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18 Tips When Creating a Commercial Roof Maintenance Plan

The sun creates 3 different types of UV rays. Even if you have a durable metal roof, intense UV rays can cause a lot of damage. The heat the rays produce can deteriorate your roof’s protective coating, and fast. What’s the solution? You have to invest in a thorough roofing maintenance plan that includes frequent inspections. That way, the second something needs repair, you’ll know about it. What’s the secret to making a commercial roof maintenance plan? It’s a lot easier than you might think.

To help you out, we’ve created this complete guide with the best roof maintenance tips. Read on to learn all about caring for your commercial roof.

Commercial Roof Maintenance Materials

Before we dive into the different maintenance tips for commercial roofs, it’ll help if you understand what type of roof material you have.

Here’s a list of the different types of commercial roofing materials:

• Spray on silicone
• Shingle roofing
• Green Roofing
• Metal roofing
• Built-up roofing membrane
• Thermoplastic PVC
• TPO roof membrane

What roofing material do you have? If you don’t know, you should find out sooner rather than later. Reach out to a roofing contractor, and they’ll be happy to evaluate the material for you.

When you know the material, you can customize your maintenance plan. Having a customized plan will save you time and help eliminate risks.

For instance, a metal roof will be one of the easiest to maintain materials. You might not need as many repairs as you would with more delicate roofing materials.

Metal Commercial Roof Maintenance Plan

Do you have a metal roof? That’s good news! Metal roofs last the longest, and they’re pretty easy to maintain.

A few of the common metals you might have on your roof include; copper, aluminum, corrugated galvanized steel, or stainless steel. You’ll find that metal roofs have a nice sleek appearance.

The sustainable material also makes your roof fire retardant and more durable. On the downside, having a metal roof means your building will be susceptible to corrosion.

You’ll need to create a commercial roofing plan that targets corrosion threats. For instance, while standing water is bad news for any roofing material, stagnated water is especially bad for metal. You’ll need to perform routine inspections of your roof to ensure there aren’t any puddles after significant rain.

Understanding the Top Roof Maintenance Tips

After finding out what type of material you have on your roof, it’s time to decide what maintenance plan you need. Plan on hiring a local commercial roofing contractor, rather than doing it all yourself.

The contractors can help with a combination of cleaning and maintenance tasks.  By being proactive about your roof maintenance, you’ll be able to avoid severe damages, which can save you quite a bit of money. But don’t just jump into the first plan you find. 

When creating a maintenance plan, you’ll want to review all of your contract options thoroughly.

Roofing Maintenance Plan Details

What type of maintenance plan should you get? Look for a contract that permits the roofing company to visit your facility regularly.

Additionally, the drains and gutters should be 2 of the cleaning tasks on your maintenance plan. While the cleaning tasks are being completed, it’s also essential that a visual inspection and complete report be made.

If you’re willing to spend more, you can look into plans that allow for minor general repairs. If there’s something wrong with your gutters or drip edge, the contractor can fix it right away. Having the contractor perform these repairs while they’re already out conducting an inspection can help save you a lot of time and hassle.

Finally, if you want to be even more thorough, look for a plan that includes roof surveys. Getting this type of roof maintenance plan means that you’ll have detailed records of the condition of your roof.

Documenting how well you’re taking care of your roof will help you out tremendously if you ever need to file an insurance claim. You’ll also have peace of mind knowing that an expert in the roofing industry has their eye on your building.

Go one step further, and find out how the contractor will be providing you with roofing reports. The best contractors will be able to give you thoroughly documented roofing inspections.

If necessary, sometimes the inspections could even include videos or photos. Make sure you save digital copies of your roofing inspections if you ever have to use your warranty.

Budget Everything Together

How much can you afford to pay a contractor to maintain your roof? If you’re worried about the cost, find out what your maintenance plan budget looks like now.

Once you have an idea of how much you can spend, reach out to contractors willing to work with your budget. Some of the best roofing companies will be able to adjust their maintenance plans to perfectly fit your needs.

Then find out if the contractor knows about your warranty guidelines. Suppose you’re hiring somebody different than the contractor who installed your roof. In that case, you’ll need to make sure that your hiring decision doesn’t void your warranty.

Check Your Roof Warranty

Along with setting up a commercial roofing maintenance plan, you’ll want to make sure you have a strong warranty. If something goes awry with your roofing system, a warranty will help you correct the problem without costing you money.

Many building owners don’t think about the roofing warranty that they purchase. However, roof warranties are essential to protecting your building and company.

If you’re getting a new roofing system installed, you’ll have a few different warranty options you can choose from. One of the first warranty options is called a contractor’s workmanship guarantee.

Contractor Workmanship Guarantee

A contractor workmanship guarantee comes from the roofing company. These contractor-issued warranties help protect you against any potential installation mistakes. You’ll also have coverage for materials, labor, and any repairs that might pop up within a given time frame.

