Update – Dec. 12, 2010 – recently we’ve uploaded a gallery of many metal and flat roofs that we’ve installed in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island – see the roofing jobs gallery. All roofs mentioned below are listed on the roof gallery page, with references to job profiles, and before / after pictures.

Roofing in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is our home state, and we install majority of our roofs here (with Connecticut being in second place). In Massachusetts, the roofing market is very different, depending on location, and although there are a lot more sloped roofs, not only in Mass., but in the rest of the country, we still install more Flat roofs than Metal roofs. As for the geographic location of your home in Massachusetts, up north, toward the New Hampshire border, roofs are more prone to Ice Dam roof leaks and damages than houses located in the southern MA.

Although Massachusetts is not a very big state, your location can have a dramatic effect on the amount of snow fall in the winter, and thus your chances of having Ice dams and related roof leaks. For example, on the same day, an average roof in Sharon or Norwood will have 1-2 inches of ice along the eaves, whereas an average roof in Lowell will have 5+ inches of ice build-up. If you go further north or south away from Boston the amount of annual snow accumulation and ice dams will increase or decrease respectively. Read the rest of this entry »

Foreword: If you are a building inspector / official, please try to understand that this rant is from a contractors point of view… Or at least try to be objective and unbiased.

Pros and cons of building permits:

Why do we need building inspectors (and do we really need them)? Well, they are supposed to inspect – right? They are there to protect homeowners from shady contractors, and ensure that construction goes in accordance with state / national building codes. That’s why we also have specialty trade inspectors (electrical, plumbing, mechanical, etc). But do they really do their job? Another question – why do we need building permits? Yes, to pay the building inspector for doing his/her job of doing the inspections. Yea, right!

I will purposely omit building inspectors in charge of large construction projects, such as bridges, sky-scrapers, factories, etc. There is a lot more responsibility there, and these inspectors are a lot more knowledgeable than your average “Joe, the building inspector”.

In my time being a roofing contractor, I had to pull many permits in the last 6 years – for almost every job we did. In all this time, only once have I seen a building inspector at a job site, and he was there to harass the home-owner about the “illegal kitchen” that came with the house they just purchased. In the beginning of my career as a contractor, I needed to get permits, but did not have sufficient / adequate insurance and in some cases did not have the Home Improvement Contractor registration in a state where I was doing work. Luckily for me, I was able to get permits, and because I have dignity (I’d like to think so) I did decent work without code violations and nothing bad ever happened. I once had a “stop job” order posted at a job site, where we forgot to pull a permit. Ahh… the good old days.

When you get into serious contracting like the Metal Roofing and IB Roof installations, you can’t afford not to have proper insurances and licenses. Your clients by default expect everything to be current and you to be fully insured – both worker’s comp and general liability.  And besides, it is easier to show proof of insurance than to explain why you do not have it, or better yet to ask a home owner to pull “an owners permit”. It is also much easier to get a permit in 5 minutes instead of waiting 3 days and hoping that the inspector is not a complete a$$ or is looking for a bribe – for some reason, I have a very strong suspicion that some building inspectors in Lynn, Revere, Malden and other surrounding towns in Massachusetts, purposely jerk contractors around, as if telling them – “give me $300 and you will have your permit”. I really believe so. Or they just hate people in general. But let me get back to building inspectors. Read the rest of this entry »

It is October, and cold weather is upon us. Now most homeowners who did not have a chance to replace their leaking roofs during spring and summer want to get it done now – before the cold weather arrives. August, September and October are the busiest months of the year for a roofing contractor (for us at least) we get many calls and online estimate requests from homeowners looking to install a new IB Flat Roof or a Metal Roof on their home. At least 75 percent of these inquiries mention that they would like to have a new roof installed before the winter.

While we do understand your concern about having a new roof before winter weather comes, I must point out a misconception among homeowners, assuming that a roof can only be installed during the warm months. While this is partially true, due to limitations of specific roof types (technologies), for us, installing our roof systems in the winter is the same as it is in the summer – just a little colder.

