Hi, my name is Erik. Although there are many commercial roofing systems to
choose from, I want to explain that three types of single ply roofing systems
commonly installed by contractors across the United States. Of the three types,
EPDM is the most popular. It has been used for over 40 years. It is the same
synthetic rubber membrane used to make inner tubes. Another type is TPO, which is
a thermoplastic membrane, and finally there's modified bitumen, which
is an asphalt based membrane. Let me explain more about each of these membranes.
EPDM is produced in different thicknesses. They are 45, 60, and 90
thousandths of an inch. Most contractors use the industry standard of 60
thousandths of an inch, which is very near the thickness of a quarter. Some
advantages for using EPDM on a flat roof are; first, it is the least expensive
system to install per square foot. Second, it is simple to install with the use of
anchors, adhesives, and rollers. Also, it weighs less than other single ply
membranes, and lastly, it is sold in wide rolls of eight to twenty feet resulting
in fewer seams. Some of the disadvantages are that harmful
ultraviolet rays degrade adhesives used on seams and flashing causing very
premature separation. It's failing like look at that
that's glue that has gone bad and is no longer sticking to the rest of it. This is
how it starts, and this is how it ends up, okay. Look how deep that goes and I'm not
gonna lift it up further just because I don't wanna make it worse, but this is around a
drain area.
Second, the black membrane absorbs ultraviolet light, causing shrinkage and
brittleness, which decreases its life expectancy drastically. Right here, over
the years, the EPDM has shrunk a little bit and then thus stretched right
here in the corner and then with the stretching and the UV
rays pounding down on it, it started eating it away, and right here in the
in the corner, where it mostly, was stretched the
the most, this is where it got eaten away
the most, also. You can see it has gone straight through. Third, protective mats
are definitely needed because the thin membrane is susceptible to punctures due
to foot traffic on sharp objects left behind by maintenance crews. Another
reason we don't recommend EPDM. is because it's so easily punctured. Um, here, on this roof you can see they've
laid out mats for workmen to walk on this is supposed to offer protection but as
you can see there's never enough mats to cover the whole roof. Repairs to seams and flashing is required
long before the warranty of the fifteen to twenty years expires.
Now, I'm gonna bring finger along be seam that's inside the cover tape; just watch this here,
when I bring it along here. Look at all that water coming out. The surface preparation
can be an added labor costs when removing an old roof system or installing one over a
pre-existing one, and lastly the black color of the membrane absorbs heat and
can lead to the super heating of the structure below, causing air conditioning
costs to rise significantly. Now let's talk about TPO.
TPO is another type of roofing membrane there are two thickness options to TPO 45 and
60 thousands of an inch which is roughly equivalent to the thickness of the
quarter. TPO is composed of laminated layers. Of the three membranes, this one
requires more experienced roofing technicians and much more equipment. Some
of the advantages of TPO are that the seams are heat welded rather than glued
so they are much less prone to separation. Secondly, the white surface of
the membrane reflects much of the ultraviolet light, keeping the structure
below cooler. Third, if the contractor is certified by the manufacturer to
install the membrane, the manufacturer rather than the contractor honors the
warranty. Here are some of the disadvantages the TPO. First, the system
is fairly new to the roofing industry, about 15 years, and has a long track
record of revisions and improvements due to surface and seam failures. Also, TPO
is known to shrink, and its rigidity causes stress on seams and flashing. A
prolonged period of excessive heat exposure causes ultraviolet light
degradation. Another con is that contractors must calibrate their welding
machines very carefully. Improperly welded seams may come loose during the
first freeze and thaw cycle and lead to water infiltration. Lastly, the
manufacturer's warranty is only fifteen to twenty years. Now, let us talk about
the modified bitumen torch down membrane that has been around since the
late nineteen sixties.
These single ply membranes can be combined to create a two to three ply
membrane that offers the best roofing system to date because there is a forty
year guarantee.
