Category: Roofing

When your business’s roof requires repair, you require the assistance of a trusted specialist; a company that can offer advice and services that will save you money on potential roofing maintenance over the long-term. But if you don’t have experience within the commercial roofing marketplace, it’s unlikely you’ll know what to look for when selecting a roofing specialist.

To better help you make the right choice, our team has outlined four tips for choosing the right roofing company for your property!

1. Don’t Select on Cost Alone

It’s important to consider a range of factors when reviewing a roofing company’s services. Many business owners have been swayed by that low bid from a contractor, only to find out the company’s services are as low quality as their pricing. It’s important to compare the cost of the company’s services with the value you’ll receive by speaking with previous customers of the company or reading online reviews of their past work and analyzing their service experience.

2. Consider the Choices the Company Offers

When working with a commercial roofing contractor, it’s important they provide a broad array of service options to suit the needs of your property. Look for a roofing company that will offer you and your company the choice of roofing system colours and repair services.

This will then ensure their team members can handle any challenge they face within the work, and will also allow you to customize the roofing maintenance process as the project moves forward.

3. Choose a Company that is both Licensed and Insured

Before moving forward in working with a roofing contractor, it’s imperative that you find out whether or not the company is licensed and insured. The company’s team should also have the requisite insurance protection and training for commercial roofing work.

Ask to speak with the company owner about their insurance coverage levels. The last problem you want to encounter is trying to respond to a liability issue if one of their team members is injured on your property.

4. Choose a Company that Offers Comprehensive Warranties

A roofing system should be a long-term investment in your business, so it’s imperative the company you choose offers comprehensive warranties that covers many decades of quality roofing performance. Speak to the company about their warranty options to find out what type of coverage they offer. This could be the deciding factor in whether you decide to employ the company’s services.

By finding a trusted commercial roofing contractor, you can protect the structural performance of your commercial space for many years. To learn more, contact our expert team directly.

If you own a commercial building, you’ve likely experienced a number of structural problems that had to be resolved using professional tools and experience. Within the commercial marketplace, many building owners experience the same types of challenges and it’s important to understand how best to respond to those challenges to ensure an effective repair process is completed within an efficient turnaround time.

Within this article, we’ll examine several of the most common roofing problems encountered by commercial building owners.

1. Pooling Water

One of the most common, and potentially damaging, issues commercial property owners across the country face is pooling water.

This occurs when rainwater collects on one part of the roof. This can cause numerous challenges for the building owner. For example, pooling water on the roof can lead to the roofing material sinking into the interior of the building, then breaking and allowing moisture to leak into the property. It’s the reason that many commercial building owners are now replacing older roofing systems with architecture designed for seamless integration of HVAC equipment and drainage areas.

2. Faulty Flashings

Flashings are designed to deflect water from the joints and seams of the building. It’s primarily installed on the elements protruding from the roof, such as the chimneys and the pipes, and correct installation is very important. In fact, a large percentage of roofing leaks occur directly as a result of faulty flashings or incorrectly installed flashings.

Flashings can become damaged due to expansion and contraction that occurs over time, causing water to leak into the building. Commercial property owners that experience a leak within their building must ensure that their roof flashing is analyzed by a specialist. Only a trained expert can help protect against further structural failure.

3. Tile Blow Offs

Wind uplift resistance is a critical element to consider when installing any roofing system. In older properties with roofing seams have not been properly cured, wind uplift can cause damage to the roof membrane, creating a significant structural issue and potentially leading to tiles becoming removed from the building structure.

Building owners experiencing this type of roof tile issue require the assistance of maintenance professionals, who can then examine and repair the system to protect the interior of the property. In most cases, the company will replace the tiles entirely with a more modern and successful solution.

Roofing issues can become exceptionally costly over time, so commercial property owners must analyze their repair requirements and ensure they speak with a specialist within a quick time frame to learn more on the problem. To discuss your building’s roofing issues with an expert, contact our trusted team today!

Your company’s building must be protected at all times to ensure that staff members and customers are safe inside. While most property owners are now well aware of the latest security systems for the interior of their property, few consider the options available to add to their roofing areas. In this blog, our team will explain three safety features to add to your company’s roof.

1. Security Cameras

Security cameras are helping business owners around the world secure their property and protect their business. With the advancement of available systems, business owners now have a broad array of options to consider.