Basically, it is the best time for homeowners to have their roof installed during winter, as you will get the best roof prices, as well as a choice of the best roofing contractors, as work is limited and contractors compete for work and lower their prices to get the job. However, be aware that some roofs can’t or should not be installed in the winter – read bellow to find out what you should know about winter roofing, and which roofing materials should not be installed in the cold weather.

Which roofs can be installed in the winter and which can’t:

As mentioned before, there are certain types of roofing systems that should not be installed in the winter, and also those that can, without any compromises in quality. Let’s look at them, but first I will divide them into two categories - flat roofs and sloped roofs. Also, lets establish that by “winter” I mean temperatures bellow 40 degrees F.

Flat Roofs:

When it comes to flat roofing, there are virtually only two systems that can be safely installed in the winter – PVC and TPO. These two are thermoplastic single ply flat roofing products, which are installed using the Hot Air Welded seams instead of various types of adhesives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rubber roofing (EPDM) is not the best system for flat roofs, but in some instances, it just does not work right off the bet, and when it leaks, repairing such a roof is not even an option. In late July of 2009 we began work on one such roof in Roxbury, MA – a neighborhood of Boston, located 15 minutes from downtown.

The roof was installed by an unqualified roofing contractor who apperanly never installed a rubber roof before, nor did he care about quality at all, which you can judge for yourself from the photographs of the roof that we’ve provided. As you will be able to see, this particular roof, though small, required a lot of detail work, which is the defining factor of weather this roof will leak or not. The roofer that installed the EPDM rubber on this roof, completely skipped the flashing part, choosing to instead caulk the corners with rubber lap sealants, and in some cases used the sealant to adhere membrane seams. As a result, most seams – even those that were glued together with rubber glue, partially or completely came apart.

In addition to a generally horrible roof installation practice used by the contractor, the home owner – Jim  - was very concerned about insulation screws being loose under the rubber roof and in some places penetrating the roof, creating more leaks. Despite all the corner cutting and improper installation of the rubber roof, Jim had one advantage that kept his house more or less watertight, and without major roof leaks. The roof was built with a slight slope, which diverted all the water toward the wall drain, while parapet walls kept the water from spilling over the roof edges.

Just as a side note, this house used to be a part of a larger building, which was partially demolished at some point in time. Its current back wall used to be a separation firewall between different sections of the building. You can easily figure out by looking at the brick on the front and back of the house. This brings up a mystery which I cannot solve: The through-wall drain is located in the back of the house where the old separation wall is now. Therefore, back when the house was bigger, all the water would flow to the adjacent section of the roof. Still it had to drain somewhere, otherwise the house would be completely flooded, and a roof could actually collapse under all that weight. I suppose there were through-roof drains which were buried / removed during one of the re-roofs and a through-wall drain was created when the rear part of the building was removed. I will come back to this topic later on, when I’ll discuss the parapet walls on this house. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a project profile of a flat roofing system installed over a sun-room roof in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The roof system was planned in such a way that a premium wooden deck would be installed over it, and the long-lasting water-tightness was the most important aspect, while at the the same time aesthetics were also important.

Waterproofing a flat roof deck:

Wellesley is known for its beautiful mansions and only the best building products (such as an IB Flat roof) make their way into these homes. Having a backyard deck is a great addition to the coziness of any home, and very often such decks are built over a sun room, garage, or other living space. Therefore, having such deck completely watertight is of utmost importance. If this flat roof deck leaks, it would be very difficult to trace this leak, since a wooden deck siting on slippers over the waterproofing layer is usually built as one piece, and it would require a complete dis-assembly of the deck to find and fix the roof leak.

Railing systems on flat roof decks:

Each deck must have a railing system. For aesthetic and structural reasons, it is best to install the railing posts through the roof and tie them into roof rafters, rather than attach them to the outside perimeter of the deck. However, to make these through the roof posts watertight using conventional flat roofing systems such as rubber roof, is nearly impossible in the long run.