Some advantages for installing the modified bitumen membrane are: first,
it is designed to be flexible in extremely hot and cold weather
Secondly, it is a two ply membrane with a thickness of about five quarters, or
3/8 of an inch, which is very puncture resistant. The membrane surface
has been embedded with granular ceramics to protect it from ultraviolet
degradation. Also, seams are fused together with high heat to prevent any
separation. Unlike EPDM and TPO, the two to three ply system can withstand a
heavy amount of foot traffic. I want to show you some good news right now. This
is, uh, we always show you how bad things are and how people do things wrong, but this
is how you do a roof this roof we did twenty years ago, uh, and uh, this is how it
should be done; everything very clean, done with modified bitumen torch
down and it's lasting long and going strong.
Also, this two ply system can be installed over any existing roof or
surface, with minimal preparation. Re-roof it and we decided to go over it
because rather than strip all the gravel off and all the old tar we save them a
lot of cost by going directly over and I started about an hour ago, and this is our
fiberglass liner that I'm laying down right now. Uh, this is the first step,
next comes the self adhering base and then our final layer of modified bitumen
torch down. It's just as good as if we stripped it all the way down. You get the
same, uh, you know, same warranty,
um, but it is one of the most cost-effective ways to do it, both with time labor and debris
removal. Alright, I've already laid down my fiberglass liner and I've anchored it
down; this gives the roof the strength and stiffness it needs, and, uh, we have a
two-ply system that we, we do. This is the first of the of the two ply. It's a
self adhering base. You can see right here it's already starting to, it's already starting to adhere, and it's gonna to stay that way. Two
layer of membrane as well as the proctection of the fiberglass liner. You can't beat
it
This layer directly to our other two layers and I'll show you in just a second how thick
it is, but this is why this is a good system. It makes it one unified membrane
all across. There are actually two advantages for installing a new membrane
in this case. A). There is no cost for stripping and removing the old membrane.
and B). Fusing an additional membrane over an old one creates a roof
that will last well beyond 40 years, unlike the 15 to 20 year life expectancy
of EPDM and TPO single ply roofing systems. This is the best roof you can ever have on a house on a
commercial roof anywhere.
First of all, they had a modified bitumen roof. This is modified bitumen torch
down. It's plain. They didn't have the granular protection for the UV, and that
was called a single ply membrane; rubber membrane, was installed about fifteen years ago
and is still in good shape, There's nothing wrong with the roof. You can see no
the UVs has not eaten up the roof and you can see the seams are nice. Everything is
nice about this roof. The owner just decided that he wants a new roof on there. Now
instead of removing this old system and installing a new roof, which most people
will do
EPDM or TPO, that would be the worst thing to do. You have a modified torch
down here
the best system in the industry is to have a two ply system; two ply membrane. We using the
old modified bitumen membrane and now we fusing another modified torch down
on top of the old system. That becomes the two ply system that exceeds any
other roof system, by far. This roof will last 40 years or longer,
no questions. What we doing now is only adding another membrane and we fusing
them together.
You cannot do that with any other system.This is a dream come true for us. We love
these systems. Where you find old modified and we just torch a new one
on top of it with the granular protection. The sand or granular you wanna call it; white in this case. That protects it
from ultraviolet. But this roof will never, never go bad and will never leak anywhere. Some
disadvantages are that the installation requires highly skilled roofing technicians.
Secondly, the additional layer has an added cost for labor and materials. We
installed our two ply system on the roof that we are standing on right now. It was
installed several years ago over a tar and gravel roof. I'm going to cut the
membrane open right now to show you how well it's performed in the extreme
weather conditions we've had over the last several years.
There we go. This is our two ply system. You can see how when we torched this together the membrames are fused so
well together they cannot come apart and these stones never puncture this.
Everybody always asks us that. Is that base sheet enough and it is. It's a
fiberglass reinforced base sheet and this can never go through and when I put this back
you can walk on this all day long. There's air conditioning units up here
that need maintenance. Extremely puncture resistant. Look at that, three eighths
of an inch thick. In conclusion, for many years we have specialized in installing
the two ply modified bitumen torch down roofing system. It has been
our experience that it is, by far, the best roofing system, that we provide a forty
year warranty for our labor and our materials for every roof that we install.
The type and condition of your existing roof does not matter. Our roofing system
is cost-effective and will outlast any other roofing system.