3 Factors That Influence Your Choice In Commercial Roofing
If you have a large commercial building with a long flat roof, you might wonder about the best option for new roofing. It's a good idea to consider the particulars of your roof and building location to choose the best commercial roofing. Popular choices in commercial roofing are rubber, plastic, foam, metal, and built-up roofing. Some may be better suited for your building than others. Here are three factors that might influence the type of commercial roofing you choose.
1. The Amount Of Solar Warming On The Roof
If your building has a lot of square footage on just one floor, your building might be much larger horizontally than it is vertically. That means a large part of your building is exposed to solar warming through the roof. In that case, you'll probably want commercial roofing that reflects UV rays and reduces solar warming so your building can stay much cooler in the summer.
Depending on your climate, this might reduce or eliminate air conditioning bills when you combine a reflective roof with good ventilation in your building. Good roofs for reducing solar warming include white plastic membranes, foam, and metal roofing. Coatings also reflect the sun and help keep your building cooler.
2. The Equipment And Foot Traffic On The Roof
Most types of commercial roofing are durable, but some are more durable than others and better suited for a roof that gets a lot of foot traffic from maintenance workers. Metal is a good choice when you want a durable roof since it doesn't get damaged by walking on it.
Metal can also tolerate hail fairly well. It dents, but it probably won't crack from a hail strike unless the hail is very large. Metal is a more expensive type of roofing though, so you may want a roofer to help you compare durability against cost for the various types of commercial roofing.
3. The Cost Of The Roofing
Membrane roofing could be the most affordable new roofing to have installed. However, you also need to factor in the expected repairs and maintenance the roof will need over its lifetime compared with maintenance needs for metal roofing. Also, life expectancy should be factored in when considering costs. You may need the help of a roofing professional when deciding on the right roofing for your installation and maintenance budget.
Other things affect the cost of a new roof too. The condition of the old roof is an important factor. If the old roof is in pretty good shape without a lot of water damage, then the new roofing material you choose can go over the top without having to tear the old roofing off. This saves money on your new roof installation when compared to having to remove all the old roofing first.
Can you imagine hammering away at shingles from dawn until dusk? If this sounds like fun, then you may have a future in the roofing industry. If this does not sound fun at all, then you're going to be someone who calls a roofing company and leave the work to the professionals. There's nothing wrong with that. Roofing is hard and dangerous; it's definitely not for everyone. In fact, we don't climb up on the roof ourselves. We do, however, write about roofing on this blog. We consider that to be a small service we can do for homeowners who are interested in roofing and want to know more.