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Commercial building roof in winter

Commercial Roof Questions to Consider in the Wintertime

Commercial Roof Questions to Consider in the Winter

Throughout the year, your commercial roof keeps your building watertight. And winter may provide the most formidable challenge of all. Inspecting your roof during fall and spring is crucial to ensure its preparedness for the upcoming winter and to verify its survival during the previous winter. However, it’s also a good idea to make a trip to the top during the winter to ensure things are tight. Therefore, here are some questions to ask.

  • Does the drainage system allow unrestricted water flow? There are likely multiple drainage points on your roof, whether around the perimeter or on the roof surface. These should be cleared of debris so that melted snow has a place to go. Backed up – “ponded” – water that repeatedly freezes and thaws can lead to problems.
  • A related question: are icicles hanging from your gutters? It is usually a sign that water isn’t flowing correctly. Icicles add weight to gutters and downspouts and can cause them to break – an obvious safety hazard. Remove icicles to help foster water flow and avoid costly repairs and potential litigation.
  • Has thermal expansion and contraction compromised your roof’s watertight integrity? Fluctuating temperatures can cause stress on many components of your roof system. Membrane seams can separate, edge details can detach from the perimeter, and flashings (metal and membrane details that transition between changes in rooftop angles) can loosen and develop gaps. These issues and others can enable leaks, potentially damaging your building’s interior and reducing insulation effectiveness, leading to higher heating bills.
  • Is your roof in need of immediate replacement? However, you can only wait until spring, depending on its age and condition. Moreover, it is essential to note that you can install many commercial roofing systems during the winter. If you choose this route, select a roofing contractor experienced in cold-weather roofing. Additionally, ask for references to ensure their reliability.

Tusing Builders & Roofing Services is ready to help you with any commercial roofing need you have, no matter the season. Reach out to us, we would welcome the opportunity to serve you!

Hail and Your Commercial Roof

Among all the precipitation that your commercial building is exposed to, hail is the most damaging. And of all your building components, the roof is the most exposed and vulnerable. As it’s the most important part of your facility’s structure when it comes to weather protection, it’s important to make sure that it remains watertight after a hailstorm.

Property losses from hail damage amount to billions of dollars every year – much of it suffered by commercial buildings. Several factors can determine the amount of damage, including the size of the hail, wind speed, hail density and the duration of the hail event.

You can’t do much to affect any of those issues, but after the storm, it’s important to inspect your roof for indications that your roof has been compromised.

Some signs can be obvious – dents, for example. Circular indents on your membrane – especially if they are concentrated in a particular area of the roof – usually mean there’s been a significant hail event. The diameter of these dents can range from one to several inches; the larger the dent, the bigger the hail stone that caused it. Your inspection should also include other components and equipment. Metal dents, so take a look at HVAC units, rooftop flashings and vents, gutters and downspouts, and similar items.

Even if there are no visible dents, your roof surface may have been damaged. Hail can cause tiny cracks to emerge. Future severe weather can exploit those cracks and shorten the life of your roof or even lead to serious failure.

It’s possible that hail can damage underlying insulation, reducing its R-value. In addition, depressions in the insulation, caused by hail, can create an irregular surface area for the roof membrane installed above it, which can hasten future weathering problems.

Your own visual inspection is important, but it’s always a good idea to call a commercial roofing contractor who has the experience and tools to do a more thorough check and who can address problems.

Don’t let the effects of a hailstorm put your roof at risk when storms come through again or seasons change. At Tusing Builders and Roofing Services, we’re ready to help you with all your commercial roofing needs.

 

Don’t Go Cheap When It Comes to Your Commercial Roof

Obviously, saving money is important for any organization, but when you try to get too thrifty with respect to installing and caring for your commercial roof, it can backfire. Here are three areas where you shouldn’t cut corners when it comes to your roofing system.

Using the Wrong Contractor

Although the material you choose is important, the initial installation quality and long-term effectiveness of your commercial roof usually comes down to contractor workmanship. Residential roofers that occasionally install or repair flat roofing systems will probably not have the background, product experience, commercial roof knowledge, equipment, or manufacturers’ authorization to do a worry-free installation. Your commercial roof is a big investment. Make sure the contractor you’re paying is an experienced, professional commercial roofer.

Neglecting Inspections

It’s rare for homeowners to have their roofs inspected. But that’s not a wise approach for your commercial roof because its size and complexity along with the impact of weather, falling debris, and human traffic can be damaging. Without regularly looking, you’re opening the door for small problems to become big costly ones. Your commercial roof should be inspected twice a year at a minimum, and after any weather event that could impact the integrity of your roof. Even if you don’t hire a professional inspector, you should visit your commercial roof regularly to make sure everything is in order. At a minimum, make sure that your drainage system is flowing freely, and that roof seams and metal components are secure and watertight. Your own low-cost assessment could prevent high-cost repairs.

