Roofing Contractor in Martinez
Contra Costa County, CA

Martinez has the weirdest housing stock mix in Contra Costa County. On a single day last spring our crew worked on an 1890s Queen Anne Victorian downtown in the morning, a 1948 post-war cottage on Virginia Hills in the afternoon, and did a site visit on a 2003 hillside custom home in Alhambra Hills in the early evening. Three completely different roofing problems on three completely different houses, all inside the same city limits. You can't apply a one-size-fits-all playbook in Martinez, and the contractors who try end up failing inspections or doing work that lasts half as long as it should.

Our Roofing Work in Martinez Since 1988

East Bay Roofers has worked in Martinez for 37 years. It's the Contra Costa County seat, it's 15 minutes north of our Concord shop, and it's where we do a surprising amount of historic work, more Victorians and Craftsman bungalows than any other city we serve, including Walnut Creek. We also do refinery-adjacent commercial roofing and hillside fire-zone residential work, and those are three very different skill sets.

A job we're still proud of: a 1912 Craftsman on Escobar Street near the old Martinez Museum had an original cedar shake roof that had been covered over once with composition shingles in the 1970s, then covered again in the 1990s. Two overlays is the legal max under CRC R908.3, so any new work required a full tear-off. When we stripped it, we found the original sheathing was 1x6 true-dimensional redwood in remarkable shape, plus fragments of 1912-era cedar shakes. We saved a few shakes for the homeowner, installed a modern synthetic underlayment, and put on a designer laminated shingle in a color that matched the historic character. The homeowner's neighbor walked over while we were finishing and asked for a card. That job turned into four referrals in the same two blocks.

The other side of Martinez: we did a Chapter 7A compliant re-roof on an Alhambra Hills ridge-line custom in 2023 where the existing roof was a 20-year-old concrete tile that had been installed without ember-resistant venting. After the wildfire code updates, the homeowner's insurance carrier required upgrades before they'd renew. We retrofitted ember-resistant ridge and O'Hagin vents, replaced the battens and underlayment, and reset the existing tile. Saved the homeowner tens of thousands compared to a full tile replacement.

Martinez Climate and Roofing Challenges

Martinez sits on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, and the microclimate varies dramatically depending on which part of the city you're in. Downtown and Vine Hill sit at sea level along the waterfront, salt air and marine fog are real factors on those homes. Alhambra Hills, Franklin Canyon, and Muir Heights climb up into the Briones foothills, and those properties get hotter, drier conditions with more wind and significant fire exposure.

Rainfall averages about 20 inches a year, more than Concord, less than Lafayette. The city sits in the path of Diablo wind events coming through the Carquinez gap, and those offshore wind episodes can hit 50 to 70 mph in the foothill neighborhoods. We've done a fair amount of emergency wind damage repair here, mostly ridge cap blow-offs and torn flashing on hillside homes.

The Alhambra Hills, Franklin Canyon, and portions of Muir Heights are inside the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Chapter 7A applies there. Class A fire-rated assembly, ember-resistant vents, noncombustible gutters, and the whole compliance package. The county inspectors take this seriously after the 2017, 2019, and 2020 fire seasons, and plan check will kick back any permit application that doesn't flag VHFHSZ status correctly.

Salt air on waterfront properties is the other microclimate issue. Standard galvanized flashings and fasteners corrode faster along the strait than inland. On Martinez Marina area homes, we spec stainless steel fasteners and copper or pre-painted steel flashings for anything that's going to see salt spray directly.

Neighborhoods We Serve in Martinez

• Downtown Martinez. Victorian, Queen Anne, Craftsman, Italianate. Some of the oldest housing stock in Contra Costa County. Historic preservation considerations apply on a case-by-case basis.
• Alhambra Hills — newer hillside customs, mostly inside the VHFHSZ. Chapter 7A compliance required. Concrete tile, slate, and metal are common.
• Mountain View, Virginia Hills, 1920s through 1940s bungalows and early tract housing. Smaller footprint, moderate complexity.
• Vine Hill — post-war 1950s tract running along the hillside above downtown. Ranch and split-level housing.
• Franklin Canyon — hillside rural residential, VHFHSZ exposure, access challenges on some properties.
• Muir Heights — mixed era, some VHFHSZ edge properties, more tree debris than anywhere else in the city because of the oak woodland.
• Martinez Marina / waterfront, salt air, higher wind exposure, commercial and residential mix.

Permits and Local Rules

Martinez is incorporated, and roofing permits for properties inside city limits go through the City of Martinez Community and Economic Development Department at 525 Henrietta Street. Properties in unincorporated Franklin Canyon or along the Alhambra Valley corridor go through the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development instead, the permit jurisdiction depends on whether your address is inside the city boundary. We've pulled enough Martinez permits to know which side of the line every street falls on, and we handle the paperwork either way.

Martinez has adopted the 2022 California Residential Code with some local amendments around historic preservation. If your home is within the downtown historic district or individually landmarked, you may need a design review in addition to the building permit. The city's planning staff is reasonable about this but wants specific information up front, material samples, color, profile, and a statement about how the proposed work affects character-defining features. We've been through this process dozens of times.

Chapter 7A compliance for Alhambra Hills and other VHFHSZ properties is non-negotiable. The plan check will require specific product callouts for the roof assembly, vents, and gutters. Don't try to skip this, the inspector will catch it and you'll be pulling off product and starting over.

Roofing Services in Martinez

• Full roof replacement. Victorian, Craftsman, tract, custom hillside
• Roof repair, historic home repairs with period-appropriate materials where required
• Emergency storm and wind response. Diablo wind event recovery
• Tile roof installation and repair — concrete, clay, and slate
• Commercial roofing — refinery-area and industrial flat roofs
• Gutter installation — copper, stainless, and seamless aluminum for salt-air exposure

Recent Martinez Projects

Downtown Victorian, September 2024. An 1898 Queen Anne on Court Street with a complex roof featuring multiple pitches, a turret, and decorative cornice work. Previous owner had replaced the shingles in 2001 with a basic 3-tab that didn't match the historic character. We spec'd a designer laminated shingle in a slate-look profile, sourced custom copper flashing for the turret, and worked with city planning staff to confirm the materials fit the historic district guidelines. Six-week project, came in at $47,000.

Alhambra Hills custom home, June 2025. Chapter 7A re-roof on a 4,800 sq ft hillside property with concrete tile. The tile was still in good shape but the underlayment was done and the existing vents were not ember-resistant. We pulled the tile field in sections, replaced underlayment and battens, installed O'Hagin fire-rated vents and a boxed ember-resistant ridge, and reset the existing tile. Homeowner saved approximately $28,000 versus a full tile replacement.

Vine Hill ranch, March 2025. Post-war 1951 tract home, composition shingle, 23 years old on the most recent cycle. We did a standard tear-off, found moderate deck damage at one eave from a plugged gutter, replaced the sheathing, and installed a GAF Timberline HDZ in a lighter weatherwood color. Straightforward job, came in at $16,800.

Martinez Roofing FAQs

Get a Martinez Roof Assessment

Whether you're in a 1900 Queen Anne downtown, a post-war Vine Hill ranch, or an Alhambra Hills hillside custom, the right roofing approach depends on what decade your house was built and which microclimate it sits in. We'll come out, look at it, and tell you honestly what it needs.

Call East Bay Roofers at (925) 722-4916 or request a quote online. We're 15 minutes south of downtown Martinez at 2310 Bates Ave #AA in Concord. GAF Master Elite, CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster, C-39 licensed CA #987654, 4.9 stars across 527 reviews.