The roof on your commercial building is essential for your business for many reasons – it is the building component that protects your building from the elements from the top and that will ensure your building’s temperature balance and energy efficiency the entire year around. The roof is also a building component that many building owners pay no or very little attention to and one that is the most affected by bad building management decisions. Here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid with your commercial roof.
Improper Installation
Incorrect or unsafe installation is among the most common mistakes that might lead to the premature damage of the roof and the resulting disruption of business operations as well as to damage in corporate assets. Many business owners consider roof installation to be a simple and straightforward process – you must know that it is everything but, therefore commercial roofs need to be installed by professionals, possibly by roofers who specialize in the roof type and roofing material of choice.
Roofing Materials that Are Not of the Right Quality
Whatever type of roofing material you choose, it is probably available in multiple quality categories. Getting a new roof for your commercial facility is a large investment, but you should never cut corners when it comes to quality – materials of higher quality come with a heftier price tag, that is true, but you should always aim for top quality to get top results.
Neglecting Roof Maintenance
Maintenance is an essential roofing task, yet it is one that is neglected by many owners or managers in charge of commercial buildings. The process is simple, it usually involves semi-annual inspections and cleaning of the roof and of the adjacent parts and accessories, such as the gutters, the downspouts and the vents, preferably performed by a professional roofer, followed by the repair of any issue detected by your roofer during the inspection.
Commercial roofing Kansas City contractors explain that the application of roof coatings should also be part of your roof maintenance program. These coatings are used for extending the life of the roof by enhancing its resistance to water penetration, UV radiation and other types of weather-related damage. Most of them need to be applied every couple of years to maintain the efficiency of the protection provided.
The inspection of the trees around your building is also something that must be done every couple of months, especially if you have large old trees with limbs overhanging the roof and if your building is located in a windy region that poses the heightened risk of tree damage.
Neglecting Repairs
Buckets can be placed under the leak in the ceiling to prevent water damage to your carpets and they might be used again and again, whenever it rains, but they do not fix the leak. Any roofing issue is ideally remedied soon after it is detected – that is the only way to prevent the fault from becoming more severe (even the smallest leak can turn into a huge fissure almost overnight). The best way to ensure durable repairs is to hire a professional for the process – the issue that affects your roof might require professional tools and special materials, so amateur repairs should be avoided.