The placement of systems such as high-definition security cameras on a business’s roof can help locate potential security threats at a distance from the property, while options such as night-vision cameras allow business owners to protect their properties when their staff are away from the building and potential security incidents are more likely to occur.

2. Sensor Technology

Building collapses often begin with the roofing area, and so companies must ensure that all areas of their roof are protected to ensure optimal structural integrity. The latest roof sensor technology can alert business owners when there is significant snow and water build-up on their property.

Once they’ve been alerted, they can then determine how best to respond to the potential issue, giving them much-needed time to contact specialists and reduce the potential damage to the building.

Sensor technology can also be utilized to alert property owners to potential trespassers on the building roof. The technology works to highlight when the load on an area changes, thereby showing that an intruder is potentially making their way inside the building. It’s the type of proactive security that commercial property owners across the country require.

3. Storm Resistant Roofing Systems

Stormy weather can have a devastating impact on roofing systems. The wind and rain can cause the tiles on roof to be removed from the structure, potentially causing nearby damage to other property and weakening the security of the building. Commercial property owners must analyze the storm resistance of their building’s roof and determine whether they require additional protection to guard against potential structural failures.

By implementing the latest roofing security systems, commercial building owners can mitigate long-term issues within their property. To learn more, speak with our team directly.

The roofing industry is always evolving. As changes take place, roofing professionals and customers must keep up with them in order to create durable and reliable roofing systems for commercial and residential properties.

Many of these changes develop in response to the changing needs of customers. As the emphasis on earth-friendly and sustainable materials and benefits increases, so do the ways in which the roofing industry implements new technologies.

The following new changes in the roofing industry help you understand the current trends, new regulation, and technologies being used to provide the best roofing systems for your buildings.

Roofing Regulations

Roofing regulations are reviewed periodically to ensure that they are current with needs of the industry and its customers.

The International Building Code (IBC) requires a review every three years and gives every region an opportunity to determine its adoption of new regulation codes. These codes apply to energy-efficiency and indoor air quality, among other factors.

Commercial buildings looking to optimize their use of energy for lower costs benefit from new requirements related to R-value, which is a measurement of a material’s ability to insulate energy. The increased use of air barriers improves the quality of indoor air for commercial buildings, which is important for outdoor contamination prevention in areas with a compromised building envelope.

The industry must also respond to market issues such as new technology and a more interconnected supply of labour.

The Green Evolution

Environmental and energy concerns have led to an increase in the use of green technologies. This is influencing how the roofing industry serves its customers and the building codes they use.

Although many green materials and technologies have a higher initial cost, the savings they provide to customers has made it a popular investment in both commercial and residential properties. This has led to an increase in the use of more earth-friendly materials. Metal, for example, is recognized for its energy-efficient properties and durability.

Still, the roofing industry must work hard to convince architects and contractors on the value of using more efficient roofing systems in the face of attempts to cut costs by using less optimal materials.

Roofing Industry Skills

Technological developments have made the roofing industry more complex. This requires a new level of knowledge and skills that roofing companies must have in order to provide the best systems for customers.

The industry must continue to invest in the development and training of its professionals in order to evolve alongside these changes.

Maintaining a level of safety is one of the biggest priorities for the roofing industry. Roofing professionals like Empire Roofing must understand how to ensure safety for workers and those who occupy the buildings they service.

These are just some of the new changes being seen in the roofing industry. It’s important to understand the evolving needs of both the industry and customers in order to ensure more energy-efficient and durable roofing systems. This will continue to improve the quality of commercial and residential buildings so that they can provide durability, safety, and cost-effectiveness.

Solar-powered technology is by no means new; while these developments were revolutionary and cutting edge at the turn of the millennium, within a short 15 years, the industry has grown at unprecedented rates. It is to the point now where nearly every commercial building features some type of naturally-powered, eco-friendly mechanism or device.

Keep your Commercial Building Cool with a “Cool Roof”

One of the more recent advancements in the field of green commercial construction are what are known as cool, or albedo, roofs. In contrast to conventional roofs, these kind are specifically designed to reduce internal building temperature by reflecting the sun’s UV rays.

As one would expect, albedo roofs are formulated with special, high eminence materials that keep project a high level of thermal energy back into the atmosphere. By preventing a majority of the heat from ever reaching the surface, these roofs work to greatly reduce HVAC cooling costs during the summer months. This can- and has- led to a considerable amount of seasonal savings for commercial building owners; the larger the structure, the greater the impact an albedo roof can thus have on a company’s bottom line.

