Are you asking yourself if you should repair or replace your building’s roof?
This is a question many building owners struggle with. The answer varies depending on each situation. Understanding the type of roof assembly and the existing condition of your roof is important to make a good decision.
Understanding Your Roof Assembly
There are many components of your roof assembly. Three critical components include the roof membrane, insulation and structural deck. Understanding the types, current condition of your roof membrane and the environmental conditions it is exposed to is important. Environmental conditions such as emissions on your roof, roof-top traffic, slope, and drainage all determine the expected life of your roof. The climate, building use and applicable codes will largely influence the type and amount of insulation. To determine the optimal amount of insulation for your roof, an energy study should be completed. Your type of roof deck will determine your options regarding how both the insulation and roof membrane will be attached to your building.
Understanding the Condition of Your Roof
A thorough inspection of your roof should include a detailed condition report with photographs. The condition report should identify the roof assembly to include the type of deck, type and amounts of insulation, how the insulation is secured to the deck, the type and condition of the waterproofing membrane, how the roofing membrane is attached, the condition of roofing flashings, and other detail work to include how the roof drains. In addition to a condition report, perform supplemental tests such as an infrared or nuclear thermal scan to determine moisture levels of the insulation. A comprehensive understanding of the condition of your roof and its expected remaining life is critical to making a good repair versus replace decision. The condition report should be objective and not subjective in nature and based upon facts.
Understand Your Risk vs. Reward
Roof repairs extend the life of the roofing asset. Repairs are typically lower-cost and shorter-term operation expense options. A new roof is typically a more significant investment and a capital budget expense.
It is important to understand the right time to replace your roof. Risks in waiting too long include wet insulation making it unusable with a new roof, compromised decking due to excessive moisture, and persistent leaks. All these risks contribute to unsafe conditions and added costs to roof replacement. The risks in replacing too early is a premature capital expense. Weighting the risk versus reward and the timing will help you in making your final decision.
Here are some questions that will help you make the final decision to repair or replace your roof:
- What is the remaining service life of the roof?
- Am I looking for a long-term or short-term solution?
- What is my capital and operating budget for roofing?
- Is the roof membrane functioning or failing?
- How are the existing roof leaks affecting my business?
- What is my tolerance for leaks?
- Do I have a clear understanding of the risk associated with additional moisture entering into the building envelope?
- How are current leaks affecting the roof insulation?
- Is there a clear understanding of the unit cost associated with the removal and replacement of moisture damaged insulation?
- Have existing roof leaks caused the roof deck to be compromised in any way?
- Is there a clear understanding of the unit cost associated with the removal and replacement of moisture damaged deck?
- What is my time frame for a new roof?
- Will lower maintenance costs offset the costs for current maintenance and repairs?
- Am I working with a reliable, reputable, financially strong roofing contractor?
Along with all of these items, it is important to hire a roofing contractor that has dedicated crews for both repair and replacement. This will ensure you are getting the best craftsmanship for your project.
Collecting all this information is important to make the best decision for your building and business.
Do You Know The Condition of Your Roof?
Knowing the condition of your roof can extend its life.
The goal for your long-term investment is to get a good return and keep your building watertight. When there are problems with your roof, those issues cannot be ignored.
Weather, chemical pollutants, rooftop traffic and moisture are all factors affecting the overall condition of your roof.
With CentiMark’s Roof Evaluation Services, we can tailor a program to increase your ROI (Return on Investment) and help you get maximum value from your roofing dollars.
Roof Proposal - free roof condition report, photographs, suggested scope of work, construction details and pricing.
Asset Alert Program - evaluation of roof conditions that identify the expected life of the roof. The scope of work includes preventative maintenance, roof repairs or roof replacement and pricing.
Asset Management Program - comprehensive analysis of your roof by sections resulting in a Roof Life Index (RLI). Scope of work and pricing provided. The cost for this service ranges from .01 to .05 cents per square foot per visit (on average).
Understanding the condition of your roof will help you make the best repair or re-roofing decisions. Whether you are looking to prepare future budgets or get your project finished before the end of the year, our roof inspection and evaluation services can help you identify solutions for your roofing needs.
Floor Care & Maintenance
At QuestMark, a division of CentiMark, we find solutions for your flooring care and maintenance needs. We offer customized maintenance programs from our full service maintenance division to protect your investment. Additionally, we offer training and hands-on maintenance support for in-house teams on equipment, processes and products specific to your floor.
QuestMark's Steps to Floor Care & Maintenance:
- Conduct a floor inspection to look for problems, solutions and safety evaluations.
- Repair holes, cracks, spalled concrete, lippage, safety hazards, unfilled joints, exposed concrete, failed overlayments and delaminated coatings.
- For your public areas, we look for aesthetic issues on the floor like stains and dullness.
- For your private areas and warehouses, we look for dirt, dust, contaminates such as oil, water, grease and acids.
- Our safety floor inspections can help identify and correct safety hazards within your facility. QuestMark also offers a variety of safety solutions to enhance the traction of an existing floor, safety striping options, area demarcation, trip hazard reduction solutions, ramping installation, and other enhancements that can be applied indoors and outdoors.
- We offer Do-It-Yourself (DIY) products which are available online at Shop.QuestMarkFlooring.com. These products are Made in America and include; patch and repair kits, maintenance products as well as tools and accessories. All of our products will help you maintain and keep your floors looking great.
- Document your flooring work and repairs with our online proprietary database: MyQuestMark.com
- Staying on top of your floor care and maintenance will help increase the life-cycle of your floors. Start with an inspection or demo to determine what your needs are and which products are best for your floors. Also, remember the best time to scheduling flooring work is during plant shutdowns over the summer and holidays.
Roof Care & Maintenance
When you take good care of your roof, you are making an investment in your building.
Roof leaks can lead to structural damage and can damage the products and materials inside your building. While certain damage may be visible at the roof surface, the untrained eye will not discover some damage (such as hail damage or moisture in the insulation layers).
Work with CentiMark to set up a Preventative Maintenance and Housekeeping inspection to help extend the life of your roof. A Preventative Maintenance/Housekeeping Plan costs between .01 to .03 cents per square foot per visit (on average). CentiMark uses a 50 Point Checklist for our comprehensive roof inspections.
For every dollar spent on Preventative Maintenance, it is estimated that five dollars is saved through reduced emergency repairs, decreased building interior damage and increased roof life expectancy. The life of a roof without a Preventative Maintenance Program is estimated to have a service life of 12 years, drastically reduced from its intended service life of 20 years.
Roof Reminder Checklist:
- Review the terms of your warranty as preventative maintenance is often a requirement of most roof warranties.
- Schedule an annual inspection to prepare your roof for winter - remove debris like leaves, sticks or litter. Fix potential problems that could lead to a roof leak. Consider practical, cost-effective rooftop tools to help minimize problems from snow and ice melts such as snow guards, heat tape and safety flags on skylights.
- Schedule an annual inspection to prepare your roof for spring rains and summer heat or drought. See what damage was done to your roof from snow, ice, wind, rain, hail and freeze/thaw.
- Schedule an inspection after a major weather event - hailstorm, heavy rains or sizeable snowfall.
- Download the CentiMark Mobile App on your mobile devices to quickly and efficiently request service on your roof for leaks or other problems.
- For white TPO or black EPDM roof membranes, schedule a roof cleaning in the spring and fall to remove dirt, grime, algae and mold.
