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Calgary Flat Roofing – Annual Fall Flat Roof Maintenance
General Roofing Systems Canada (GRS) is a Full Service Flat Roofing Company Servicing Calgary Flat Roof Repair and Maintenance in Calgary AB and all areas of Southern Alberta. Flat Roofing Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Lethbridge, Taber, Cochrane, Okotoks, Nanton, High River, Bragg Creek, Red Deer, Sundre, Carstairs, Drumheller, Strathmore, Chestermere ... to name just a few.
November 18, 2012
John Smith, Staff Contributor
Flat roof maintenance should be conducted every fall and spring. A neglected flat roof can result in devastating consequence.
Here is a flat roof maintenance checklist for standard fall and spring maintenance.
Check Roof Sealants
Check all pitch pans / gum boxes, flashing, and more to be sure caulking and sealants have not failed due to expansion and contraction and UV from the sun. Sealants on a roof may crack or come away from flashing.
Roof Drainage
Roof drainage is one of the most important areas of the roof to check, especially before spring thaw and rain storms. Be sure drains are clear and the roof is clean. Debris such as leaves can clog roof drains and cause significant damage if water does not drain off the roof.
Proper Drains, Gutters and Downspouts
You must move water from the foundation of your home or business. Be sure the roof drains (if exterior) move water away from the building. Just today we visited a brand new executive home in Calgary that had a flat roof membrane installed with no proper drainage away from the home. Move all water as far away from your foundation as possible. Very important.
Ponding Water on Your Roof
Some ponding is allowable. Significant ponding will cause issue. Seams of roof membranes and weight load become a concern. Ponding can also be caused by settling of the foundation. Ponding on a roof should be corrected unless minimal.
Roof Parapet Walls
Walls and flashing need to be inspected for issues with joints, mortar, or other signs of wear.
Roof Tie-Ins and Roof Terminations
Areas where a flat roof terminate against a wall or connect to another part of the building should be checked and re-checked. Anywhere expansion and contraction of two roof lines meet or at roof to wall terminations should be checked.
Roof Top Units
Areas around roof conditioning equipment and heating are notorious for roof leaks because roof-top technicians doing standard maintenance or change outs of roof units tend to leave pieces of metal, small tools, fasteners and more on the roof. When someone walks over a fastener on a roof membrane the membrane can be punctured and cause a roof leak. Repair of membrane failures is a priority.
Membrane Splitting
Common on tar and gravel roofing, splits in the membrane need to be checked and corrected. A simple call to a roof repair company to repair splits in the membrane will alleviate thousands of dollars in repair costs in the future.
Blistering Tar Roofs
Quite often tar roofs will show blistering. Blistering needs to be repaired as soon as possible. As the temperature rises the blisters will expand and eventually burst opening your roof system to moisture when it rains or snows.
Roof Ridging or Buckling
Roof wrinkles occur mainly with bituminous roofs. Typically this will be above joints of insulation (your roof assembly will likely have insulation boards installed under the membrane) or in some instances moisture or incorrect ventilation can cause membranes such as torch on to wrinkle. Single ply flat roof membranes such as PVC, TPO, and EPDM will commonly have roof buckling or wrinkles around drains. Some ridging is ok and in some instances is normal, however, extensive wrinkling in the membrane is cause for concern and a roofing contractor or inspector should be called to investigate further.
Roof Ballast (Rocks)
Tar and gravel roofs with rocks on top and single ply roofing with rocks that hold down roof membrane (ballasted roofing) require maintenance. A tar and gravel roof will quickly erode if the rocks are not over the membrane (UV is at issue). On ballasted roof systems such as a ballasted EPDM roof which is commonly found on box stores like Wall Mart, Home Depot, Rona and more should have roof pavers so that foot traffic does not disturb the membrane. A roof leak on an EPDM roof that is ballasted can be difficult to find because of the amount of rock that may need to be moved to find the leak and repair it.
Roof Housekeeping
Over-all good housekeeping on the roof is common sense if one considers the idea is to protect the membrane from UV in most instances (not all), to keep foreign objects off the roof so the membrane isn’t punctured, and to be sure the roof can drain well avoiding leaks and failures.
Let us know if there is anything we can do to assist you with your Calgary Flat Roof or Calgary Roof Repair. Our Calgary Roofing services can be reached 24 Hours, 7 Days, 365 Days a Year for Calgary Emergency Roofing Repair also!
Call us in Calgary at 1.403.873.7663, email info@calgaryflatroofing.com, or visit us online at www.calgaryflatroofing.com .
