Dallas has a meaningful inventory of 1960s-through-1980s built-up roofing on its downtown and inner-loop commercial buildings. Most of it is at or past end of life. We inspect it, document it, and give you a written assessment — including when replacement is the only honest recommendation.
Built-up roofing (BUR) — multiple plies of asphalt-saturated felt mopped together with hot asphalt or coal tar, topped with gravel or smooth surfacing — was the standard commercial flat-roof system in Dallas from the 1920s through the early 1980s. The office and retail buildings that form the spine of downtown Dallas — along Commerce Street, Main Street, Elm Street, and the surrounding blocks — were predominantly roofed with coal-tar or asphalt BUR systems.
That inventory is old. A BUR system installed in 1968 on a downtown Dallas building is 57 years old. Even the youngest BUR systems from the early 1980s are over 40 years old. Some of these roofs have been recovered multiple times — layers of modified bitumen or torch-down cap sheet applied over the original BUR to extend the waterproofing life. Eventually, that recovery path runs out: the deck cannot support additional load, the flashing geometry has been re-detailed too many times to reliably seal, and the total roof assembly has to come off.
We assess, document, and replace them. If you own or manage a building with original BUR or a multi-layer BUR/mod-bit recovered system, we can tell you where it stands in its lifecycle and what the replacement scope looks like.
Dallas BUR systems from the 1960s and 1970s were built with one of two binder materials: coal-tar pitch or asphalt (Type III or IV oxidized asphalt). Coal-tar BUR is actually more durable in the long run — coal tar self-heals minor cracks and has better water resistance than asphalt BUR. Buildings in the downtown Dallas core that have coal-tar BUR from the late 1960s and are still watertight are not unusual. The problem with coal-tar is that it is carcinogenic to handle, requires special disposal protocols, and adds significant cost to the removal.
Asphalt BUR from the same era typically shows more cracking and alligatoring at the surface, particularly on south-facing and west-facing roof zones that take the most Dallas sun. We document which system is on the roof during inspection because it affects the disposal cost, the removal sequencing, and the air quality plan for occupied buildings.
We get asked whether a BUR system can be recovered rather than replaced. Sometimes the answer is yes: if the existing insulation is dry, the deck is sound, and the BUR surface is intact enough to serve as a base for a new system, a mechanically attached or adhered single-ply recover is viable and significantly cheaper than full removal and replacement.
But we will not recommend a recover when the data says otherwise. If the core pulls show wet insulation in more than 25% of the roof area, the wet sections have to come out regardless — and once you are removing large sections of BUR to replace wet insulation, the economics of recover vs. full replacement shift. If the deck shows deflection, corrosion, or rot under the wet areas, deck replacement is required and the roof has to come off. We give owners this information before contract signing, not during demolition.
BUR removal from a downtown Dallas building involves permitting with the City of Dallas Building Inspection department, asbestos survey (pre-1980 BUR installations frequently contain asbestos in the felt plies), coal-tar disposal protocol if applicable, and crane access coordination in areas where street access is restricted. Commerce Street and Main Street in downtown Dallas have permit requirements for street-side crane and waste-container staging that we navigate on every downtown project.
After removal, the new system is typically TPO or EPDM over new polyiso insulation to IECC 2021 minimum R-values, with a complete re-detail of all parapets, drains, and penetrations. We close out with a manufacturer NDL warranty and a documented roof asset file — so the building owner has a complete record of the roof from bare deck forward.
