You must consider many factors when your roof needs to be replaced or when you are constructing a building that requires a new roof: Price. Quality of the product being installed. Prefabrication. Installation disruptions. Ease of maintenance. Performance. Environmental impact. Life-cycle costs, and so on. It is crucial to review all of these aspects in order to make the wisest roofing choice and get the best long-term value for your investment.
This is the fifth post in a series that will discuss the issues involved in purchasing a roofing system.
Ease Of Maintenance
Once a roofing system has been installed, most building owners do not want to have to deal with it again. They do want to make sure that they get the most from their roof investment and, most importantly, that it provides long-term, leak-proof protection for their building.
If you’re in the market for a new roof, it is very important to understand the importance of the roof selection process and the impact it can have on your money and time. Both can be saved by matching the building design, building use needs and your capabilities.
Some systems can require extensive maintenance, such as re-coating, re-surfacing, new flashings, or re-spraying after a few years of service for the system to perform properly. Many require regular inspections and repairs in order to maintain warranty coverage. Then there are some roofing systems that are virtually maintenance-free, necessitating little to no upkeep when designed and installed correctly.
Consider how much time and money you are willing to invest in maintaining your roof or fulfilling warranty requirements. Clearly, most building owners will opt for a roofing system that requires less maintenance. However, even roofs that require little or no maintenance can benefit from periodic, common-sense inspections that can help keep drains and gutters flowing, vegetative overgrowth (trees) clear, ponding water a non-issue, and third-party damage minimal, especially following storms and other climatic events.
When looking at maintenance, it is important to ensure that the roof system is compatible with your building. As an example, roof systems with high emissivity and reflectivity will significantly reduce the stress put on cooling systems by dramatically lowering the ambient air temperature in summer that the units have to cool. This can lower energy costs as well as cooling system loads and maintenance. Facilities with rooftop grease vents should have roofs that are able to withstand grease exhaust. This will reduce or eliminate annual maintenance and resurfacing of these areas, which is necessary with asphalt based systems.
Additionally, it is critical that maintenance crews know how to correctly care for the specific roofing system that is installed on your building. Most roofing manufacturers provide instructions on how to maintain their systems, and they should be followed carefully so as to not void the warranty. It’s important to note that some manufacturers will only allow maintenance and repairs to be performed by the original installing contractor, or the warranty will be voided.
Thorough research on the care and maintenance requirements of each roofing system being considered will help you choose the right one for your building and help you customize your roof maintenance program to the needs of your facility.
In our sixth installment of Factors To Consider When Purchasing A Roofing System, we will discuss roofing system features that provide outstanding performance.
