Roofing Contractor in Cypress, CA

Santa Ana season and the first rain on a Cypress roof

The city took its name from cypress trees planted around a schoolhouse to break the seasonal Santa Ana winds. Those winds still arrive in the fall, when the air is dry and roofs have baked all summer. They pull on shingle tabs, ridge caps and any loose edge, and they scatter leaves and palm fronds onto the roof.

Then the first rain comes. Anything lifted lets water into the attic, and clogged gutters spill over the eave. Look from the ground after a windy week and again after the first storm.

Cypress building rules and the two-layer limit

Cypress sits in Orange County but has its own building department, so a bid priced for another city may carry the wrong assumptions. Ask the department which rules apply at your address, including cool roof requirements. California's residential code does not allow a new roof over one that already has two applications, or over one that is soaked or deteriorated. A roof with two layers already down needs a full tear-off, and a cool-rated product is often required once a re-roof goes past the half-roof mark.

Oak Knoll Park, Walker Street and the old Pacific Electric line

Cypress is flat, sitting at about 39 feet, and it was nicknamed Waterville for its artesian wells. On flat, low ground roof runoff has no slope to carry it off, so gutters and downspouts carry more of the load than they would on a hillside.

The street grid still shows the old railroad. A Pacific Electric station on Walker Street at Lincoln Avenue took the Cypress name when the Santa Ana Line opened in 1906. Oak Knoll Park, beside the Cypress Community Center on Orange Avenue between Valley View Street and Walker Avenue, is one landmark. Cypress College, which opened in 1966, and Los Alamitos Race Course, open since 1951, are two larger ones.

The housing is mostly tract-built, and on compact tract streets staging is tight. We plan where debris bins and materials go before the first day, and we protect landscaping and the driveway on streets with little room.

From Dairy City to 1970s tracts

Cypress incorporated as Dairy City in 1956 to protect the dairies from developers, and renamed itself a year later. The dairies sold out during the 1960s, and none remained by the 1970s. Houses took their place, and the median build year is 1971.

An original roof from that era has now lived through about fifty summers. Shingles shed granules, rubber boots crack and flashing sealant dries out. Small gable vents are all many tract homes have, and the heat stays pinned under the deck all summer. For what better airflow can do, see attic ventilation and skylights.

What a visit from Van Nuys to Cypress involves

Figure on about 70 minutes to cover 46 miles out of Van Nuys, with freeway traffic tacking on more, so the visit is scheduled in advance. What we cover on site is the roof surface, flashing, vents and attic, after which a written estimate is sent. See roof replacement if a tear-off looks likely.