Are Albedo Roofs the Way of the Future?

There is much more at stake than merely the financial advantages afforded to business owners. Given the historically high concentration of residents in urban areas (the population density in some major cities is staggering to say the least), the rise of the heat island effect has become an ever-increasing issue.

The energy demands of urban core and metro areas naturally lead to significantly hindered air quality. There exists a strong correlation between pollution levels and ozone layer depletion in major metropolitan regions, something albedo roof technology was engineered to counteract.

Researchers have found that if local municipalities were to adopt stricter measures concerning an increased number of cool roof installations, this would result in much cleaner air and a substantial decrease in commercial energy use. For a roof to meet albedo classifications, it must emit no less than 65% (measured as .65 on the solar reflectance value scale) of radiant heat energy back into the atmosphere.

Given the strong scientific backing for the installation of cool roofs on a large scale, many major cities such as Chicago, Salt Lake City and numerous municipalities in California have implemented mandatory programs like Title 24, which call for their requirement in local building codes. For all of these reasons, the prevalence of high albedo roofs is bound to increase in the coming years.

The modern world as we know it would be much different in the absence of artificial light. The invention of the light bulb nearly 140 years ago revolutionized the way mankind lived and worked; contrary to our ancestors who relied exclusively on natural daylight hours, we can do more for longer, thanks in no small part to electricity.

Like anything, however, the one major downside to artificial lighting, especially for large commercial buildings with high energy demands, are the resulting expenses. To reduce their annual operating costs, many business owners have turned once more to the power of the Sun.

Let There be Light

Whereas in years past, natural light was the primary mode of lighting warehouses, offices, and buildings, today this strategy is conveniently referred to as daylighting. The latter entails a heavy reliance on sunlight while subsequently minimizing the use of electrical lighting. Daylighting can be accomplished in a number of ways, some of which are more complex than others.

It is no surprise that the insertion and strategic placement of additional windows and skylights is a common practice among companies that incorporate daylighting into their building designs. Due to their practical design, structures outfitted with flat roofs benefit most from skylight installations, although many business owners still rely on the advice of professional consultants with regards to the positioning of these devices for maximum natural lighting.

Looking Beyond the Numbers: A Healthy Approach to Commercial Lighting

A more comprehensive look at the science behind daylighting demonstrates that energy-savings alone are hardly the sole reason why companies are investing in it.

Numerous studies have shown the positive impact that daylighting can have on employee and student performance and productivity.

People tend to be more alert, engaged, and happy in environments where more sunlight is present. That being said, daylighting truly is a win-win for business owners looking to boost their revenues while simultaneously cutting back on their annual energy expenditures.

The use of sunlight saves money while boosting staff morale, thereby promoting a happier, healthier workforce that can continually deliver results. Most roofing contractors have experience installing daylighting-inspired rooftops, as the strategy is becoming more and more widespread in the commercial and industrial sector at large. However if you want the best results from your daylighting, it’s essential you go with an established and reputable company to do the job correctly. Contact Empire Roofing today for more information on how daylighting can make a positive impact on your business.

Keeping your roof in good shape may not be at the top of the list when it comes to things about your business to think about – but it should be.

That’s because building roofs will get old and will feel the effects of weather and wear and tear just like any other material does. Neglecting the maintenance of a roof can have negative consequences, and worst-case scenarios aren’t hard to imagine.

To ensure that your building is protected simply by keeping your roof is in good shape, make sure the roof gets inspected twice a year at minimum. This process shouldn’t be considered an expense, but rather an investment that can potentially save you from having to handle a roof catastrophe.

Make sure the surface is clear
Keeping the surface of your roof clear from debris is important as it can often be more harmful than it looks. Any debris will act as a trap for moisture and water – factors which will accelerate damage to your roof, as it can easily leak through the membrane – even leaching chemicals contained in the membrane – and drip through any puncture points. This can widely be avoided by ensuring you have a high quality roof, but proper clearance of debris is still important.

Clear any blockages from the drains
Make sure the drainage system is also checked, as standing water in drain pipes and spouts can cause big problems down the line, and of course gutters, too, should be looked at for blockages. One good tip here to check if a gutter is clogged is by pouring water down it and seeing how much comes out the other end. If it comes out slowly or there is significantly less than what went in, you likely have a severe drain blockage.

