A roof may just be the most vital component of a shelter, especially a commercial building. Factories, hospitals, businesses, and more require roofs that are a bit different from residential roofs. With a residential roof, you typically have a steep pitch that’s designed for the runoff of precipitation. With a commercial roof, most are built to bear loads, such as HVAC systems and generators, etc, and so they’re designed to stay flat.
These roofs need to be maintained more because they run a much bigger risk of structural issues. Therefore it’s important that you’re always working to increase the lifespan of a commercial roof. Here are a few ways you can accomplish that feat.
1: Weatherize Your Roof
It’s very important to weatherize a commercial roof. There are all sorts of different products you can get to coat the exterior of the roof, in order to protect it against ice or snow. Depending on where you live, of course, you will be dealing with different sorts of elements. Look to weatherize based on where you live. For instance, if you live in Texas, you’ll want to weatherize the roof against extreme heat and dry spells, not ice and snow. If you live in a rainy area like Washington, then you’ll want to protect yourself against constant moisture. This is something you should only have to do once a year, but by doing so you’re going to greatly increase the lifespan of your commercial roof, which helps you to put off a full replacement that can be very expensive and time-consuming.
2: Have a Contractor Inspect Your Roof
Another way to prolong the life of your commercial roof is to have a contractor come by and check it out. This isn’t in any way you hiring the contractor to do work; you’re essentially just getting a professional to inspect your roof because a professional contractor knows precisely what they’re looking at. If there are any repairs that are needed, you will likely get by on having to pay only for minor repairs, which will ultimately help to extend the lifespan of that roof. If you’re in or around the area in Texas, for instance, you can run a search for “commercial roof contractors Austin TX”. Once you’ve done your research on the most reliable contractors in your area, set up an appointment to have one stop by and take a look. The same goes for any geographic location; look locally and hire a contractor to come out and give a thorough inspection of your roof.
3: Clean it Often
You should also clean your commercial roof very often in order to improve its lifespan. Again, commercial roofs and residential roofs have a lot of differences between them. One of the main differences is that commercial roofs don’t typically have that steep pitch that allows for the elements to run off into gutters. In other words, you can do a lot for a residential roof by keeping its gutters nice and clean; for a commercial roof, however, you will likely have to physically remove the debris. This is important because you do not want it to accumulate. Even if it doesn’t become heavy and burdensome, it could still start to rot away and create holes and leaks in the roof, which would eventually harm the overall structural integrity of the roof. So, make sure you’re keeping it clean.
4: Do Not Allow Accumulation
You also shouldn’t allow any sort of accumulation on the roof. Per the above method, this definitely includes debris, but it’s mostly focused on water. You do not want to allow standing water on the roof. There are drainage systems on commercial roofs, so make sure that they’re functioning well so that the water drains off. If you’re dealing with snow and ice, you may want to get up there and physically remove a lot of it. Yes, this is going to be a laborious job, and you might have to hire someone, but it’s important that you don’t have standing water on a commercial roof. Nothing good is ever going to come of it. Improve your roof’s lifespan by making sure it stays clear of standing water.
In Conclusion
The best way to care for your commercial roof is to go ahead and hire a contractor to come to inspect it and do these small tasks. This is going to keep you from having to fully replace the roof.
