Let’s Talk About Roof Maintenance Programs
Western Colloid knows the way to increase your roof’s lifespan and it’s with an effective maintenance plan. Let’s guide you through it.
Finding out what your existing roof’s warranty requires in order to keep the warranty in good standing is a great starting point. Next create both a maintenance schedule and a checklist.
Keep track of your roof’s foot traffic, as that plus tools, repairs and new installations can cause roof damage. Consider installing roof walk areas around equipment and common traffic areas, such as Western Colloid’s #850 SWS Seamless Walkway Coating.
Have a qualified roofing specialist perform biannual roof inspections before and after winter weather as well as after severe storms.
Clean the Roof
While roofing materials are designed and installed to be durable, keeping your roof clean prevents premature aging. Consider Western Colloid’s #9000 Roof Wash & Prime for roof cleaning.
Check Drains and Check for Structural Defects
Clear off roof debris and pay particular attention to roof drains. Identify problem areas such as ponding water, which can create extra building structural load and degrade roofing materials and seams. Also, look for cracks, sagging or weak spots.
Inspect for Damage
Water can seep into buildings through the smallest of pinholes. Check for problems around vents, skylights, eaves and joints, mechanical equipment, and areas where the roof might meet a parapet wall. Routinely check for roof damage, especially after extreme weather.
Inspect Seams
The weakest point of any roof is where it joins another material. Seams and flashings that join the roof to walls and exhausts break down faster than the contiguous surface of the roof. Watch out for cracks, tears, and wrinkles, even if they only appear to be in their early stages. As seals fail, water can intrude, accelerating degradation.
Check Solar Panels
More facilities are using solar panels, but with the additional hardware comes more areas to check during inspections. Check solar panels for corrosion and degrading coatings and inspect the bases to make sure fasteners are in good repair, as these penetration points are often the first to let water in.
Conduct a Moisture Survey
Water holds heat differently than roofing materials, so a survey using infrared technology will help you understand the extent of moisture intrusion beneath the roof’s surface. Any repair you undertake needs to address the full damaged area and a moisture survey will give you a complete picture of the work to be done.
Check Rooftop Equipment
Inspect any rooftop HVAC units to make sure they aren’t leaking coolant or condensation onto the roof, which can age seams and coatings prematurely.
Schedule Repairs
Roof maintenance checks mean you’ll quickly have a better understanding of where the chronic issues are when it comes to keeping your roof in good repair. If water ponds one month to the next, or if the flashings are all breaking down, you’ll have the documentation you need to justify the cost and time of installing additional protections.
Document Your Findings
Document and review every part of a commercial roof maintenance check to make sure facility staff can identify ongoing issues. Other files, like warranties, work orders and contracts should also be kept at hand so if a problem arises, you can identify what’s covered under the warranty and what repairs will be paid out of pocket.
Part of Your Planning
Your roofing contractor should be able to help you project the remaining life of your roof to plan to restore or replace. Think about your roof goals, then select a system to achieve those goals.
May We Suggest…
As an excellent resource for the Property Manager, Building Owner, Architect or Specifier, we offer an experienced staff that can provide a number of solutions. For your roofing needs, we recommend, Western Colloid Fluid Applied Reinforced Roofing (FARR) System.
Download Western Colloid’s brochure, “5 Maintenance Recommendations for preserving the service life of your low slope or Commercial Roof” and contact us to learn more.
