Project Description
The existing industrial roof system comprised of a plywood roof deck and multi-ply, built-up roofing (BUR) with granular-surfaced cap sheet. The entire roof was coated with a fluid-applied commercial roofing system consisting of asphalt emulsion, polyester reinforcement, and elastomeric acrylic coating.
Challenges
Maury Microwave installed this fluid-applied acrylic roofing system about 15 years ago. Over the past several years, they started to experience leaks in several areas of the building. Since the building was fairly large (74,400 square feet), it was becoming increasingly challenging to repair the leaks towards the roof’s center. The center of the roof housed the HVAC split system units that conditioned the air for the building occupants.
Other Contractor’s Recommendations
Maury Microwave contacted several roofing contractors to assess their roof condition and provide recommendations on addressing their roof issues. Other roofing contractors provide roofing solutions such as:
- Tear-off and Torch Down: Tear-off the existing roofing system down to the roof deck and torch a new cap sheet roof membrane to the roof deck. This roofing application is extremely labor-intensive and requires many trash and debris to be hauled off the roof. This system could have cost the building owner anywhere from $5.00-$7.00 per square foot.
- Install a thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) Single-Ply Overlay Roof Membrane: A TPO single-ply system requires applying polyiso rigid foam board on the existing roof, mechanically fastening the TPO membrane, and welding the TPO seams to complete the system installation. The benefit to TPO roofing systems is that tear-offs are not required. However, once the TPO system serves out its useful life, another TPO system would not be allowed to be added on top of the existing. At that point, a tear-off of the TPO membrane would be required. Furthermore, when TPO roof membranes fail, they have been known to be extremely challenging to fix. This is mainly because TPO roofing systems are mechanically fastened and welded on the seams. Other systems that are easier to maintain are fully adhered systems because the leak spotted inside the building typically is compromised directly above the roof. This system could have cost the building owner anywhere from $5.00-$8.00 per square foot.
- Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF): A Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF), or Foam Roof, is a foam roofing system that goes on top of the existing roofing membrane. The benefits of spray foam roofing systems are that they are extremely lightweight (roughly 2-3 pounds for every cubic foot) and well-insulated systems. However, just like any roofing system, there are drawbacks. It is extremely challenging to apply spray foam onto a roof consistently. Meaning, when the foam is sprayed, it expands significantly. As the roofing applicator, it is challenging to gauge the amount needed to apply to keep the original roof slope. When spray foam is installed on a roof, it typically leads to two things:
- An altering in the original slope design of the roof
- Creating puddles and ponding water on the roof
- Furthermore, SPF roofing systems are typically applied on the existing roof membrane at 1-3 inches in thickness. When SPF roofing systems fail, it makes it incredibly difficult to maintain, which will require the building owner at that time to decide to tear-off the existing roofing system and install a new system. This system could have cost the building owner anywhere from $2.00-$4.00 per square foot.
HP Roofing Pro’s Recommendation
The roof at Maury Microwave was an acrylic system that consist of asphalt emulsion embedded in a ply of polyester reinforcement and topped off with elastomeric acrylic. Furthermore, HP Roofing Pro saw that the acrylic was getting a little thin where the ply of polyester was started to surface, but the asphalt emulsion and polyester beneath the acrylic was still well intact.
HP Roofing Pro asked Maury Microwave if they had any information regarding their roof and they found a roofing certificate showing the roofing system was installed about 15 years ago.
After compiling all that information, HP Roofing Pro recommended recoating the roof with a fresh elastomeric acrylic coating. All they needed to do was to recoat their existing roofing system with 3 more gallons of acrylic and they would be given an additional 10-year manufacturer warranty.
This was a significant cost saving option for Maury Microwave as it was over half the cost over any other options that other contractors suggested. As a result, HP Roofing Pro saved the client tens of thousands of dollars, and addressed their roofing needs.
Have a comparable building? Learn about HP Roofing Pro’s RainArmor cool-roof restoration and our our service areas coverage, or call 909-521-1285 for a free assessment.