Why IB Roof is the perfect waterproofing system for flat roof decks:

Because of such high demands for the roofing material to be watertight and long lasting, IB Flat Roof was chosen as the product of choice for this high end residential home in a secluded neighborhood of Wellesley, MA. While this home was going through a complete renovation, a large addition was built in the rear of the house including a beautiful sun roof, and a beautiful premium wooden deck would be built on top of an 80-mil commercial grade PVC roofing membrane. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear visitors, It is my pleasure to announce that our main site – www.CoolFlatRoof.com – is now officially running on the awesome WordPress Blog / CSM platform, which makes it run faster and offers you, our visitors great usability and ease of finding information about Flat roofing, Metal roofs, Green roof top gardens and Solar PV roofing systems. New website features include:

• Extensive Site-wide search. With over 30 different articles about cool flat and metal roofing it used to be difficult to navigate to the right page. Now, all you have to do is type what you are looking for into the search box at the bottom of the side-bar, and you will find what you are looking for.
• Comments & Feedback. You can now leave comments about every article that we have and also subscribe to those comments (you will get responses by email). I personally answer most of the comments you leave on our blog, and will do the same for the comments on our main site. As always, please respect us and our readers and do not post offensive commentaries. All comments are moderated by a human and all spam gets filtered. If you post a genuine comment or question, it will post and I will answer it as best as I can.
• Blog Roll / Green blog links: If you are an author of a green or renewable energy related blog, I welcome you to add us to your blog-roll, and I will do the same.
• Publish your green articles here: If you want to write about anything related to green construction and renewable energy, I welcome you to become one of our Authors / Contributors. You can post relevant links to your own site or blog, which will help you promote your site with search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and others.

These are just few new options that a new platform offers to make your search for roof related questions easier and more pleasant. Just a few roof related articles you may consider interesting:

IB Flat Roof: “A good roof is the one you can forget about” – such is the moto if IB Roof Systems – a great roofing materials manufacturer, who’s single-ply membranes we use exclusively for ALL our flat roof installations. We use IB roofs, because we as a contractor know that once installed correctly, an IB roof will outlast any conventional flat roofing system by 2-3 times. With a proven track record of 30+ years of real life, leak-free performance, IB roofing systems have nothing else to prove. An IB roof is a cool, truly sustainable roofing system that can be used for Green Roof-top gardens, Solar roofing and conventional flat roofing application in both residential and commercial markets.

Flat Roof Repair: Learn what to do when your flat roof begins to leak, how to choose a roofing contractor, what a roof repair will cost you and whether your should repair or replace your roof.

IB Roofing prices: Learn how much it will cost you to replace your old roof with an IB Cool Flat Roof.

EPDM Rubber Roofing: Discover the truth about rubber roofing materials, scam contractors that install residential rubber roofs without proper training / experience, and why you should definitely avoid these “super roofers”, and the inferior rubber roofing materials all together.

Rubber roof repair: Learn DIY techniques involved in fixing your leaky EPDM roofing system. This guide includes a complete list of tools & materials you will need and step-by-step instructions for Do-It-Yourself homeowners.

Home Solar systems: Comprehensive guide to designing, implementing and installing a Solar PV System on the roof of your home or small business. Lear now to position your solar panels, which inverter to use and how to minimize power losses, maximize Solar PV efficiency, and make your solar system pay for itself in as little time as possible.

These are just some of numerous informative and practical guides that we have created to help you solve your flat or metal roofing problems, find information on roofing materials and contractors. Let us know what you think of the new platform, the design of this site, and how we could make navigation / usability better and more comfortable for you. Enjoy! Sincerely, Leo – CoolFlatRoof.com

If you are a building owner, facility mananger or even a home owner with a flat roof that leaks, and you are interested in or got a bid from a roofing contractor to install a new flat roofing system called TPO (Thermo-plastic olefin), this is a must-read article for you, because you will not find this information anywhere else.

Forewords: TPO is a hot-air welded thermo-plastic single-ply roofing membrane produced by numerous manufacturers. TPO was created to be better than EPDM Rubber roofing and cheaper than PVC roofs, while it would still provide all the benefits of hot-air welded seams. It was a good plan, and now TPO membrane covers billions of square feet of roofs and represents a multi-billion dollar roofing market, but there are some problems…

In it’s fairly short life (about 15-16 years) TPO went through at least 2 generations. 1st generation of TPO roofs began to fail in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s. Now, some manufacturers are on their 3rd generation (or major reformulation) of their TPO products. At the same time, TPO’s main rival – PVC roofing membrane such as IB Flat Roof, has not changed its formula in over 30 years. To get more insight into which thermoplastic roofing system to choose, I recommend you read our PVC vs. TPO roofing article.

