Installing a flat roof (PVC single ply roofing membrane in this case) can be a pretty straight forward process, or a very confusing endeavor because each component must be installed in order of events. Otherwise the system my not work the way it should. Of course there is an installation spec manual from IB roofs, which we always keep handy, and actually had to use it once or twice. But this manual only shows particular flashing detail or a general way of how membrane and insulation ought to be installed. It can’t possibly cover all the specifics of the roof installation that come up in the field.

Flat roof installation – mechanically attached assembly:

A reinforce PVC single ply roof allows installers a choice of installing the roof in a fully adhered assembly (sheets of membrane glued to the insulation) or a mechanically attached assembly where each sheet or roll of the roofing material is screwed to the roof deck substrate with heavy duty, corrosion resistant roofing fasteners, and barbed plates. Each roll is screwed to the roof deck on one side, and then the next roll, overlaps a row of screws, and is welded to the first roof, right next to the screws. Then the process continues in the same manner until the whole roof is covered by the membrane.

As you can see in the roof installation picture above the narrow roll of membrane ins installed around roof perimeter and wider rolls are in place, and are ready to be installed. However, before you get to this point, there is a lot of prep work that has to me done first, and the actual membrane installation is the easy part.

Lets start looking at the prep work, and the in which order things actually happen.

Flat roof installation – prep work – insulation, wood nailer and penetration flashing.

PVC Roofing is a very durable and long lasting flat roofing material. However it should never we in direct contact with any oil and asphalt (also oil) products, and since most other roofing materials are made with oil or asphalt, we always install a protection layer between PVC membrane and either old roof or the roof deck. We usually use insulation to protect membrane from being in contact with asphalt and also from deck fastener punctures. Roof insulation also serves its primary purpose of improving thermal insulation properties of your roof.

Before we install insulation though, we first install a perimeter wood nailer, that serves as a rigid nailing base for the PVC-coated drip edge. Once wood nailer is in place, we lay out the insulation sheets and fasten them to the roof deck, using FM Global 60 or 90 mph wind rating standard – 8 or 10 plates + fasteners per 8×4 feet insulation board (although this is unnecessary, since it is a mechanically attached system). Once the wood nailer and insulation are in place we install one or more row of perimeter half sheet, which is a 3 foot wide roll of membrane, vs and standard 6 feet width for field rolls. The perimeter half sheet is installed to prevent wind uplift, and is fastened either 12″ o.c. or 6′ o.c. (for high wind areas).

Flat roofing – tapered insulation:

If there is a ponding water situation, the fastest and most cost-effective way to solve the ponding is to install a so called tapered insulation system which creates slight roof pitch, which helps diver the water in required direction and improves roof drainage.

Tapered insulation is basically the same thing as extruded PolyISO insulation with a fiberglass facing. The only difference is that tapered insulation is wider along one edge and narrower along the other. Tapered insulation system can have a roof slope ranging from 1/8″ per one foot run, to 1/2″ rise per one foot run or more. Normally we use a 1/4″ tapered insulation system which raises roof level 1″ for every 4×4′ insulation piece.

Flat roof installation – drip edge detail:

As we mentioned the perimeter half sheet is installed along roof edges, and fastened on the inside with screws and plates – what is holding the half sheet along its outer edge? Well, this is the question that homeowners often ask me. The way IB PVC roof system is designed, allows us to attach the outer edge either directly to the drip edge or run in over the roof edge by a couple of inches, nail it to the fascia board and install a drip edge metal over the membrane.

Both ways are acceptable, but most of the time we use the second method – especially in high winds area. Once the roofing material is installed and flipped down, over the edge of the roof, we install 10 foot sections of 22 ga PVC coated galvanized or stainless steel drip edge, and fasten it to the deck with the roofing screws, either 12″ or 6″ o.c. Then we weld a 5″ wide cover strip of the membrane to the roof and to the drip edge, to seal the screw holes and bake the whole detail water-tight.

