There are times when you own home or building with metal roofing system. You might be the one responsible for managing an industrial or commercial property that has standing seam metallic roof system. These metallic versions of roof systems are here to represent significant portion of the roofing systems in most parts of the world. So, there are high chances that you might come across a metallic roof on building that you are responsible.
If you are the one responsible for the metallic roof system, then you have to deal with the metal roof leaks as well. The details making up the metal roof are unique to such systems, so the results are unique at the same time. These metallic versions of the roof systems are on wider variety of buildings. They are mostly installed on the residential applications, which are always on the steep slopes. They are widely installed on industrial or commercial buildings. These buildings are here to utilize the metallic roof systems, which are both structural roof deck and the waterproofing systems. If you ever need help of the Saint Louis roof repair, make sure to catch up with the pros ASAP.
Have you ever experienced metallic roof leaks?
In case you have, you are not the only one facing such issues. Metallic roof systems are always prone to some massive leaking conditions in some areas if not maintained from time to time. Not just leaking, but there are so many metallic roof issues you might have to deal with in the course of the roof’s life.
- You can face some issues with the open seams and even open penetration flashings.
- Then you might face other issues like metal roof oxidation, fastener back out and even open ridge or the headwall flashing.
- You might even have to call pros for metallic roof issues like improper installations of the roof, loose counter flashing or even damaged panel.
Before you even jump right into the areas where metallic roof leaks might develop, it is vital to learn about the major design characteristics of the roof system first.
Architectural versus structural metallic roofs:
Metallic roof systems are well installed as the architectural metal roof based assembly or it can be a structural one. The main difference between the two is always the use of the said structural roof deck.
- Architectural metallic roof system is mostly installed over a separate structural form of roof deck. These systems are widely found on some of the reliable residential applications. They can even be found in commercial sectors like shopping centers where there will be separate deck that supports roofing panels. The main characteristic is that the metallic system design is a separate form of structural deck that will support metallic panels.
- Then you have the structural metal roof, which uses metallic roof panels for structural deck for roof and also as waterproofing system. These metallic versions of the roof systems are found on the pre-engineered metal structures. These products are installed with the help of clips, attaching the panels to horizontal purlins for building. There is always a batten insulation, which will be laid right across purlins before these metallic panels are properly installed.
Learning more about the hydrokinetic design versus hydrostatic ones:
A separate form of design characteristic associated with metallic roof system got to be the slope. These metallic roof systems are properly installed in a steep version of the slope or on a lower slope application. Forgetting to just consider the slope can prove to be a major problem source for the metallic roof systems. It is always vital for you to consider the slope of roof while installing, designing and further maintaining the metallic roof systems. It helps in defining the lower sloped roof as any roof with slope, lesser than the 3:12. All the other roofing systems are mainly considered as steep sloped.
- The hydrostatic based metal roof systems are widely designed for holding water until it can be drained properly. These systems are mostly capable of just holding water without any form of roof leaking. Typically stating, these metallic roofs are found on some of the larger scale pre-engineered based metallic buildings. There are some of the larger scale structures available and rather costly to design with steep version of the sloped roof assembly. The additional metallic roof system under hydrostatic can be made available on residential areas. Copper and tin metal roofs are well installed with the help of soldered flat seams in this section.
- After that, you have the hydrokinetic metallic roof assemblies. These products are well designed just for shedding water. These systems are well designed for the steeper slope applications, as found on the commercial and residential applications where water fails to remain on the roof system. In case the water is retained on the roof system, it helps in creating that hydrostatic pressure. This pressure, on the other hand, will force the water into details and create metallic based roof leaks.
It is always better to check out the designs and the structures noted for the metallic designed roofs now before you can handle the leaks and some of the other problems involved. This way you can actually get hold of the right structure and stages well.
Metallic based roof leaks:
Any form of mistake in design or installation of the metal roof can be the sources of some major issues in near future. Typically the problematic areas are not associated with the system selection. Most of these problems causing metallic roof leaks are well related to details as used for finishing the roof systems. These mistakes are not evident immediately after the installation. They always take some time to develop.
Some of the frequent problems as encountered during metallic roof condition assessment are opening in horizontal seams, openings in the penetration flashing, metallic roof oxidation, and fasteners backing out and even open ridge or the headwall flashing. So, make sure to catch up with pros if you ever face any of these difficulties.
