Building Owners and Managers: Know Your Roofing Systems

Building Owners and Managers: Know Your Roofing Systems

Most of us welcome the summer sun after a cold winter, but commercial building owners need to be attentive to the potential roof damage that can be caused by severe heat. Under normal conditions, Mother Nature is not always kind to flat roofs. Regular inspections are a cost-effective way to prevent big expenses due to weather damage. Commercial roofs expand and contract in prolonged high temperatures, and any flat roof system is vulnerable to damage. While most roofing systems are designed to have some movement, extreme temperature swings put any roof to the test.

Commercial Building Roof Recover

Commercial Building Roof Recover

The value of regular inspection and maintenance work on commercial roofs was never more apparent than on a recent project completed by Alliant Roofing Company. It involved a multi-tenant commercial building roof recover in a damp environment. While some building owners neglect to protect their investments with regular roof inspections, that was not the case on this project. Alliant had inspected, maintained and repaired this flat roof over many years. The life expectancy of a hot-tar roof (also known as hot mop roof) is about 20 years, and this roof was due for re-covering.

Quality Commercial Roofing System

Quality Commercial Roofing System

Ask Alliant Roofing Company’s owner Jeff Sitton about what makes a quality commercial roofing system, and he starts with a history lesson. Let us step back a few years. Fifty years ago, everything was hot mop (built-up roof), where heated asphalt was in a kettle on the ground. It had to be pumped up to the roof, where roofers then applied it over felt materials. The felt served to separate the deck from the roof’s exterior…