Check out our video on how drip-edge metal is installed:

Once the 10-foot sections of drip-edge are installed, the joins are sealed using an aluminum tape and a PVC patch to mack the joint water-tight and protect the patch from metal expansion and contraction. After the joints are complete, the cover tape is welded to drip edge starter and the roof itself and its now time to do the rest of the roof.

As a side note, there are many options for drip edge detail. Although the most used drip edge is the 2 or 3″ wide face, white starter, you can also choose it to be as much as 8 or more inches wide as well as in gravel stop style (if you need divert water flow or prevent it from going over the edge of the roof.

Gravel stop drip edge has a 1″ bump-out, which stops water from spilling over, and makes it run down the roof – toward a drain or a gutter. Drip edge comes in two colors – white and dark bronze, and also can be painted any other color with acrylic paint. IB roofs also offers 16 oz. copper drip edge, with PVC material adhered to the flange, and can produce any style drip edge, with different angles, kick-in or kick-out face and in various widths.

Flat roof installation – field sheets, roof penetrations and roof to wall termination:

After all edge detail is complete, we install the field rolls of membrane and all penetration flashings, such as pipes, drains, HVAC / Skylight curbs, roof hatches, chimneys, etc.

IB Roof Systems produces wide variety of flashing accessories, which allow installers to quickly easily flash almost any roof penetration. Since all roof components are made of PVC, they are all welded together, and use of any adhesives or glues is completely eliminated, as well as most installation errors by roof mechanics.

All curb and up-the wall flashing is installed using two step process. First, the roof is terminated that the wall, and then a separate piece of membrane is installed up the wall and welded to the roof.

After the flashing is installed and welded to the roof, the inside or outside corner flashing is welded to make a permanent watertight joint.

All IB flashing accessories are made of 60-mil non-reinforced flashing membrane and can stretch to perfectly adhere to any shape of a penetration on the roof. Pipe flashings and drains have a reinforced flange to be welded to the roof.

Bellow is a video demonstrating the curb flashing installation around a skylight:

As you can see in the video, the roof penetration flashing is a very clean process, and a chance of a leak is minimum to non. Unlike flashing details on a rubber roof, where membrane cannot and should not be terminated at the base of the curb, due to high possibility of a leak caused by adhesive failure, the hot air welding process used in sealing overlaps and seams on a PVC roof, eliminates leaks as well as membrane pull-out caused by contraction of the roofing material in a cold weather.

Flat roof installation – special flashing details:

IB roof spec manual does not cover all installation details as in real world you often run into situations where you have to “improvise”, while your roof must still be watertight. One such example is the ridge vent detail on flat / low slope roofs such as shed dormers. While many low slope roofs are considered “flat”, they were built as sloped roofs with ridge / soffit ventilation in mind. However, many roofing contractors that install EPDM rubber roofs, block the ridge vent opening completely, to prevent roof leaks.

We’ve developed a special assembly method which allows us to still use the ridge vent, and keep the roof watertight. We run our roof up-to the ridge opening, weld additional strip of membrane, install a 2×4 wood to raise the level off the roof, flip the strip of membrane back and wrap the 2×4 with it. This prevents wind driven water from penetrating the roof, and ridge vent + ridge cap is installed on top, 2 inches up.

As you can see, IB PVC roof can be adjusted to virtually any type of flat roof, and roof penetrations. We recommend that you check out more roof installation videos on our Roofing Videos channel on YouTube.

You can see more examples of flat roof installations that we have done all over New England: Roofing in Massachusetts and roofs in Connecticut. We provide residential roofing and commercial roof installation services in all New England states. However most of our work takes place in MA, CT and RI.

Also, if you have a flat roof deck, that is leaking, check out our roof deck section, to learn more about IB roof installation on flat roof decks, patios, and balconies, using special slip-proof roofing material called IB DeckShield.

