Showroom curtain wall transitions
Where the low-slope membrane dies into all that glass and metal coping is the number-one call we get. Termination bar backs out, sealant chalks, and water tracks behind the wall instead of dripping straight down.
Dealership Roofing, at a glance
A St. Louis dealership is really three buildings stitched together — a glass-heavy showroom, a service drive with bay after bay, and usually a body shop or detail wing tacked on later. Each one has its own deck, its own slope and its own leak history. John Beal Roofing inspects all of it, prices it by section, and sequences the work so no lane closes and no inventory gets parked under a crane. Free inspections. Call (314) 429-6000.
Ask a fixed-ops director what a roof leak costs and you won't get a square-foot number. You'll get a lift that's down, a tech who's standing around, and a customer whose alignment got pushed to Thursday. That's the real math on dealership work, and it's why we scope these jobs around your schedule before we scope them around ours.
Most metro dealerships we walk were built in stages. The showroom went up in one decade, the service wing in another, and the body shop came later with a different contractor and a different membrane. We treat those as separate roofs, because they are. One condition report per section, one price per section, and a phasing plan you can actually run past ownership.
What We Look At
Where Dealership Roofs Actually Fail
Service bay exhaust curbs
Reclaim units, exhaust fans and makeup air all sit on curbs that were flashed once and never touched again. We rebuild the curb flashing rather than smear mastic on it.
Commercial roof repairBody shop paint booth stacks
Booth stacks run hot and vibrate. That combination splits base flashing at the corner every time. Stainless clamp, new target patch, done right the first time.
Ponding over the parts mezzanine
Add a mezzanine and you add point loads. Decks deflect, water sits, and the membrane cooks. Tapered insulation or a new drain usually solves it.
Ponding water on flat roofsHail-bruised membrane
Missouri hail doesn't always puncture. It bruises the mat, and the leak shows up two winters later. We document it while the claim's still open.
Storm damage and insuranceMetal canopies over the drive
Standing seam canopies over the service drive back their fasteners out with every freeze-thaw cycle. Retorque, replace the gaskets, and quit chasing the same drip.
Commercial metal roofing
On The Property
Working Around An Open Store
We stage off the back of the lot, not the customer entrance. Dumpster placement gets agreed on in writing before day one, because the wrong spot eats eight parking spaces you need.
Tear-off gets sized to what the crew can dry in that same day. Over a service bay that rule isn't negotiable — there are lifts, air lines and open engines underneath.
Loud work gets front-loaded. Fastener guns and tear-off run early; detail work, seams and flashing carry the afternoon when the showroom's busiest.
Every evening the lot gets magnet-swept twice. Nails in a customer's tire is the fastest way to lose a dealership account, and we've seen other outfits do it.
Dealership work overlaps with a lot of what we already do around the metro. If your property is closer to a strip center or a stand-alone store, start with retail roofing. If the shop side dominates the square footage, the industrial roofing page is closer to the mark. And if you're just trying to compare three numbers on three letterheads, read how to compare roofing bids before you sign anything.
Common Questions
Can you replace the showroom roof without closing the store?
Yes, and we've never had to close one. We work in sections, dry in every night, and keep the customer entrance and the service drive open the whole time. You'll lose some parking on the staging side, nothing more.
How do you protect inventory on the lot?
We rope off a staging zone and agree on it with your general manager before materials arrive. Nothing gets craned over vehicles. Magnet sweeps run at every break and again at the end of the day.
Our service bay roof leaks but the showroom looks fine. Do we have to do both?
No. That's the whole reason we price by section. Plenty of dealerships replace the shop roof this year and budget the showroom for next, especially when the showroom membrane still has eight or ten years in it.
Would a coating work instead of a full replacement?
Sometimes. If the membrane's sound and the insulation's dry, a silicone restoration can buy real years for a fraction of a tear-off. If we take a core and the insulation's wet, no coating on earth fixes that.
What warranty do we get?
Manufacturer coverage on the material plus our own workmanship warranty, and on qualifying work that's a lifetime workmanship warranty. We've been in St. Louis since 1947 and we're third generation, so there's someone here to call.
Free Dealership Roof Evaluation
Tell us about the property and a dispatcher will call to schedule. No cost, no obligation.