Homeowners feel they have the weight of the world on their shoulders when they face roof replacement. For property managers or owners of commercial buildings, that weight is far, far greater. Faced with industrial roof replacement, many building managers and owners may choose to turn a blind eye to the problem, hoping it will remedy itself. Smart owners and facilities managers, however, will recognize these signs that suggest the time for industrial roof replacement is now.
Age
No commercial roof lasts forever. If your industrial building dates not from the last century, but the one before, and has never had industrial roof replacement, you are living –and working– on borrowed time. Age is not a perfect measure, however. The experts at Facilitiesnet point out that some commercial roofs fail after only ten years, while others can last two decades or longer.
Weather
Western Massachusetts is not kind to commercial real estate. Winds, snow, ice and long periods of subzero temperatures all conspire to eat away at the water-repelling properties of single-ply and built-up roofing (BUR). Your industrial building may be silently begging for industrial roof replacement, only you do not recognize the weather damage.
Orientation
Even the direction your building faces, or its position among other buildings, affects how a roof wears. Other buildings can form a windbreak, saving your roof from damaging wind shear. Your building may face directly into the teeth of a classic nor’easter season after season, shortening its life.
Material
Single-ply roofing membranes are some of the toughest, longest-wearing materials available. On the other hand, roofing felts slathered with barely warm bitumen at installation may not last five years.
Different roofing materials wear differently. More important, they must be repaired differently. A common mistake is to use the wrong adhesive, hot material or mechanical fastener in repairing BUR, APP or SBS roofs.
Repair History
An underserviced commercial roof will need industrial roof replacement far sooner than one that gets annual inspections and minor repairs. At the other extreme is the roof long past its prime that has so many repairs, in so many different materials, it leads to irregularities, ponding and heavy standing loads.
If the warehouse, factory building or research facility your company depends upon needs a new roof, contact us as Vanguard Roofing today. We can have a roofing expert inspect and recommend a plan of action to you.
