With its torrential downpours and freeze-thaw potential, this is the season when any integrity issues with a roof become painfully obvious. It’s also the season when repairs to address such issues become most challenging. In an ideal world, such integrity issues can be avoided with skilled installation, but joined-up roof specification also has a role to play in ensuring the right combination of products is selected for every area of the roof. In what follows, we discuss the importance of a joined-up approach to specification for roof refurbishment projects.
Roof Specification Requires Expertise
Even on straightforward projects where a flat, single level roof has a consistent, even surface and no complex detailing, choosing a roof build-up that achieves the right balance of performance, price and service life requires expertise. But often there are more technical challenges than that. Alongside design factors, roof build-up and location, vital specification considerations in the refurbishment sector also include the condition of the roof and the building structure and any planned modifications to the building.
Avoiding Roof Warranty Issues
It’s a complex and demanding picture and any inconsistencies, in either the specification or the installation, could not only result in reduced performance, but could also jeopardise the roof warranty, which can be costly for both the client and the contractor. To ensure that the specification responds to the requirements of the individual roof, it pays to work with a roofing systems manufacturer that offers a full portfolio of waterproofing technologies, backed by technical support throughout the project, from condition survey through to issuing the warranty.
The Right Waterproofing System
The first consideration for any roof refurbishment project is the most suitable waterproofing system for each area of the roof. While buildability and installation considerations are factors here, there is much more to assess on a technical, practical and commercial level. Budget should not always be the first priority, and price must be weighed against performance and buildability criteria to develop a best-fit specification for the project parameters. In many cases, particularly if the building is being refurbished for a new occupier or a specific point in the calendar – such as the start of term for a school, for example – speed and ease of installation are also primary considerations.
Building Characteristics
The physical characteristics of the building are also critical factors. In addition to understanding what repairs need to be carried out to the existing roof, the specification must consider compatibility of the new waterproofing system with the existing surface and the load capacity of both the roof build-up and the structure of the building. Calculating the best fit solution in terms of buildability and performance, along with the most attractive full build-up cost, can be a technically complex process, particularly if there are different roof areas with existing coverings that vary in technology, age and condition.
‘Like For Like’ Roof Specification?
For many refurbishment projects, there is also a tendency to prioritise a ‘like for like’ roof specification. While this may aid compatibility for an overlay installation, it may also overlook an opportunity to upgrade the roof to a more appropriate system. Roofing system technologies are improving all the time, so, even if the same technology is used, there may be an opportunity to upgrade to improve performance and/or ease of installation. SOPREMA helps clients maximise any opportunity to upgrade the roof to improve performance and/or ease of installation and carries out adhesion tests to ensure the finished installation is robust.
A Joined-Up Approach with SOPREMA
Whether a roof refurbishment is a straightforward single-system project or requires multiple systems on different roof areas and added complexities such as inverted roofs, insulation upgrades or green roofs, working with a single supplier for all elements can bring huge benefits to the client, contractor, architect and the project in general. When the specification is written, SOPREMA can take a joined-up approach to considering all the factors outlined above, providing expert advice on the best approach for the building and the performance criteria within the budget.
Where the roof refurbishment is more complex, requiring the use of more than one technology, this single-source supply approach not only rationalises procurement but also ensures that technical support is consistent and focused on maximising the performance for each system and for the project as a whole. A single manufacturer for all roofing systems can provide technical support on details for the interface between different systems , helping to avoid the risk factors associated with the most vulnerable areas of multi-system roofs.
Single-Point Roof Warranty
When all materials are brought together from a single manufacturer in a systems approach, both the specification and warranty are co-ordinated to help the project achieve its goal. If you would like to find out more about SOPREMA’s one-stop-shop solutions for waterproofing roofs, feel free to contact our experts.