centre and sloping to 1–1.5 inches at the edges, added new external scuppers for drainage, and finished with a two-ply modified bitumen system built for long-term performance.

The VIDEL DIFFERENCE

Replacing an apartment roof isn’t just a construction job — tenants are living underneath it. Every decision affects their comfort, their safety, and how much disruption they deal with.

We didn’t just swap the membrane on this 1970s building. We redesigned how the roof handles water, tripled its insulation value, and upgraded the system from an outdated 4-ply BUR to a modern two-ply modified bitumen that’s stronger, lighter, and far easier to maintain going forward.

Learn more about flat roof replacement