Sealant check
Odds are your roof has some penetrations on it – pipes and stands for equipment, or instance. These penetrations are likely waterproofed with a concrete ring or plastic/metal pitch pans. These are potential wear-and-tear points and should be checked regularly. You’ll want to make sure the sealer doesn’t have any cracks and that the point where the concrete ring meets the roof has its sealant membrane still in good shape.

Be on the lookout for surface punctures
The field membrane on your roof should have its surfacing intact – that means no puncture points, or worn-down sections. Also look for any diagonal wrinkles showing up in the flashings, as these are signs your roof deck and the wall are shifting, and can become cracks that let water in.

Keep nearby trees trimmed
It’s a good idea to keep branches on nearby trees trimmed down. These branches can snap off in a storm and potentially puncture your roof membrane.

For additional advice on how to keep your roof in perfect condition, consult with Empire Roofing today!

Winter can be long and harsh. But, for roofs, what happens when the snow finally melts away can be more damaging than the blast of wintry weather that precedes it.

Source: adn.com

This is because many building owners have the mistaken impression that the only real time to worry about roof damage is during the coldest months of the year. While it is true that ice and snow and the weight they add to a roof can cause major damage, what many people don’t appreciate is that how the spring thaw that wipes away those signs of Winter is not the end of worrying about your roof.

That’s because when the snow melts away, it will reveal previously hidden potential dangers sitting on the surface of your roof. Just like snowbanks on city sidewalks will melt away only to reveal an unsightly accumulation of city debris that will have to be removed, so too will the spring melt for a commercial roof reveal risks that will also have to be dealt with.

Here’s what to look for during this year’s spring thaw:

Natural debris

Leaves and tree branches can be easily hidden on a snowy roof. They’re also some of the major things you should be on the lookout for on a commercial roof, because they can trap in water that can then leak through your roof membrane, causing major damage.

Membrane cracks

You’ll want to check your roof at points where the plane changes, or where the roof is penetrated by things such as air conditioning units. Once the snow is cleared, be on the lookout for any tears or punctures.

Flashings

Double check your flashings along the sides. The temperature shift from the winter to spring thaw can dislodge your flashings, possible making them a point where water can get in. Check them for wrinkles or other changes that may have happened throughout the winter months.

Penetration points

Check the sealing around penetration points such as pipes and roof equipment. These seals can be damaged due to the winter freeze, and if left unfixed will let water in once precipitation returns.

When in doubt, call in the experts. The cost of a routine roof inspection or regular maintenance will be minor in comparison to the cost of having to repair your entire roof.

TPO roofing is an increasingly popular choice when it comes to roofing materials on the market, and for good reason.

Source: keller-assoc.com

TPO (meaning thermoplastic olefin) roofing is a roofing membrane that has been around for about 20 years. As a single-ply solution, TPO and its low-slope, three-layer thermoplastic polyolefin membrane offers some distinct advantages over other choices of roofing.

Durability

As a modern roofing solution using modern roofing materials, TPO roofing is highly durable and resilient to wear and tear and other impacts of nature. Compared to other thermoplastic membrane solutions, it stands out. This is because TPO will guard against the growth of mold, tears and punctures, and dirt. What’s more, TPO is flexible enough that it will be easily accommodate the structure moving or settling as time goes by.

Handles Heat Fluctuations Well

TPO can also safely handle any thermal expansion or contraction of the building. This means that it works especially well in climates that can see the temperature dip very low, making it a ready solution for buildings location in areas of heat fluctuations. TPO also helps prevent solar heat gain, and is UV resistant – factors that mean it will chop away at your utility bills. TPO also is effective against the so-called “heat island” effect, where built-up communities experience high temperatures.

Cost – Efficient

This one’s key – TPO roofing saves money. Since being introduced on the market, it’s become known as one of the most cost-efficient roofing materials available. Simply put, TPO offers the same pluses as PVC roofing solutions – especially when it comes to energy efficiency – but at a notable lower price point.

Easier to Handle and Install

Unlike other roofing materials, TPO membranes are often wider when it comes to sheet size, and lighter too. These size and weight advantages means less time installing the product TPO also features fewer seams than other materials, and the seams they do have are extra strong due to advantages from the materials used.

Ability To Match Aesthetics

TPO membranes offer several choices when it comes to aesthetics – meaning they’ll more likely match the unique look of your building. Reflective colour options include light grey, black and white.

If you’re considering a TPO roof for your building, contact Empire Roofing today to learn more about its extensive benefits.