Follow these six money saving commercial roof maintenance tips to protect your vital roof assets:
Call Alliant Roofing year-round whenever you discover a commercial, industrial, or institutional roof leak. Our commercial service team can inspect your roof, mitigate further damage, and repair the leak as soon as possible. The Pacific Northwest’s extreme temperatures in winter cause most other commercial roofing contractors to close and wait for spring to arrive. Not us.
Sign up for a regularly-scheduled commercial roof inspection and maintenance program, typically performed in the spring and fall. A roof inspection service includes identifying and reporting observable voids, punctures, cuts, abrasions, and clogged drains. A commercial roof maintenance service includes removing rooftop debris, mucking gutters, and cleaning clogged roof drains. A Roof Asset Management program proactively schedules these commercial inspection and maintenance services.
Getting onto your TPO, PVC, or EPDM rubber roof is a bad idea. Let the roofing professionals do it safely and with minimum impact on your roof. Many commercial roofs lack easy access, thus requiring an untrained roof inspector to find and climb an extension ladder. Missing the last step and overreaching are the two most cited issues as the cause for ladder accidents (Source: ANSI). Safely climbing a ladder requires boots with a well-defined heel. Clomping around your commercial roof with those same boots can damage it. Wearing flat tennis shoes or similar footwear reduces potential damage. Finally, rooftop inspection and maintenance requires the right tools and training. Chances are high you have neither in-house.
Periodically trim trees and large shrubs growing above your building’s roofline. This will keep falling limbs from puncturing a membrane roof and leaves/needles from clogging rooftop drains. Have a certified arborist remove any trees that overhang your building’s roof. Avoid hiring unlicensed tree removal contractors. An unlicensed crew recently fell a 130-foot-tall tree on a nearby home, destroying it. Fortunately, no people nor pets were injured in this episode.
Keep your rooftop, building grounds, parking lots, and driveways clean. Remove any debris that a strong wind can carry on to your roof including leaves, pine needles, cones, spiked seed pods, dirt, ash, plastic bags, and litter. One of the strangest things we found in a clogged roof drain was a 16-ounce can of Enforcer® Wasp and Yellowjacket Foam. Someone left it on the roof, anticipating a return trip that never happened. Lastly, ensure any insect sprays you might use are chemically compatible with your rubber roof system.
Install walkway pads connecting rooftop HVAC units and roof access points (hatch or ladder). Walkway pads are thicker than typical 60-mil membrane roofing and more puncture-resistant. Walkways provide a persistent reminder to rooftop workers about where to access your roof and where to walk. A commercial roofing contractor can install walkway pads during roof installation and after.
Following these six commercial roof maintenance tips will save you time, money, personal injury, and potential loss of life. Hire professionals to fix, inspect, repair, and improve your roof. Keep your building grounds clean and attractive to customers. Most important, respect gravity and life. Regret is no solace for a personal injury or avoidable property damage. Call us today at 1-833-228-8622 to repair a commercial roof leak, schedule a free commercial roof inspection, recommend a local arborist, or install walkway pads.