Preparation is Key

As of June 1st, hurricane season is officially here. Is your roof prepared?

Are all of your flashings properly sealed?
Are your drains and gutters free of debris? Do they quickly remove water from the roofing system?
Are there any voids, open seams or penetrations that will allow water under the membrane?
Is every piece of rooftop equipment properly secured to the roof?
Are the perimeters of your roof properly fastened for wind uplift?

They may seem like unimportant questions, but hurricane (or even tropical storm) force winds, can cause major damage if your roofing system is not properly prepared.

The Most Improperly Maintained Exterior Building Component

The number one, improperly maintained, exterior building component on a building is the gutter system. In particular, the most common problem with gutter systems is leaking splices. As can be clearly seen in photo #1, the gutter leak (which is at a splice between two adjacent sections of gutter) has stained the wall. You will notice toward the bottom that the paint is completely gone from the wall. Paint is not designed to be constantly wet and when that happens it fails more quickly. Failure to do a repair costing a few hundred dollars to the splices will create the need to repaint the walls prematurely for thousands of dollars (as well as still having to repair the gutter splices.) Gutter splices leak for two reasons. First, they are improperly sealed. Second reason is because the gutter moves excessively. Here, we’ll talk about the sealant issue.

Photo #2 shows a typical gutter splice where sealant was applied between the adjacent pieces as the gutter was installed. This just doesn’t hold up. It’s important to seal a splice over top of the entire splice, utilizing a sealant specifically designed to be used in a gutter where there is often prolonged periods of standing water and movement. So, as the gutter moves, the splice can flex with it.This is the right way to seal a gutter and is much cheaper to do in the long run.

The Roof Leak....It's Actually Coming From The Walls

Tropical Storm Debby brought to attention an issue that many property managers and owners appear to have forgotten…walls can leak! Let’s face it, many of us lack of sufficient understanding about how improper paint maintenance can cost a lot of money and even create leaks in your building. So the team at RAMCON decided to do some research and demonstrate through real work examples that sometimes a leak, although appear to be coming from the roof, may actually be coming through the wall!

The front of this shopping center (below) had continual leaks at the front wall. It was assumed that the roofs on either side of the wall were causing the leaks. (There is a second roof, out of view, at the top of the wall on the backside.) A visual inspection of the wall showed only a few minor cracks here and there, but not enough to account for the leaks. Therefore, RAMCON technicians started to water test the walls and the flashing points where the roofs terminated on the walls. We quickly discovered the problem. The paint had been improperly applied and had not bonded to the concrete. Water was passing through the paint and then sliding down into the building. Once the wall was cleaned, sealed, primed properly and then painted the leaks stopped entirely.

So, improper painting can create a waterproofing problem. There are other ways that improper painting can create un-needed expenses. The staining on the side wall of this shopping center will necessitate the repainting of the wall.

Field painted, galvanized copings will rust and if the tops are not properly treated the rust will roll over and stain the side of the building. We have even seen painters repaint stained walls and still not paint the tops of the rusted copings. It is not standard practice for painters to paint the horizontal surfaces on copings (or the outside lips of gutters). You must specifically require it or it will not normally be done. Failure to do so is almost always a mistake.