Walking the Repair and Replace Line

Because of the recession, there may be many roofs out there straddling the repair/replace line. So what are some sure-fire signs that will help facility managers tell if a replacement is necessary? Let’s take a look.

Although all roof membranes have different physical properties and failure modes there are certain deficiencies that are common to all roof membranes. Here are some common failure modes for all membranes to look out for:

1. Brittleness: All roof membranes become brittle at the end of their service life. This phenomenon is more rapid in some membranes. Once the material becomes brittle it losses the elasticity required to provide weatherproofing service. The material can be tested (tensile/elongation tests) to determine remaining service life or failure can be illustrated through grazing/cracks and splits in the membrane surface. Visual observation of material scrim or reinforcement is also an indication o

2. Wet Insulation: All roof insulations lose structural and thermal integrity once they are wet. All wet insulation should be removed from the system to avoid costly structural deck damage (particularly on metal decks). Typically, if more than 25% of a roof system has wet insulation, a full roof replacement is recommended. Wet insulation can be determined by any method of moisture testing. If non-destructive moisture testing is conducted, core samples should be conducted to verify that the material is wet. Some adhered membranes will illustrate wet insulation through excessive blistering and membrane ridging.

3. Flashings/Penetrations: Flashings and penetrations are the most vulnerable point of a roof system and nearly two-thirds of all roof leaks occur at these points. Openings, splits and sagging of flashings materials are common causes of roof leaks. Excessive openings or displacement of these materials can lead to free flow of moisture infiltration into the system and the building.

If you are experiencing any of these problems, they certainly will not get better on its own. Reach out with RAMCON and we’ll perform a free, comprehensive evaluation to determine how your roof is performing. We’ll provide you a complete report and documentation to assist you in making the best decisions possible.

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Roof Assessment: Five Key Questions

In an era of continued tight budgets, consolidated responsibilities, and a myriad of other challenges that maintenance and engineering managers must deal with daily, it is no wonder organizations embark upon major capital roofing projects with a mind set of, “whatever is easiest and most convenient.” More often than not, that mind set produces a roof that does not deliver the expected performance life, and long term problems eventually develop.

Roof Assessment
Before engaging in a roof replacement, you should carefully consider the exact reasons for replacing the roof. Questions to ask and answer are:
• Am I engaging in this project as a reaction to leaks?
• Am I engaging in this project because current warranties have expired?
• Does the roof really need replacement, or is it a candidate for restoration?
• Should I consider retrofitting the roof?
• Are strategic repairs a viable option?

The real challenge for you is deciding the most appropriate and cost-effective course of action. As soon as we take the mind set that the roof is a real asset and deserves the same treatment as any other valuable piece of equipment, the next step is to properly assess the actual condition of the roof and prioritize its replacement or repair based on actual conditions. This is where RAMCON steps in (at no cost to you) and does a detailed, comprehensive evaluation of the conditions of the assembly. Before making any decision on specifying a new roof or repairing the existing system, we need to perform a total assessment of the roof. RAMCON can even perform a thermal infrared survey to determine if any of the substrate of the system (insulation, cover boards, etc.) are wet.

Too often, a roof project begins with a thumbnail outline of services and progresses with bids, based on nothing more substantial than a contractor’s sales pitch. The lowest price typically drives the manager’s purchasing decision. Accompanying these components in many cases are questionable warranties manufacturers provide solely to make managers and owners feel safe by accepting the lowest bid. This is a recipe for disaster. You’re not comparing apples to apples, you may not be getting the warranty you need and the truth is, most contractors are going to sell you whatever they install, not necessarily what’s best for your facility. 

When You Are Having Roofing Problems
When you’re having roofing problems, give us a call and we’ll perform a detailed, comprehensive roof evaluation to determine what exactly is going on up there…at no cost to you. You’ll always get a menu of solutions and recommendations that will solve the problem and save you money. When you need accurate and professional designs and proposals, we are the go to place for Florida’s leading contractors and facility managers. We are an approved applicator and servicer for EVERY manufacturer and we install just about EVERY type of system. With RAMCON, you get what’s right for your specific facility…nothing less. And with 38 million square feet of roof installed, we still maintain the highest quality rating in the state. Put our team at RAMCON to work for you and we’ll help you make educated decisions based on facts.

Roofing Maintenance With Tight Budgets

In these times of economic uncertainty, delaying a costly roof replacement project may not only be desired, it may be a financial necessity. Tough times call for innovative and proactive thinking in regards to the roof system. As the economic downturn squeezes budgets, facility executives should reassess their long-term goals and short-term needs in regards to their facilities’ roofing systems.

