SERVICE AREA / CAVE CREEK, AZ
Roofing in Cave Creek
is desert roofs
on desert lots.
Cave Creek was settled in 1870 and incorporated in 1986, and it has kept its distance from the city: 4,892 people on 38 square miles at the 2020 census, about 41 percent of them over 65, on lots with horses, wells and septic rather than sidewalks. Its roofs are as individual as its houses.
A USEFUL FIRST QUESTION
“Who works on a metal roof on an acre lot out here?”
01 / WHEN CAVE CREEK WAS BUILT
A mining camp
that stayed
a small town.
Soldiers from Fort McDowell settled Cave Creek in 1870 and gold was found in 1873. The town grew slowly through the twentieth century and incorporated in 1986 to keep control of its own character, which it describes as Where the Wild West Lives. Its population has been roughly level since 2010.
| 1990 | 2,925 |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 3,728 |
| 2010 | 5,015 |
| 2020 | 4,892 |
| 2025 est. | 5,160 |
About 27 percent of homes here date from the 1990s and 20 percent from the 2000s; a quarter were built since 2010. A 1990s roof is 27 to 36 years old, past the range in which tile underlayment lasts here. The town is small and the census sample is small, so treat the shares as a sketch.
Cave Creek has no tract neighborhoods to speak of. Each house was built by someone with their own ideas about roofs, and each one has to be understood on its own.
02 / ACROSS THE CITY
Not every
part of Cave Creek
is the same age.
01
The old town core
Along Cave Creek Road
The oldest homes and commercial buildings, with roofs of every type and many generations of repair.
02
The 1980s and 1990s acreage lots
Across the town’s desert subdivisions
Custom homes on one to five acres. Where original, tile underlayment is 27 to 46 years old, at or past its range. Metal and foam roofs are on their own cycles.
03
The 2000s custom homes
On the northern desert parcels
Tile and metal around 21 years old. The tile ones are in the second half of the underlayment range.
04
The newest builds
Infill and rebuilds since 2010
A quarter of the housing. Young roofs, often metal or flat, where workmanship is the question.
03 / WHAT THE ROOFS ARE MADE OF
What you
tend to find
in Cave Creek.
Standing seam and other metal
More common here than in the city, on ranch-style and modern desert homes. Long-lived, but every seam, fastener and penetration has to be right.
Clay and concrete tile
On the Spanish and territorial custom homes. The usual pattern of sound tile over underlayment that wears first, on roofs with more valleys and complexity than tract tile.
Foam and flat
On the territorial and modern designs. A coating cycle, careful drainage, and parapets that need watching.
04 / WHAT SHOWS UP HERE
The patterns
worth knowing
about.
01
Full sun, no shade.
Desert lots offer little shade. Underlayment and coatings age at the fast end of their ranges on roofs that take sun from dawn to dusk.
02
Wind across open ground.
Monsoon wind reaches these roofs without buildings in the way. It lifts whatever was loose and drives rain under whatever was open.
03
Access and animals.
Long driveways, gates, horses and dogs are part of working here. None of it is a problem if it is known at the start.
05 / WHAT CHANGES THE PRICE
Why two quotes
can differ by
thousands.
01
Material
Metal and clay tile cost more than concrete tile, and the material is usually set by the house.
02
Complexity and access
Custom roofs with many planes, and sites with long, rough access, take more labor.
03
Matching
A repair on a custom roof needs a specific profile or panel. Sourcing it is part of the job.
07 / CAVE CREEK QUESTIONS
Common ones.
Do you work on metal roofs?
Yes: standing seam and stone-coated steel, on homes and commercial buildings. Call and describe yours.
My house is on a well and septic. Does that affect roofing?
No, apart from knowing where the septic field is so nothing heavy is parked on it.
How old is too old for a tile roof here?
The underlayment, not the tile, is the issue. At twenty-five years it is at the end of its range in this heat, and most 1990s roofs are there.
We have a flat section that ponds after rain. Is that a problem?
Standing water for more than a day or two usually means a drainage issue, which is a repair rather than a replacement.
Does the town have rules on roofing?
Cave Creek regulates appearance in places, and lighting everywhere. Tell us the address and we will find out what applies.
Is Carefree the same as Cave Creek for roofing?
They are neighbors with similar custom housing. Carefree is slightly older and more tightly planned; the roofs are much the same kind.
Roofing in Cave Creek?
Metal, tile or foam, custom or old, the first step is the same: find out what is up there and how it is holding up.