ENERGY SAVING FLAT ROOF SOLUTIONS

This manufacturing company in Kaysville, Utah, provides important and unique components nationwide to the recreational vehicle industry. The owner of the building used to own the business itself, but retained the building and land when he sold the company to a very large conglomerate. The building now represents a family legacy, so when it came time to replace the flat roof – an 11 year old leaking EPDM roof – this highly respected, BYU trained engineer already knew he had to change over to a seamless membrane this time around. He never even considered tearing off and replacing the entire roof! After all, it was the seams which had failed and a new “traditional” roof would have just meant more failing seams. He needed something which would withstand blistering sun, freezing winters and 120 MPH winds. Even better, our roof was twice as thick as most other options and he knew that thickness was everything.

The other problem his seamless flat roof would help address – besides being ecologically sound and the ‘right’ thing to do – was his rapidly and steadily increasing A/C utility bill. The reflective covering would actually reduce a/c bills up to 65% ongoing, year after year.  As if that wasn’t enough, it would also cut the strain on the plant’s HVAC equipment by more than half, thereby doubling the remaining life of the air conditioning equipment, which was important to a landlord with an air conditioned flat roof. Essentially, this roof will literally pay for itself in a decade or so in his high desert environment.

The commercial roof also became a renewable one with no worrisome replacement issues in the future. And, finally, for those who intend to maintain their own flat roof as much as possible,this easily repaired flat roof is unlike any other roof when it comes to ease of maintenance and durability when exposed to weather conditions, foot and equipment traffic.

On a separate note about quality;

When this building owner chose to go with 777 Coatings Corporation for his new seamless membrane, he expected a quality product. However, this was back when 777 represented a smaller and, what turned out to be, lower quality manufacturer. For all intents and purposes, they seemed the best of the best, but this was a smoke screen. Their limited arsenal of solutions would come back to bite us on this job.

One needs to understand that most elastomeric manufacturers purchase resins from major chemical companies like BASF and Rohlm Hass.  Those chemical companies generally don’t make roofing products. It is up to the manufacturing company, not the chemical company, to decide HOW MUCH resin they use. Some use more, some less and in our experience, this does change, depending on that days budget. We would never disparage any of these fine chemical companies, but companies like Rohlm Hass do not warrant or guarantee the fitness or quality of the product, because they have no control over manufacturing parameters.  “Name dropping” should be a clear sign that you should stay away! Sherwin Williams is a chemical company many levels higher than the others and they make their own products, with their own name on them and do offer and warrant the fitness and final product. Keep this in mind when dealing with the “me too” contractor at your door.

We bring this up to make two solid points:

First, that questionable manufacturer touted their science, the reputation of the creator of their resins and their formulations as the best in the industry and misstated the quality and durability of the single line of products they offered (lots of different names, same basic formula). They even stated that it could easily handle ponding, was an advanced formulation, used only the “premium” resins and was ideal for this client. Unfortunately, this led to massive failure in thousands of tiny 3” ponds created from the indent of the washers, which hold the roof down. To make problems worse, when the first round of repairs had been made, 777 correctly used the same ‘ISO 9001’ specified product to preserve the factory warranty. Unfortunately, a huge percentage of the repairs again failed. Yet, all repairs and application techniques, right down to the cleaning, had been done per exacting specifications. The lesson here is to work with a manufacturer who will not risk their good will for a quick buck and has specific and decades proven products to fit whatever the job requires. Sherwin Williams is a multi-billion dollar company and not only makes the resins, but makes the final product. Just because a fine chemical company makes a great resin does not automatically infer that the product manufacturer will make a good roof product every time. Resin is only one component with water and “white dirt” making up the greatest majority of the content. Further, 777 learned the hard way that Acrylic is VERY viable in certain instances, but a pending disaster in others.

Reputation Matters

Second, 777 took care of their client, investing hundreds and hundreds of man hours and tens of thousands in product to fully waterproof this flat roofing system.  All during a terrible recession! What did 777 use?  After the second unfortunate product failure (to preserve the warranty), 777 used silicone and this was the only product that worked. Not only did it work, it worked wonders and this hybrid system is now good for much longer that the original projected life of any acrylic roof alone. The lesson here is that time in business, size and place does matter. 777 ran into a problem that may have bankrupted 95% of the roofing companies in the inter-mountain west, IF they even tried.  777 mastered the problem and marshaled the resources to deliver what they contracted for. In this case, far exceeding the original specs and using the courts to rectify the situation on behalf of the building owner.

We are proud of our reputation, even with the mistakes of our past and we have learned volumes in the many years and millions of feet of roofing that we have provided. We look forward to providing two more roofs for this client.

777 roofing excels at: Flat roofs, commercial roofs.  Resurfacing metal roofs, TPO roofs, Hypalon roofs, cap sheet roofs, tar roofs, EPDM roofs (rubber roofs), PVC roofs.  We also offer absolute top brand membranes such as the IB Systems PVC roofing.  777 Coatings Corporation, AKA 777 roofing, an expert roofer, supporting cool roofs for decades, 777 roofs is your best roofing choice for any flat roof surface on any commercial building.

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