Roofs fail for many reasons; the sad part is that many fail years before they should. The causes of premature roof failure include poor design, poor materials, poor installation, lack of maintenance, natural causes, man-made concerns (e.g., material defects, incorrect or lack of response to roof problems), tenant abuse, change in building use, building component failure due to incompatibility of components, and rooftop traffic by other trades. Proactive roof maintenance can often detect early signs of failing components and allow time to mitigate the concerns and increase the roof’s service life.

Now, more than ever, you really should think about a RAMCON roof maintenance program to try to extend the life of the roof and drastically reduce the leaks that develop. All roof systems require maintenance. In fact, most roof warranties require it, so failure to do so may void the warranty, bring about an early demise of the roof and result in unwanted moisture intrusion, production and work stoppages, and upset building owners and tenants. In addition to preventing the premature or untimely demise of the roof system, maintenance will extend the service life of the roof, thus promoting a key element of sustainability: long service life.
In many cases, roof systems protect 95 percent of a building owner’s assets, yet they are a relatively fragile component of a building. The roof system often is subjected to wind, hail, rain, and ultraviolet energy; as well as foot traffic and various forms of abuse from mechanical equipment. While many other building components are more visible and, tend to be maintained on a regular basis, a roof system often is overlooked.

As previously discussed, leading causes of premature roof system failure include poor roof design and installation, neglect of proper maintenance and lack of appropriate repairs. Properly maintaining the roof can extend the service life, thus deferring costly roof replacement. This can allow time for financial planning for future replacement. It also helps ensure that there are no roof-related interruptions to the building occupants, which is more important than ever given pressure on organizations to survive in these tough financial times.

The Economics of a Roof Leak

Every building owner or manager at one time or another faces this dilemma: When is roof replacement a better option than continued roof maintenance? Of course, the ideal answer to this question is never. But it is rare that a roof’s service life equals the service life of the rest of the building.

The more obvious answer to the question is that when the roof is no longer watertight — its primary function — roof replacement may be the better option. In other words, when leaks become intolerable, it is time to replace the roof.

But when do leaks become intolerable? Is leak tolerance the best or most cost-effective reason to make a huge capital investment? A central element in the roof-replacement decision for managers is determining when leaks become bad enough to mandate replacement.

The Economics of Leaks
In some cases, a financial model can help managers determine when roof maintenance has reached the point of diminishing returns, in which case you are simply throwing away good money to repair leaks on a roof that will have to be replaced within a matter of time anyway. As much as we preach preventive maintenance (PM) for roof systems, at some point PM becomes useless.

It is difficult to justify the capital expense of replacing a roof, especially when that money could go toward buying new equipment and systems that would benefit the organization’s bottom line. But roof leaks also can hurt the bottom line. Consider these real-world examples:

Interior damage. Roof leaks that damage ceiling tiles, carpet, furniture, and computers are common, but the damage can be much more severe. For example, one school lost its gymnasium floor due to damage from roof leaks. The school had to cancel or move athletic events and replace the floor, at a cost of $500,000.
Operations downtime. A roof leak for one building owner shut down operations for a day, costing the company an estimated $700,000 in revenue.

Damaged products. A retail store recently lost more than $40,000 worth of products due to one roof leak.
Lost business. Roof leaks forced one hotel to close its top floor — its priciest rooms — for three weeks, causing significant lost revenue.

Upset Tenants. In today’s market, it’s tough enough to find tenants, yet alone keep them. Leaks encourage tenants to seek rent reductions and seek ways out of their leases.

We must incorporate all of these factors into any life-cycle cost analysis in trying to justify a roof replacement. Granted, for any of you who have not gone through the cost-justification process, projected costs are only predictions. But to neglect figuring in these costs is misleading and provides a false sense of security. A smart course of action is to have RAMCON perform a free roof analysis that will tell you if your roof can be economically maintained or if you are flushing money down the drain.

Your Roof: Repair vs. Replace

You’ve likely experienced unscheduled capital expenditures due to roofing repairs. Many of these water-infiltration-related repairs can be avoided by developing and following a scheduled maintenance program for the life of a roofing system. Even with stringent adherence to a thorough maintenance program, however, the decision to re-roof an existing roofing system will have to be made at some time within or towards the end of the expected service life of the roof.

Many issues — such as the location, type of system currently in place, cost, construction schedule, occupant requirements, and long- and short-term use of the building — have to be addressed as part of this decision. Although it is possible to identify many of the physical issues that affect roof performance in general terms, the appropriate decision must be addressed on a building-by-building basis.

The first step to be taken, before beginning the decision process, is to estimate the remaining service life of the roof. We derive this estimate from factors that include water infiltration, moisture trapped in the underlying insulation, aggregate movement across the roof, membrane slippage or embrittlement of single-ply membranes.