Material Warranty

There’s also the manufacturer’s material warranty. The manufacturer’s product warranty comes directly from where you get the materials.

For instance, let’s say your contractor sources the metal for your roof from XYZ company. Then, XYZ company would give you the manufacturer’s material warranty.

Material warranties operate differently than a contractor’s warranty. A manufacturer’s warranty isn’t going to cover defects or failures in your roof.

A manufacturer’s warranty will cover any defects in the materials used on your roof. However, the materials have to be used correctly for the warranty to work. Often material warranties will have a narrow scope, so you have to read the fine print.

Maintainable Commercial Roof Elements

Does your roof have incomplete maintainable roofing elements? If so, you could be at risk for significant damages.

Any commercial roofing contractor who knows what they’re doing will tell you that a roofing system has to have the right amount of equipment clearance. There needs to be adequate equipment space around penetrations; it’s one of the most critical aspects of maintainable roofs.

If you suspect that you have any incomplete maintainable roofing elements, reach out to a contractor right away. Problems with improper draining or inadequate equipment can be dangerous and costly. Procrastinating repairs is hands down one of the biggest mistakes commercial building owners make.

No matter how severe the damage is, you should never put roof repairs on the back burner. Since you’re not a licensed contractor, it’ll be hard for you to determine exactly how bad a problem is.

A small problem could turn into a financial fiasco by delaying the repairs. You could wind up voiding your roofing warranty and paying a hefty bill. And all for a roofing problem that could have been repaired if you’d addressed it immediately.

What About DIY Fixes

When creating a commercial roof maintenance plan, don’t plan on completing DIY repairs. It’s true that putting off repairs could be dangerous and expensive.

The urgency can make it tempting for business owners to try to fix things all by themselves. However, it’s almost never a good idea. The issue with DIY fixes is that you might make a mistake that costs you a lot of money.

You might think that you completely fixed the roofing problem. But, what if you’re wrong?

What if you thought you fixed a potential leak, but left your roof vulnerable. Now, there could be small amounts of moisture gradually building up under the roofing materials. Over time that moisture can turn into thousands of dollars in mold damage.

Even the most professional DIY fixes come with a lot of risks. You also have to consider the risk of injuring yourself while trying to fix the roof on your own.

If you hire someone else who’s not a contractor, such as an employee, and try to have them fix the roof, you could wind up with a personal injury lawsuit. Save yourself the illegal hassle, and avoid DIY fixes at all costs.

Roofing Maintenance Mistakes to Avoid

Now you know that having improper roof elements or trying to fix your roof on your own is not a good idea. What other commercial roofing maintenance mistakes will you want to avoid? Forgetting about leak threats!

One of the biggest mistakes building owners makes is failing to have a leak barrier. Your roofing material will do a great job of protecting the building from moisture. However, it’s up to you to give your roof a leak barrier to help your roof be even more efficient.

Ventilation Issues

Another mistake you’ll want to avoid falling into is having inadequate ventilation. Along with installing a leak barrier, you’ll also want to double-check your roof’s current ventilation system.

By keeping things well ventilated, you’ll be able to avoid moisture build-up on top of your commercial building. Having an efficient ventilation system will also help you keep things nice and cool, which will be great for your energy bill.

Drip Edge

Finally, when creating your roofing maintenance plan, include time to inspect the drip edge. The drip edge is the location that will direct water from the top of your roof and into the gutters.

Water can quickly get into your building if you don’t have a drip edge or it’s not installed correctly. If you notice an issue, have a contractor fix the drip edge immediately so that you don’t have to deal with water damage.

Customizing Your Services

Since there are so many different roofing contractors, it can be tricky to find the right one to conduct your maintenance plan. That’s why we suggest focusing on customer service-oriented companies that have a stellar reputation. If you want to ensure that your maintenance plan covers all of the bases, you’ll need a contractor you can trust.

Here are a few things to consider when picking a roofing contractor for your maintenance plan:

• Services
• Safety
• Communication
• Warranty compliance

Along with regular inspections, your maintenance plan needs to include the extra perks discussed earlier. Having the contractor clean your gutters and remove debris will help you avoid future roof damage.

You’ll also need to find out how safe your hiring contractor is. If someone is performing work on your building, you need to ensure that they have a squeaky clean safety background.

Take a peek at the complaint process on OSHA’s website. See if the contractor has any safety violations or complaints.

Secure Your Commercial Building

After reading this article, do you think it’s time to update your commercial roof maintenance plan? Maybe you’re worried about existing roof damage, or perhaps you’re just trying to be proactive.

Whatever the case may be, here at HP Roofing Pro, we’re proud to offer affordable commercial roofing solutions. You should never let a damaged roof hurt your company’s reputation.

Get in touch with us today to learn about our commercial roof repair and maintenance plans. The sooner you act, the safer your roof will be! Contact us now.