Licensed Roofing Contractor in Tempe, AZ

Date Palm Manor, Campus Homes and The Lakes: Tempe roofs by era

Tempe's first tract homes went up in 1953, when Del Webb opened Campus Homes near Clark Park. Its eight floor plans came with gable, hip, Dutch gable and flat roofs, so one block can need three different kinds of repair. The next year, Date Palm Manor started going up a mile south of downtown: custom ranch houses of concrete block with extremely low-pitched asphalt shingle roofs, set among rows of date palms left from the Valsunda Date Gardens. Broadmor, between Broadway and Alameda from College to Rural, has midcentury homes with broad, low-sloping rooflines and clerestory windows. Closer to campus, bungalows like the 1918 Byron Redden House on South Ash Avenue keep their low-pitched gable roofs.

Low-pitch shingle is fussy. It sheds water slowly, so underlayment and valleys matter more than on a steep roof. The flat sections on these older homes are where we usually recommend foam.

South Tempe is a different picture. The Lakes started in the early 1970s around Rural, McClintock and Baseline, and homes from its first years include tile roofs. Warner Ranch followed in the 1980s, with tile on homes from that decade too. Those roofs are at the age where the underlayment under the tile gives out long before the tile does.

After the 2025 microburst: wind, heat and historic review in Tempe

On October 13, 2025, a microburst with gusts up to 90 mph hit Tempe around 1 p.m. The worst damage ran from Guadalupe to Elliot and from Kyrene to Rural. It ripped roofs off parts of the Baseline Industrial Center, and a month later about 1,200 damaged buildings had been counted. Seven months on, tarps were still up around Mill Avenue.

That storm was a hard lesson in what holds a roof down. On tile, it's mastic under every ridge cap plus weather blocker along each hip line. On foam, it's full adhesion to the deck. On shingle, it's underlayment that bonds to the wood instead of just lying on it.

Heat is the steady problem. A flat Tempe roof bakes all day in July, which cooks old felt, thins coatings and opens the laps in rolled roofing.

If your home is a designated historic property, as the houses in Date Palm Manor are, work that would change its historic or architectural character calls for a Certificate of Appropriateness. Tempe's Historic Preservation Office is the place to start, before you pick a new material.

What changes the cost of a Tempe roof

From our price sheet, on a 3,000 sq ft roof: shingle runs about $11,250–$14,250, a tile underlayment replacement $33,000–$48,000 and a complete tile tear-off $57,000–$78,000. Foam over an existing flat roof is $4.75–$6 per square foot. See every range on our pricing page.

• Roof type and pitch. Low-pitch shingle, tile and flat foam each price differently, and many Tempe homes have two of the three.
• Tile reuse. At The Lakes and Warner Ranch, sound concrete tile usually goes back on after new underlayment. Discontinued profiles take more care.
• Underlayment and decking. Old felt comes off, and any rotted plywood under it gets replaced.
• Flat sections. Foam over the existing roof when it's dry, tear-off when it isn't.
• Storm damage. Torn or tarped roofs may need deck or framing repair first.
• Historic and HOA review. Approved materials and colors can narrow the options.

Try our instant estimator for a starting range, and we'll check it in person with a free roof inspection.

Where to go next for your Tempe roof

• Spray foam roofing in Tempe
• Tile roofing in Tempe
• Shingle roofing in Tempe
• Commercial roofing in Tempe

Across the city line, we take on roofs in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler as well.