Why you should not get a TPO roof – TPO roof on fire video.

The video clip above shows a brand new TPO roof burning on a roof of a new office building that was built in Salt Lake City, and filmed by the Fireman crew.

Whether you are a customer looking for a new flat roof or a roofing contractor, I recommend that you to do some serious research on TPO before investing in it. This will serve your own benefit.

To start, you may want to check out the WSRCA (Western States Roofing Contractors Association)  ”TPO roof study” – http://www.wsrca.com/bookstore/index.htm.

WSRCA’s test roofs in Las Vegas, NV, Anchorage, AK, San Antonio, TX, and Seattle, WA demonstrate the product service life in diverse climates throughout the western United States. All have weathered past the four year mark, and the results are now published.

The problem is that for some reason they pulled off 2007, there is still no 2008 edition and only a 2 year old report from 2006 is available. But here is the “rumor” from trusted sources:

TPO roofs in the above study loose minimum of 1 mil of thickness per year and some TPO’s loose as much as two mil per year (in 10 years that will be 20 mil – imagine that on a 45 mil membrane). The average top ply thickness is 15 mil – some are 12. Once you are down to the scrim, the roof is gone, and the UV will eat the scrim and bottom ply.





Also there are problems with seam failures, premature curing, cracks along the seams, etc. These are TPO’s made in 2001-2002 (second generation) Supposedly there is no 3rd gen. going into production, and I suspect that the reason for the 2007/2008 edition of this book not being available is because manufacturers pressured WSRCA to pull those off. I could swear that I saw an ’07 edition available on sale in January ’09, and now its not even listed.

Aside from the above, most TPO’s and maybe some PVC’s (to cut costs) come with a wicking scrim, so you need to do something about the edge of the weld – that is like welding twice, and there is still lots of room for error, and once the water gets to the scrim, it will delaminate the membrane… I don’t need to explain the consequences.

So, the bottom line – do you want your customers to have a 2nd/3rd gen. of repeatedly failing roof technology and put your reputation on the line for a gimmick created by greedy roofing manufacturers who are looking for ways to reduce costs at the expense of quality (putting cheap fillers into membrane to create nominal thickness)? What is the difference between 45 and 60 mil TPO if weathering surface is 12-15 mil? Just thicker bottom play that is made of junk in a first place.

Another thing that amazes me about TPO is the peel-n-stick seams. WHY?… The whole point of thermoplastic roofs (PVC & TPO) is the hot-air welded seam… EPDM rubber roof can be peel and stick… but TPO? All it does, is attracting hacks into thermoplastic roofing market. Those who do not care about quality install, fly-by-night dudes, etc. I mean, if you as a roofing contractor go and spend 10-20 thousand on the hot-air welding equipment you probably won’t disappear tomorrow, as you need to pay for that equipment and make some money on top of that. You as a roofing contractor are probably in it for the long run…

Instead of conclusion:

As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, the idea of a TPO roof is great. A cheap, naturally cool, long lasting flat roof system featuring hot-air welded seams is something of an ideal for the roofing industry to strive toward. However, the “cheap” part in TPO is why all these roof failures occurred, and will be happening on a wide scale in the near future. TPO’s problem is not the faulty design. In Europe, TPO has been around for decades and is considered to be a very good flat roofing system.

