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Hail and Your Commercial Roof

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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.

 

Sustainability and Your Commercial Roofing System

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In the world of commercial construction, “sustainability” means that the building has a positive ongoing environmental impact over its lifespan. Commercial roofing can help building owners and managers achieve this goal because of several factors.

The first is the most obvious: the capability of the roof to deliver measurable energy savings. Highly reflective “cool” thermoplastic roofing systems reduce the load on rooftop HVAC systems, especially during peak demand hours in the middle of the day. This reduction translates to utility cost savings for you and less strain on the power grid. In addition, cool roofs help preserve the long-term effectiveness of rooftop insulation by reflecting harmful IR and UV radiation that penetrates dark roof membranes.

Increasingly, commercial rooftops are being considered usable spaces that add value to a building and deliver environmental benefits. Chief among these are solar and vegetative systems. Rooftop solar provides renewable energy to the building and reduces dependence on the power grid. Vegetative systems help reduce a building’s energy consumption, provide sound insulation, preserve the underlying membrane and manage storm water runoff. Each of these technologies – and others that are emerging – require a reliable watertight roofing membrane underneath. If you are considering one of these systems and, depending on how old your current roof is, it might make financial sense to install a new roof before the solar or veggie system is applied.

Cool roofs can also have a positive impact on the community. Traditional construction surfaces, including asphalt pavement, sidewalks and dark rooftops, absorb heat and retain it. In a dense urban setting, the aggregation of these surfaces causes a phenomenon known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect. City temperatures are raised sufficiently to increase smog production and create unhealthy breathing conditions. Reflective roof surfaces don’t absorb or retain solar heat; they reflect it back into the atmosphere, helping mitigate the UHI effect.

Recycling is also part of environmental responsibility, and many of today’s roof manufacturing processes employ recycling during the production process, minimizing scrap. Also, single-ply PVC, TPO and EPDM membranes are all recyclable, and several manufacturers have programs in place to recycle old roofs into new products for construction and other purposes.

At Tusing Builders & Roofing Services, we look forward to meeting with you to discuss how a new roofing system can provide your commercial facility with years of watertight protection and help you meet your sustainability goals.

Handling Snow on Your Commercial Roof

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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.

Questions to Ask Your Prospective Commercial Roofing Contractor

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Questions to Ask Your Prospective Commercial Roofing Contractor

If it’s time to replace the commercial roof on your building, it’s critical for you to understand the experience, capabilities, and commitment to your satisfaction with the contractors you’re considering.

Here are several questions to ask:

  • How experienced are you with respect to the roofing system you’re proposing? Have you been authorized/certified/trained/rated by the manufacturer?
  • Can you provide a list of references, especially of commercial installations that are similar to our building/situation?
  • How will you evaluate the condition of the roof substrate prior to installation? Do you do core cuts and/or pull tests?
  • Do you have all the necessary tools and other equipment to perform a quality installation?
  • What is your protocol to keep your crew and my occupants safe during the project?
  • Do you foresee any problems with respect to accessing the roof or loading materials onto it?
  • Do I need to make any special accommodations to ensure that my operation can continue normally throughout the job?
  • What is your liability and workman’s compensation insurance? Can you provide me with proof of your coverage?
  • In addition to the manufacturer’s warranty, what warranty do you provide?

At Tusing Builders and Roofing Services we take pride in our ability to answer these questions and any others you have, to your satisfaction. Please call us today to learn more about our capabilities (866) 584-2712.

 

Roofing & Springtime

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Do you have a roofing project coming up? Have you been waiting until Spring to address it?

Here is our #1 tip: Call us now.

Many building owners put off roofing until Springtime. We understand. No one (but us roofers) really wants to hang out on rooftops during these colder temperatures.

However, the Spring roofing season kicks into a much faster gear the closer we get. As you’d expect, our schedule starts to fill up, not just for a month but for several.

Get a jump on it.

Call us now. We can quote and add you to our schedule – 866-584-2712!