Seasoned commercial building owners know the importance of regular roofing maintenance to further extend the life of your roof, and to better protect the building from water damage. Roofing materials, although resilient and durable, succumb to the intensity of the sun’s UV rays with the environmental conditions, and further degrade the roof over time. It becomes best to be proactive and take measures to ensure no loss in roof value. For this blog post, we will discuss the considerations and thought process regarding the current state of your roof, and whether a roof coating or a full roof replacement is the best decision for your building.
Schedule A Roofing Inspection First
Prior to making this decision, a roofing inspection from a licensed roofing expert should be conducted to determine the current standing. Typically core samples are harvested from the roof from suspected areas, and evaluated for water leaks. If there are signs of extensive water-damaged underneath and throughout, then a full roof replacement is recommended as the integrity of the roofing structure is questioned. There are many benefits of a new roof, such as added value, and newer durable materials are typically used. Also, depending on the interior operations of the building, it may be advisable to schedule the work to be done outside working hours without building inhabitants, as the work is relatively noisy, and can create airborne debris.
The Utility Savings and Cooler Building Temperatures
Now if the roof be in sound condition, then a roof coating is the economical and sensible option. And better yet, a reflective roof coating will reflect the solar UV and heat which will both slow the degradation of the roof and reflect much of the latent heat which would typically be absorbed by your roof and building.This dramatically cuts the utility cost during summer months typically used to run HVAC systems to keep the interior building space at comfortable temperatures. At the height of summer as temperatures soar, black-colored surfaces can reach temperatures that can burn human skin, while white reflective coating (501 Elastobrite, 502 Elastokote, or 670HS Karna-Sil Ultra) can reduce those temperatures significantly.
A More Sustainable Option
Additionally, it is worth mentioning that a roof coating does not disrupt the continual operations of the building itself. Since the roof coating involves less material, a smaller crew of contractors, the roof coating job is relatively lighter weight in comparison to a full roof replacement which involves the labor-intensive roofing tear off and subsequent installation of new roof membrane. Further, are the sustainable implications of selecting a roof coating system. This option would prevent the discarded roofing material from becoming landfill waste, or prevent the additional energy required to fully breakdown and recycle the residual bulk material. As for the roof coating, Karnak offers low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) options, to even further reduce the carbon footprint of selecting a roof coating.
Should you have any additional discussion items, please feel free to call your Regional Sales Manager or the Technical Services Department at Karnak Corporation, and further discuss a suitable roof coating systems for your building.
