Hypalon is more Hype than anything. They promoted it saying Zodiac boats are Hypalon, so it’s waterproof… Right? First things first, it’s a chemical, not a roof, nor a boat. DuPont does not make a roof (or a boat) and failed Hypalon roofs are an everyday occurrence. There are hundreds of millions of feet of this short term roofing. The good news is that Hypalon flat roofs are really great to restore and resurface. The problem is never with the mechanical or structural components, it’s with the waterproof part. This roof surface simply wears away, like with all roofing and we typically suggest a perfect resurfacing, such as the prized silicone roof.
777 roofs can easily make a Hypalon flat roof waterproof. A 10 year old, failing Hypalon roof with a seamless application of silicone is simply one of the finest roofs available. The base, or scrim is fine, the screws are fine. Why would you replace it, when you can resurface it? That’s like replacing drywall when you want to paint your living room.
“Hypalon is a trademark for chlorosulfonatedpolyethylene(CSPE) synthetic rubber(CSM) noted for its resistance to chemicals, temperature extremes, and ultraviolet light.” ….DuPont Performance Elastomers announced on May 7, 2009, that it intended to close its manufacturing plant in Beaumont, Texas, by June 30, 2009. This was DPE’s sole plant for CSM materials. The company was therefore exiting the business for Hypalon and its related product, Acsium.[3]The plant closure was delayed until April 20, 2010, in response to customer requests.”
Along with PVC, CSM is one of the most common materials used to make inflatable boats and folding kayaks. It is also used in roofing materials.
The issue is the same for any number of manufacturers and products. Hypalon is a chemical and DuPont sells this to any number of people to use on any number of products, but they don’t make the end product, so a company like JP Stevens uses their extensive knowledge of cloth production and creates a “Hypalon” roof by pouring this chemical onto the cloth they made, but how much Hypalon is there and what else is in there?
The bottom line is simple. Sure, they make inflatable boats from this base material, but they don’t make the roofs as good as the boats and the boats are often inside or junked after 10 to 15 years. Someone fell for this simpleton lie. It’s not a boat, but the boat they are talking about is thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars for a few square yards of material. Your roof is a hundred bucks for the same yardage. If a salesman used this analogy, you needed to pick a new salesman, but now you are stuck with a failing roof. Let’s get past this and move on to fixing this flat roof.
Got warranty?.. Sure you do, if that makes you feel better. Unfortunately, the paper it is written on doesn’t hold water either. Warranties and insurance policies are not what they used to be. Expect double talk, blaming workmanship, denial, bankruptcy and obfuscation. You will never get new work out of your warranty.
So, you have a chemical that says DuPont, but it’s not made by DuPont, which is sold to a company who made towels, but then made roofs from Hypalon or KEE or whatever and a bunch of unnamed fillers and you might even recognize the company name, like JP Stevens, and they might even have their name on it, but they don’t really make it (subsidiary, name in contract only), some other corporation in perpetual bankruptcy makes it and the profits are placed in retirement funds and that is what a warranty means today.
It matters not anyway. Your warranty is void at the seams and that’s not the manufacturers fault (they say), it’s the installers (they say), so the fact that Hypalon roofs, PVC roofs, TPO roofs and EPDM roofs leak water right through the mat makes no difference.
This taken fromZen & the Art of Facility Assessments Live due diligently!
What you don’t want to find on the building…
“We have seen more and more fairly subtle but important deficiencies with the following roof types:
1.Ethylene Propylene (EP) and Hypalon Roof Systems
2.PVC Blend membranes manufactured by Duralast.
3.Thermoplastic Polyolefin (TPO) and PVC membrane roofs
Finally, a word about coatings; In the event you are offered an acrylic on a flat roof or aluminized coating to address your leaking tar roof, call 777 Coatings Corporation, because we won’t screw you over with an aluminized roof coating or acrylic roof.
This is what we do and we have done this in your area longer and with utter success. Trained by an expert and disseminated throughout 777’s ranks, we know and understand this field like no other. After having seen so much waste in the roofing industry, it is a shame to see a great innovation squandered by people whose work simply ruins the industry for us all.
777 roofs does flat roofs, commercial roofs, metal roofs, TPO roofs, Hypalon roofs, cap sheet roofs, tar roofs, EPDM roofs (rubber roofs). We also provide the absolute best PVC roofs, such as the IB Systems PVC roofing by 777 Coatings Corporation, AKA 777 roofing. As an expert multifaceted roofer, 777 roofs is your best roofing choice on any flat roof surface.