However, here in the US, roofing manufacturers put the bottom line in their accounting books above product quality and interest of their clients by manufacturing their TPO membrane using primarily cheap fillers and low quality wicking scrim, without proper testing or acquiring UL certifications. In the end, roof owners and to some degree roofing contractors become victims of corporate greed and irresponsible business practices.[PSGallery=1ondfvgxk]

Rubber roofing is a popular choice for low slope and flat roof construction, because it is relatively inexpensive, and “does not require any special training” on the part of a roofing contractor to install it. Do understand that the actual installation of a rubber roof is somewhat complicated and requires experience with flat roofing if it is to be done correctly. However, anyone can buy a rubber roof from a roofing supplier and install it, without being certified by the manufacturer. Discover how many residential roofing contractors “learn” to install a rubber roof, nature and limitations of EPDM roofing membrane and why we recommend that you avoid putting a rubber roof on your house. Since a manufacturer’s certification is not required, many roofing contractors with little or zero experience in flat roofing, can and do install rubber roofs. However, without a contractor’s proper installation training and experience, such roofs begin to leak very soon after being installed. Discover the secrets of the residential flat roofing market and how contractors installing EPDM membranes, or simply rubber roofing.

See what’s involved in doing rubber roof repair yourself:

Repair a rubber roof yourself or hire a professional?

As a home or small business owner you should understand that to perform a repair of your rubber roof you will need to buy special supplies and allocate at least 3-4 hours on a sunny or at least dry day, with no rain in the next 12 hours, to allow the repaired patch or seam to cure and become watertight. Here is a list of supplies and approximate prices you can expect to pay to acquire these supplies from a commercial roofing supplier, such as ABC Supply, Beacon Supply, Bradco or Harvey Building Products. Your local Home Depot or Lowe’s will not have rubber roofing, so don’t waste your time there. Read the rest of this entry »

We have not updated our roof project profiles in a while, but now since we started using a blog it has become much easier. This is one of the first in a series of projects we’ve completed in the last 12 months, that never made it to our website. We start this series with a flat roof in Connecticut.

I will try to objectively describe the roof problems that our customers had, and what we did to eliminate the roof leaks, as well as give them peace of mind that their IB Cool Roof will protect their home or building, and provide our customers real money savings on the ever-rising energy costs.

On the roof in Andover, Connecticut – with a happy homeowner after the IB flat roof installation was complete

Roofing problems and our roof installation in the words of the homeowner:

In December of 2008 my wife and I awoke to a dripping sound in our master bedroom. Much to our dismay the drip quickly became a steady stream of water as we were experiencing a rain storm that totaled 4″. We placed buckets under the stream to mitigate the damages. The next morning I opened up the Sheetrock ceiling which was sagging down. Upon opening the ceiling I could see that all of the insulation and plywood was wet. As I moved across the room I found that it wasn’t just that area that was leaking, but several places. Our flat roof measures 20′ x 34′ and has a 1 pitch covered with 5 year old roll roofing. We tarped the roof and called a water damage restoration company to come in and dry us out. Unfortunately, MOLD was discovered growing on the underside of plywood decking, framing, and Sheetrock. An industrial hygienist was hired to do testing and determine the mold spore levels. We ended up have to demolish the entire area and have the mold professionally re-mediated. The insurance company did not like to hear about mold. Their limit on coverage was $10,000.00 and we were facing $24,000.00 in damages!
This is a very small amount when you see how much it can cost to remove mold. Insurance companies also will not pay to repair your roof. Especially a flat one. They will only cover the resulting interior damage. I was frustrated with the extent of damages that occurred all from what appeared to be a little leak. Often times, by the time water comes through your Sheetrock it is too late and you have lots of mold and wood damage waiting for you. After settling with the insurance company I began to research possible ideas to make sure this never happens again. I investigated the idea of raising the roof pitch, which proved to be very expensive. Next I looked into flat roof systems such as rubber. I found that the seams end up leaking after a while. Not to mention the fact that it is ugly, and retains heat making the inside of your home hotter in the summer. I also looked into metal but no one could install it on such a low pitch and guarantee me that it won’t leak. Finally, I found Leo’s website talking about the IB Roof system. I was amazed by the fact that this product provided a lifetime guarantee for the product and labor. I also loved the fact that it is attractive looking and reflects the hot sun keeping my home cooler in the summer. As an added bonus, in the future I can add IB solar panels to my IB Roof and generate my own electricity. I’m told that in some places the cost for IB Roof may be a bit more than the alternatives. However, for me the cost of the IB Roof was actually less than my quotes to go with a rubber roof. Therefore, it was a no brainier. Leo and his crew were on my job-site within just a few days after our initial contact. It was impressive to see how the construction was preformed and you can really see the quality of the product. Leo and his crew were very respectful of our home and they kept the property clean. I have already recommended Leo and IB Roofing to a few people that I know have up coming flat roof projects. If you are considering a flat roof project you can’t go wrong with Leo and IB Roofing. Do it once, stay green, and enjoy!

