The Roofing Resource Blog

Beat Spring Showers: Inspect Your Commercial Roofs

Fri, Apr 10, 2015 @ 09:55 AM | Exterior Pro Roofing

Now that spring is officially here with the growing plants and sunshine warmth, there also comes the rain and storms that makes for some spring challenges for residential and commercial roofs. Before the spring showers begin building owners you should begin your roof inspection to know the current condition of your roofing system.

After harsh winters especially, roof tops can sustain damages and need some repairing. There can be obvious signs of damages and other times, you may not see them at first glance until a leak appears. There are two things that can be done for an inspection. Have your maintenance crew do an inspection and having a commercial roofing contractor do an evaluation.

In house inspection

Have your maintenance crew check for obvious damages and they should routinely inspect the roof during storms seasons, especially after a storm. Sometimes you may not see anything right away and after a heavy rain leaks start appearing. If there are obvious signs of damages that can potentially lead to leaking you should contact a commercial roofing contractor to come and repair those areas as soon as possible. Leaving damages unharmed because there is no leaking occurring at that time, can cause the damages to worsen and in turn increasing your repairs costs or possibly a roof tear off.

flat_roof_HVAC_unit

There are common areas on a flat that can have leaking issues and specific areas that should be carefully examined. Seams are a common area where potential leaks will occur, especially in corners, walls and other penetrations on the roof were detail work is done to ensure water tightness. Look for tears, cracks or punctures in the membrane; these damages are not always obvious. They can be small enough to not see without being closely examined but can lead to being a bigger problem later. Check where any HVAC units are, sometimes units themselves can become damage and start leaking as well. Inspect parapet walls and edge details where terminations could had been damaged leaving an opening for water to get in. 

Commercial Roofing Company Inspection

The other option is to hire a commercial roofing contractor to come and inspect the roof for you. They will document results and let you know the current condition of your roofing system, options you have for any repairs or potential problem areas down the road. Taking care of repairs that need done whether there is a leak or not and knowing and tending to potential problem areas can help keep your roof going in its life cycle and possibly extend the life cycle a little more. This can also benefit you knowing ahead of time of a future roofing project you will have that you can budget for. Most of the time some roofs can be layer over without the tear off costs, but when damages get into the insulation and roof deck, a tear off will be required which can lead to a higher cost for a new roof. 

Take advantage now of the early spring weather to keep your roof going and save on a tear off cost in the future.