Many homes have an outside deck / patio over a living space, and so far, the solution to waterproof such roof decks was to install rubber membrane roof and a wooden deck on slippers over the rubber. On some older roofs, instead of a rubber roof, a Tar / Built-up roofing material is used for waterproofing. Problems with this assembly is first and foremost the roof leaks which often occur within few years of roof deck installation.

Often the seams on the roofing membrane pop open, or water starts to pool under the deck, and the only way for this water to drain is into your home. If you need to repair such roof deck, you will have to take the deck completely apart to seal the seams or redo the roof flashing, and then put the wooden deck back together.

Another issue is the cost of such roof deck (even without the high costs associated with roof repairs) – the rubber roof by itself is somewhat not expensive, but when you add the cost of a pressure treated wood deck (a fiber decking, mahogany or some other premium deck is rather rare, and most people do choose to go with PT wood), your roof deck ends up costing you a small fortune. Then you also have to install and seal the railing posts.

On a rubber roof, pieces of uncured flashing must be glued to the rubber roof and the post to make the post penetration watertight, and on a Tar / BUR roof, liquid tar or roof cement is used to seal around the post. Both rubber roof flashing and tar flashing around the post will begin to fail after 5-7 years, so once again to stop the roof leaks, you will have to disassemble the deck and repair the flashing.

IB Deck Shield – the long lasting, beautiful and cost effective solution for roof decks

IB Roof Systems saw the need for a long-lasting waterproofing membrane for roof decks, patios and balconies, and based an their excellent PVC roofing membrane, created a Deck Roofing product which will last for decades, is easy to repair (if such need arises) and has a special, slip-resistant, beautiful surface which make it possible to walk on this membrane, eliminating the need for a wooden deck over the membrane and making the whole roof seamless and watertight.

IB Deck Shield was created based on IB Roofs’ proven PVC roofing membrane, designed for flat roofs, and featuring hot air welded seams, which make membrane overlaps sealed permanently, ensuring long-lasting watertight roof. IB roofing membrane can withstand ponding water, and is an excellent choice for any flat roof. IB roofs also have a complete line of flashing accessories – inside and outside corner flashings, pipe flashing ranging in size from 1/4″ to over 12 inches, for extra wide exhaust pipes and furnace stacks. Because of fast and easy installation in all tight spots, any roof penetration can be flashed quickly and any installation defects are eliminated.

IB took it’s existing it’s existing PVC roof product (IB Flat Roof), and added a special surface to it, making it slip resistant, even when wet, and added a beautiful texture, which resembles small pebble surface often used as a swimming pool deck. All components of IB Deck Shield roof are color matching and will produce a uniform, great-looking final product.

IB Deck Shield roof installation:

Because IB Deck Shield is exposed to constant foot traffic, deck furniture, outside BBQ grills, etc., it must withstand all this abuse and last for many years without any leaks. To be able to do so, IB deck Shield is installed over a dense, moisture resistant substrate – DensDeck, which is attached to the roof deck.

Once DensDeck substrate is installed, all seams are taped and “plastered” with special joint compound to provide a universal, smooth surface, to which Deck Shield membrane is glued using either a water-based or solvent based adhesive (we use water based glue, as it is environmentally “safer” than solvent based product).

When a a joint compound cures, we apply a layer of IB water-based adhesive and lay down the IB Deck Shield membrane, which was previously aligned to be wrinkles free and to have exactly a 2″ overlap with the previous sheet of membrane. Once adhesive is applied and membrane is laid down, it is mechanically fastened at all roof to wall connections, but never in field.

After a few minutes, when adhesive cures, all seams are welded and it’s time to install roof to wall flashing as well as all pre-fabbed inside / outside corners, as well as flash all post penetrations. IB Roof manufactures special post flashings which can either be pre-welded or split and it is the choice of a contractor which one to use.

We prefer to use split post flashings – although the split post flashing requires more welding, it is actually easier to install split flashing rather then a welded flashing, because when we order them, we specify the post size – usually 3 5/8″ x 3 5/8″ (a standard 4×4′ railing post), and a welded flashing sits pretty tight around the post so it is rather difficult to pull it all the way down.