Not Managing Roof Traffic and its Aftermath

It’s not unusual for there to be occasional foot traffic on your rooftop to maintain your HVAC systems, run cables, clear debris, or do other “non-roofing” jobs. These activities can lead to roof damage because seemingly harmless events such as a technician dropping a tool or losing a metal fastener can cause damage that you may not discover until that worker is long gone. The easiest solution is to install low-cost, compatible walk pads on logical pathways across your rooftop and around penetrations. These will protect the roof surface from this necessary foot traffic. You might also consider having a roofing contractor present when work is being done to ensure no damage has been caused; if you miss something, it could lead to expensive repairs down the road. Of course, it goes without saying that your operational policy should include restricting rooftop access to necessary personnel only.

Tusing Builders & Roofing Services is your go-to commercial roofer that can help make sure your roofing investment is installed properly and that it will continue to retain its watertight integrity. We look forward to working with you on your next roofing project.

The Impact of Strong Winds on Your Roofing System

Every season of the year presents its own unique weather challenges for your commercial roof to handle. In the spring, along with increased precipitation in much of the country comes more intense wind. Strong wind can have a significant impact on the integrity of your commercial roof system in several ways:

  • Wind uplift. This is a common problem with flat membrane roof systems. If you have a wind uplift problem, you’ll see it exhibited if sections of the roof billow when the wind is blowing. This happens because wind moving across the rooftop reduces air pressure above the building. The relatively stronger air pressure inside pushes up against the bottom of the membrane. The stronger the wind, the stronger the uplift.
  • Perimeter problems. The edge of your commercial roof bears the brunt of strong wind forces, whether on the surface itself or the exterior, where gutters and other plastic and/or metal details are attached. If these components are not secured properly, wind can pry them from the building and they can become projectiles, endangering people on the ground. Also, these pieces likely help hold your roofing membrane in place, so if they detach from the building, your roofing system will probably become compromised.
  • Small openings becoming larger. It’s important that small gaps in the seams of your roof’s deck sheets and flashings be re-sealed or welded, preferably before being exposed to strong winds. These forces can pull at the increased surface area in the gaps and, over time, can widen those gaps to the point where moisture can penetrate. This is most likely to occur at the perimeter where winds are stronger but can happen anywhere on your roof.
  • Scouring. Some roofing systems, notably built-up and EPDM, have a layer of rock ballast applied over the top to both hold it in place and to protect it from the elements. Scouring (or scrubbing) occurs when a strong wind event (or multiple) blows rooftop ballast stone around, potentially damaging the roof’s surface, and leaving it exposed to severe weather.

All of these issues should be addressed a soon as possible to help preserve the longevity of your roofing system. It may be necessary to bring in a professional, experienced contractor to take care of these “roof system” problems:

  • Securing membrane that uplift forces have separated from the deck.
  • Reattaching metal components on the edge and elsewhere.
  • Re-sealing / welding small gaps in the roof membrane to guard against water penetration. Your own maintenance team may be able to make sure that ballast remains evenly distributed across your rooftop.

Our team of experienced commercial roof professionals is ready to serve you. Call on Tusing for all your roofing needs (866) 584-2712

Handling Snow on Your Commercial Roof

Winter has arrived in the northern part of the US and with it, accumulating snow. As a responsible building owner or manager, you’ll take the necessary steps to keep your property clear of snow to allow access for staff, customers, and other visitors. But what about snow on your rooftop? It’s not visible, so you’re less likely to manage it. Here is some advice for handling snow on your commercial roof.

  • Pay attention to it. A square foot of wet, heavy snow that’s six inches deep can weigh 10 pounds. Multiply that across (for example) a 5,000-square-foot roof and you’ve got 50,000 extra pounds of roof weight that your building structure needs to support.
  • Light, drifting snow is probably not likely to pose much of a problem; normal wind patterns should blow most of it away. But if a storm has dumped a load of heavier snow on your roof, you probably should take steps to remove it.
  • When you’re on your commercial roof in the wintertime, be extra cautious. Being on a roof during non-snow seasons can be hazardous enough, but dangers are multiplied in the winter. Surfaces will be more slippery, and skylights may be covered with snow and not visible. Ponding water from seasonal storms can depress and weaken sections of your roof that have poor drainage. These areas are less obvious when the roof is snow-covered.
  • When clearing snow, make sure to drop it to the ground away from walkways and building entrances and exits. And use tools that won’t harm the roof surface, such as plastic roof rakes or shovels; avoid sharp-edged tools, as they can puncture roof membranes.
  • Make sure that the snowmelt has a place to go by clearing snow and other debris from the areas around your drainage points. It’s likely that there will be freeze-and-thaw cycles during the winter, and if your drains, gutters, and downspouts are blocked, water will have no place to go. If its re-freezes, keep this in mind: an area of only 100 square feet that’s got three inches of ice on it can weigh 1,500 pounds. If you need to use an ice-melt product, check with the roof manufacturer to get one that won’t harm the surface.

At Tusing Builders and Roofing Services, we’re standing by and ready to assist you with your commercial roofing needs, regardless of the season. It would be our privilege to serve you.