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Your building's roofs, walls, and overall building envelope must perform on a 365/24/7 basis to withstand the sun, wind, rain, storms, freeze / thaw cycles, thermal shock, and foot traffic. Before you get on the roof, the following tips create a starting point for determining how well the roof / walls have weathered the storm or have been performing overall.
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- Frequency
- Regular inspections should occur 2 x per year at a minimum
- Before season of most severe weather and before/after major weather events
- Review Paperwork to ensure:
- Copy of warranty with required maintenance
- Many manufacturer roof warranties require this frequency to ensure compliance
- Insurance policy review
- Survey Tools
- Layout Sketch of the roof
- Note pad
- Digital camera
- Roof Surface
- Debris – Items such as leaves, plants, branches, loose and abandoned HVAC equipment, satellite dishes, pallets, etc. High winds can impale braches, sticks and rods into the roof.
- Antennas or satellite dishes - Have they moved or missing. Are the anchors (typically cinder blocks) they still standing?
- Field of roof - Cracks, scratches, punctures, tears
- Ballasted roofs – Some systems are held down with river rock or pavers. Storms can create piles of stone or lift pavers exposing the roof to UV rays.
- Membrane Seams - Are the overlapping seams intact, cracked, split, wrinkled, or rolled back
- Coatings – are they intact, cracked or peeling
- Fasteners backed out and exposed
- Expansion joints – cracks, missing caps
- Metal Flashings around penetrations and equipment may be bent, broken or pulled back creating moisture/weather entry points
- Lightning arrest system – are the wires and anchors still intact
- Penetrations
- Review pipes, conduits, openings, sky lights, HVAC Equipment, roof exhausters to see if there are unsealed openings, bent metal flashings, gaps, cracks, or missing sealants, collars or rubber boots.
- Walls
- Parapet walls typically extend up to knee level. Look for missing caps, masonry and mortar.
- Termination bars anchor and tie the roof system into the wall. Look for looks fasteners, bars pulled away from the wall.
- Drainage
- Poor drainage is anything that does not dry out within 48 hours.
- Damaged, clogged or missing drains
- Repairs
- How well are previous repairs performing?
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| FACT - Preventative maintenance can more than double the life of a roof. According to The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) and the American Institute of Plant Engineers (AIPE), preventative maintenance can increase the service life of a roof 30% to 200%! |
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