Alex from Andover, CT

Roof problems, causes of leaks, and installation of a new IB Roof.

When I first met with Alex, the roof had an expensive, heavy-duty tarp on it and about 5 inches of snow. Although it was the time of a very cold arctic air front in New England, it was actually good for Alex’s roof as cold temperatures kept the snow from melting for a couple of weeks.

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Flat roof covered with tarp to prevent more leaks

Alex planned to tear-off the existing rolled asphalt roofing with the help of his friends over the weekend and, put the tarp back on, until we would come to install our roof. All went as planned, but it snowed the day after Alex and his friends removed the old roof, and replaced rotten plywood decking and fixed some rafters. On Monday morning snow melted and the roof began to leak again. The heavy-duty tarp turned out to be damaged in few spots, and the roof was virtually unprotected.

We had to adjust our work schedule to quickly come out and make Alex’s roof watertight, to prevent any more water damages and additional repair expenses. Fortunately, the weather was dry for a few days, and on Wednesday we came to install our roof. Once on the roof, we found that there were numerous causes of leaks. The major contributing factor was due to roof rafters caving in, and creating a cavity for water to puddle on the roof.

It is known among roofing professionals that standing water causes the majority of flat roof leaks. Standing / ponding water easily breaks the bond between roof laps, and enters the house, destroying insulation along the way. If left unattended, or unnoticed, these leaks will create thousands of dollars worth of damages, as well as pose a health risk – mold causes and/or aggravates allergies, asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

My evaluation is that most water damages occurred were water ponded on the roof. Other leaks occurred due to Ice Dams, where ice slowly “traveled” between the seams, and melted under the rolled asphalt, causing slow, but steady rot of plywood decking and mold. Although Alex’s roof is not completely flat, Ice dams are known to affect roofs that are completely non-walkable, so this very low pitch roof was an easy “prey”.

Roof Installation:

We use IB PVC roofs exclusively, because in my opinion it is not only the best flat roofing product on the US market, but it creates a completely watertight blanket over the entire roof. With IB, I can look customers straight into their eyes and honestly say: “My roof will not leak!”

New IB flat roof

The reason why IB is such a great roofing system is the hot-air fusion welded seams. Once we weld two sheets of IB roofing membrane, a permanent bond is created, eliminating the possibility of water penetrations. Additionally, IB manufactures all the flashing components, which speeds up the installation process, and minimizes installation error.

Alex’s flat roof is actually an addition and was added as a shed dormer to a pitched roof. When this roof was constructed, builders put in a soffit / ridge ventilation system, which is always a good idea to have for wood roof frame / deck. However, a ridge vent can create many leaks problems, as it is very easy for water to be blown in by wind past the vent, and into the attic.

Normally, roofing contractors would just cover the ridge vent completely to eliminate leaks, but this would take away the ventilation, causing the plywood deck to dry out, de-laminate and slowly “dry-rot”.

We have created a custom design ridge vent assembly for low-slope roofs and shed dormers, where the vent sits two inches above roof level, eliminating the possibility of wind driven water entering the roof. Although the installation of such assembly is tedious and consumes a lot of time, it is the right was to go to maintain proper ventilation and to preserve the roof deck.

Ridge vent assembly for IB flat roof eliminates wind driven water leaks.

As sou can see from the picture, ridge vent sits on top of a 2×4 wood, which is completely wrapped with IB membrane to create a water-tight barrier, and prevent leaks through the ridge opening.

Conclusion:

Overall, it was a straight forward installation which took 2 days to complete.

Special thanks to Alex for providing us with delicious hot chocolate, which made our work easier and warmer during these cold January days.

If you have a flat roof in Connecticut, Massachusetts or Rhode Island, you can fill our roofing estimate request form. You can also get an instant price quote with our online Roofing Price Calculator.