RAMCON can investigate the existing system and answer these questions for you, as well as comment on any related code or technical issues. We can also eliminate false or misleading assumptions, such as incorrectly attributing water infiltration to the roof system when the water is actually entering the building through alternative sources.

Is it cost efficient to repair my roof?
Repairing an existing roof or replacing sections of a roofing system become difficult to justify if the deterioration leading to the need for a repair is due to long-term exposure to the elements or the advanced age of the roof. Truth is, if deterioration is extensive, the application of a maintenance coating will rarely solve the problem for long.

If the roof is leaking because the existing system is aged, it will be just a matter of time before the entire system will need to be replaced. In those cases, the cost of the temporary solutions may not be justifiable; the money would be better spent recovering or replacing the roof. The best course of action would be to have a RAMCON Service Account Manger inspect your roofing system and determine the viable options.

Stretching Roof Life

One of the most difficult problems facing facility executives is getting the most out of their facility’s roofs. Why all the trouble with roofs? Part of it is due to the environment in which roofs must function. They are exposed to wind, rain, snow, hail, sunshine and birds and other animals. They must withstand temperature swings from well below freezing to over 180 degrees. They serve as a platform for building mechanical systems that can vibrate, inducing stress failures in roofing components, and they must survive foot traffic from maintenance personnel and building occupants.

With the strain that roofs are routinely exposed to, combined with the expense of roof replacement, it is logical to think that roofs would be a focus of attention for facility executives. In some facilities they are, and those executives have found that by following a comprehensive program for managing roof assets, they can lower life-cycle costs for roofs while reducing the frequency of leaks and emergency repairs.

But not all roofs are managed. Less than half of building owners ever file a claim against their roof’s warranty even though most roofs experience some problems during the warranty period. And many of those who do file a claim have it voided because they have not been doing the tasks necessary to maintain the warranty.

The difference between these two groups is how they view the roof. The group of facility executives that are successful in lowering roof costs view the roof as an asset to be managed. The others view the roof as a maintenance expense, focusing on replacing rather than managing.

Roof asset management is a process that begins with a thorough understanding of the installed roofing system. This is best derived from a comprehensive roof inspection. Evaluation of the inspection report along with data from subsequent inspections is used to develop a schedule and budget for major roof repairs and replacements.

The Benefits
One of the most significant benefits of managing roofs as an asset is that doing so will extend the life of the roof. While it will take money to perform the tasks required, asset management programs will result in roofs that typically last 25% to 50% longer. In some cases, they can even double the service life of a roof. The cost of setting up and operating the roof asset management program is typically recovered if the roof life is extended by only one year. Extended service lives beyond that first year will greatly reduce the life-cycle cost of the facility’s roof inventory.

Roof asset management also reduces roof maintenance costs. One of the reasons why maintenance costs for roofs are so high is that they often are performed on an emergency basis. When a leak or other problem with the roof occurs, it typically happens when the weather is less than ideal. Roof maintenance personnel are called in, sometimes on an emergency basis, and temporary repairs are made. Later, when conditions allow, they return and make the permanent repairs. Not only have there been two service calls, but damage to the roof, and possibly the building’s interior, has taken place.

A roof asset management program will not eliminate all emergency repairs, but it will reduce their frequency. And by identifying problems and taking action to correct them before they develop into leaks, the program will reduce damage to the roof and the building.

Another benefit of the program is better allocation of funds for roof repair and replacement. Many roofs are replaced before it is necessary to do so. Recurring leaks, surface deterioration, storm and wind damage combine to make facility executives think that it is necessary to replace a roof when routine maintenance and repair will extend the life of the roof. By implementing an asset management program, facility executives will have the information to determine if relatively minor repairs will correct the problem or if the roof is approaching the end of its life and requires replacement.

Realistic Budgets
Roof asset management programs allow managers to budget for roof replacement on a basis of need, not crisis. Replacement funds are usually used on the roof that is believed to be in the worst condition at the moment, but by establishing the condition of all roofs in all facilities, executives can set priorities based on real — not perceived — needs.

A major complaint from facility executives is that roof warranties are complicated and sometimes misleading. While it is true that it is difficult to process warranty claims with some installers, many denials of warranty claims are a result of the owner failing to conduct inspections and perform routine maintenance tasks required by the warranty.

Staying on Top
Treating roofs as assets will provide financial and performance returns for those willing to make the investment. But roof asset management is not a collect-and-forget system. It is a process. To be effective, keep up with the collecting, assessing and updating of data. The time and effort are well worth it.