Join RAMCON at the 2012 Florida Building and Facility Maintenance Show

April 25th - 26th: 2012
Booth #609

Stop by and see us at the 2012 Florida Building and Facility Maintenance show at the Florida State Fairgrounds this month. This is an excellent opportunity to meet members of the RAMCON team and put a face with a name. Doors open at 10:00 am and close at 3:00 pm.

There are also numerous free educational sessions focusing specifically around building maintenance and operation throughout the day. For more information, visit www.fb-fm.com. For a VIP ticket getting you free access, courtesy of RAMCON, simply call one of our Customer Service Representatives at 877-726-2661.

“Your” Problem Case Study

Our “Case Study” reports are designed to illustrate various ways we have helped clients so that you can discover ways to utilize what we do to your benefit. All names have been changed to protect confidentiality, but this case study is different because it is about you. You have this problem.

“YOUR” Problem

We, of course, have not verified (well, at least not yet!) that you have had this problem on one of your buildings, but we see this problem so much that the odds are overwhelming that you have it or you will.

Do you see the problem?

The arrows certainly are a big clue. The white arrow points to original sealant, the gray to another layer and the black points to a second repair. So, we have a leaking termination bar, don’t we? NO! We do not. This owner is wasting money, because they kept sending another roofer out to fix this problem. The problem here is the masonry. The wall leaks. The second photograph, below, is actually the other side of the same wall. As you can see, there is visible evidence of water damage on the wall. (This is often not the case.)

This problem is a reflection of poor management practice and improper training. While we understand sometimes it takes more than one attempt to solve a complicated leak on some roofs, the roofs on both sides of this wall are fully exposed single ply roofs. It doesn’t get any easier to find a leak than on these.

Anytime you have an ongoing leak that leaks more than twice you assume that the problem is not the roof and begin to ask what else might be leaking. It could be masonry, it could be copings, it could be windows, it could be many other things, which our technicians at RAMCON are trained to identify.

One of our greatest goals with our clients is to help them save money. This is generally very easy to do. This particular property was a shopping center. We train our technicians on how to identify if the leak is roof related or not,and then we directly contact you if we discover otherwise. Instead of spending $500-800 dollars fixing something that wasn’t leaking, you can dispatch a window contractor to fix the window leak, etc.

We can do the same for you. Give us a call next time you have a complicated leak at (813) 663-9667.

HVAC Roof Leaks

Most roofs have some sort of roof mounted HVAC equipment, frequently mounted on curbs. Roof mounted HVAC units contribute to leaks if not properly maintained. The two most common problems with HVAC units are improperly piped condensate drains and outright leakage of the units. Improper handling of the condensate can also shorten the life of the roof.

HVAC units typically have a “wet” side and a “dry” side. The wet side is exposed to the sky and readily allows rain water to enter. It is designed to conduct this water out of the unit without leaking into the building. The dry side, on the other hand, is not designed to be wet and if water does enter it can and will get down into the building. Wet sides, however, sometimes do leak into the building and dry sides often get wet (especially when their access doors are not properly secured and come loose.)

When there are repeatedly roof leaks in the vicinity of an HVAC, it’s time to think it’s likely not the roof. RAMCON technicians are trained to differentiate between roof leaks and HVAC leaks and will assist you in identification.

Most curb mounted HVAC units dump their condensation through a pipe on the side of the unit. These outlets require a “P-trap” to be installed to ensure proper operation of the drain. Without a trap it is possible that the condensate drain will not function and the condensate pan will overflow into the building below causing what appears to be a “roof leak”. Often this drain problem is not constant, so the unit drains properly sometimes and sometimes it does not. This makes it difficult to isolate the source of the problem and identify the true source of the perceived “roof leak”.

Once condensate gets out of the unit it is either dumped directly onto the roof or conducted away in piping. At RAMCON, we strongly recommend that it be piped to the roof drainage areas, as we consistently see roof deterioration from the corrosive fluids of the HVAC units. This is especially true of built-up roofing systems, as the consistent presence of these corrosive fluids on the granulated cap sheets and aluminized smooth surfaced roofs accelerates the deterioration of the protective surface and significantly shortens the life of the roof.

See the photograph above. The “staining” shown by the arrow is actually a thinning of the granules because the roof has been continuously wet over prolonged periods of time. The water coming out of the P-trap should be piped all the way to the drain. This roof now needs restorative repairs which would otherwise not be required had the condensate been handled properly. With gravel surfaced roofs condensate handling is less of a problem, however, the gravel tends to hold the condensate and become a breeding ground for plant growth which can harm the roof. These conditions are a major factor here in Florida, where AC units run almost continuously.

RAMCON can assist you in installing these condensation lines and making sure they are secured to the roof properly.

Should You Remove the Old Roof?

If it has been decided that it is time to replace an existing roof, one of the most important issues you must address is whether or not to remove the existing roof. When you install a new roof over an existing one you can certainly save money because you do not have to pay to remove the old roof. In fact, the cost to remove it can be substantial. Owners are justifiably eager to save the money if they can.

It’s All About Moisture
Generally, the reason you replace a roof is because it has been leaking (which may seem obvious, but it isn’t always the reason). When a roof leaks, not all the water that actually goes through the top surface of the roof comes out on the inside of the building. Some gets trapped within the roof assembly. The amount that is trapped can vary. We have seen entire roof areas full of water and no water leaking inside a building at all and we have seen roofs leak and leak and leak without leaving a trace of water behind in the roof or insulation. Assuming there is trapped water, is it a problem? It can be and it often is.

If water gets trapped in the roof’s insulation layer, there are several problems that can occur. First, the insulation will normally lose insulating properties and you will certainly waste energy. Secondly, the insulation will tend to hold the water against the roof deck and, if it is metal, can cause it to rust. If unchecked the deck can rust away under a roof and create an unsafe condition and/or cause a new roof to fail prematurely. Also, trapped water can migrate from the original roof up into the new roof system, damaging it from below.

Finally, even if the deck does not rust, fasteners that hold either the insulation or roof in place are also susceptible to rusting because many of the insulation products used in roofs release mild acids when they get wet. If the fasteners rust off and become loose, they can puncture a roof from the bottom side or make it more susceptible to wind damage which is not good. Florida Building Code requires us to remove existing wet material, but it is imperative that you make a determination about the presence and extent of trapped moisture because it can have a huge impact on the installed cost of a new roof. If you have a failure on a warrantied roof and the manufacturer determines that the roof failed because the original roof was wet, your warranty will likely not be worth the paper it’s written on.

Core sampling the existing roof can often help identify wet areas, but it is not always a sufficiently accurate method for determining moisture content either. Often Thermal Infrared scanning is done and this can be a highly accurate method if the existing conditions allow for our thermal cameras. At RAMCON, we do both for you at our expense!

Other Factors
You may also decide to remove the existing roof because of structural concerns about adding additional weight or because the existing roof does not provide a suitable substrate for the new type of roof you have selected.

If the building has been previously reroofed, which is common on older buildings, often there are already two roofs in place. If this is the case, Florida Building Code requires that you remove the systems down to the deck. Plus, if two roofs are already in place all of the issues previously mentioned concerning weight, energy efficiency, and trapped moisture apply double.