Long-term roof protection: Maximize roof life. Delay replacement

from Ops Talk Magazine Fall 2019

First electric school bus envisioned: Feasibility study lays out issues and economics

Roofs take a beating and work hard to protect the buildings they cover. Every fall and winter, there are stories of roofs collapsing because of the weight of the water. The question is; what can you do now to help protect your roof assets during the year?

Small roofing problems like leaks and debris can snowball into large, expensive issues. Fortunately, you can reduce the possibility of that happening with a roof maintenance program that helps prevent premature deterioration and keeps your roofing assets in top working order. The roofs protecting the schools of B.C. can be valued at eight to 10 per cent of the building value. With land value and construction costs continually on the rise, the value of the roof continues to climb. Trained roofing technicians performing regularly scheduled inspections, housekeeping and maintenance, ensures that problems are uncovered and corrected early to prevent costly emergency repairs. Keeping your roof in good shape can help lower your total roofing costs by significantly extending the roof’s service life. Available for any kind of roofing system, roof maintenance programs are carefully prepared and customized to suit your building and budget.

Several areas in British Columbia experience significant rainfall greater than the North American average. Ponding water on roofs is one of the biggest factors in premature roof failures. The number-one cause of ponding water is clogged roof drains; most roofs are designed well enough to drain, but only if the drains are clear enough to allow for that drainage.

Water weight on a roof can be significant. A small roof area, such as the roof of a stairwell, can be approximately 500 square feet, and when left unchecked, a clogged drain can cause a three-inch deep pond of water on that roof. That water equals approximately 7,800 pounds of additional weight on the roof.

Many roofing contractors offer service and maintenance programs. Look at a comprehensive plan that will help protect your roof assets year-round. The service should include 24/7 customer service with crews on stand-by to deal with severe storms. It is also important to ask your roof maintenance provider to document the maintenance and to offer post-storm evaluation of the roof to ensure there was no damage. The roof maintenance report should detail current condition, maintenance performed, recommended repairs to extend the life of the roof that fall outside of the scope of work of roof maintenance, and recommendation on how to extend the life of the roof to its full extent. These recommendations could include reinforcing drain areas, reinforcing perimeter flashing, and conducting roof diagnostics to determine if there is any underlying roof damage that is unseen on the roof surface.

If the roof maintenance service is a function of the school district staff then the individuals completing the maintenance program should be trained by roofing professionals. This can be accomplished in many forms; it’s best to contact your current roofing partner to determine the best way to accomplish this. The training should include the following: • Set up roof safety • Walk the perimeter first • Inspect all of the roof projections • Clearing drains and gutters • Caulking metal counter flashing as sealant breaks down • Making small repairs to the existing roof assembly (cold process repairs require no fire watch, basic hand tools and a couple of hours of training from a professional) • What repair materials work best in certain situations • When to call a professional • How to document maintenance and repairs

Preventative roof maintenance is the single best way to extend the life of your current roof inventory. All of the roofs in your inventory are valuable roof assets, and like all assets, the best way to get the most out of them is to maintain them. Unfortunately, most roofs are out of sight and out of mind until something happens. Implementing a roof maintenance program is long-term roof protection. This protection will maximize the roof life and delay replacement. n

When your old electronics stop working…we start.

Recycling your old electronics keeps metals, plastics, and other valuable resources out of land lls, and puts them back into the manufacturing supply chain. It also prevents e-waste from being illegally exported or handled by irresponsible recyclers.

Always bring your old, unwanted, or unusable electronics to our authorized drop-off locations to ensure that your end-of-life electronics are being recycled in a safe, responsible, and environmentally sound manner.

The Electronics Products Recycling Association (EPRA) of BC is a not-for pro t, industry-led organization designed to manage end-of-life electronic products that have exhausted their potential for re-use by donation to friends, family, or authorized re-use organizations.