Durability of IB DeckShield flat roof decks:

Once all DensDeck is installed, all DeckShield is glued down, seams welded and all flashings are installed, the roof is complete, and now you have a durable, completely water-tight roof deck, where you can spend nice summer days, invite your friends over for BBQ, and not worry about roof leaks any more. IB DeckShield is VERY durable, and very resistant to puncture damage. Because it is glued to the DensDeck substrate, the surface under it is very hard and most sharp objects that fall on this roof will bounce off leaving very little or no damage – we accidentally dropped sharp tin snips, that just bounce off and did not cause any damage.

Of course you want to be careful with your new roof and not drop any sharp objects purposely, but small accidents do happen, and you can be confident that IB DeckShield will withstand all normal wear and tear – foot traffic and most accidental drops, which would usually puncture a flat roof such as rubber roofs.

If your roof is damaged – in most cases it should be leaking for a long time, as membrane is glued to the substrate and even if some water gits in, it won’t be able to spread and leak inside your home. It is also very easy repair IB Deck Shield roof – a small patch of color-matching membrane will be welded over damaged area, making the repair virtually invisible, unless looked at from close distance. IB DeckShield roof will remain weldable for decades, just like other IB Flat roofing products.

Roof deck prices – how much does IB DeckShield cost to install?

IB DeckShield is a premium flat roofing product and is rather expensive by itself. However, when you consider the alternative of a rubber roof with a PT wooden deck over it, IB DeckShield will usually be less expensive, as PT wood deck will add a significant amount to the total roof deck cost.

Because IB DeckShield installation is rather complicated and involved, it will cost more than the flat roof prices provided by our roofing calculator. IB Deck Shield takes considerably longer to install than regular IB flat roofs, and costs a lot more than standard 50-mil or even 80-mil IB roofing membrane. Therefore installation prices per sq. ft. of your roof deck will be higher than those of an 80 mil roof deck option (eg. flat roof deck in Wellesley, MA)

Price of IB Deck Shield installation will also depend or roof difficulty, number of roof penetrations and whether the existing roof needs to be removed. In case of a roof removal, the roof deck must be installed in sections, and sealed at the end of each work day, to prevent roof leaks from overnight rains.

IB Roof Deck prices:

A basic price to install IB DeckShield starts at $14-15 per sq. ft. (assuming that your roof deck is approximately 200-300 sq. ft., which is what most roof decks are), and includes a 1/4″ DensDeck Substrate, with all joints sealed using joint compound, and up to 5 post flashing penetrations. All other flashing and penetration details will be priced assuming other aspects of your roof, and the entire project.

Roof tear-off will be priced in a range of $300+ per 100 sq. ft. of roof area, plus cost of the dumpster. Reason for this price structure is as follows: Roof decks are usually rather small, but the tear off greatly intensifies the installation difficulty and slows down the overall process. Also, we separate dumpster fees, as on a small roof we would still need the smallest (10 or 15 yards) dumpster which costs about $300.

To give you and example – it took us about 5 days to complete the roof in the first picture on this page, with 4-5 guys working 8-10 hours per day. The roof size there is approximately 1200 sq. ft. So assume that 4-5 guys removed and installed about 240 sq. ft. of roof in 1 day.

The pricing above is approximate and reflects general price stricture that we use fordeck roofs installation in Massachusetts and the rest of New England states (Roofs in CT, RI, NH, ME and VT).

We will price each roof deck separately, but this will provide you with a pretty accurate pricing guide-lines, so you would know how much to expect to pay for IB DeckShield roof.

As a comparison, a rubber roof would cost you $8-10 per sq. ft. plus the cost of PT wooden deck which can range from $13-20 per sq. ft., often without the material costs.

Additional roof decks and flat roofing resources:

Roof deck installation using 80-mil IB PVC roof with a wooden deck over it.

RoofDecks.org – general information about roofing materials, roof deck prices and installation methods of waterproofing products for roof decks, balconies and patios.

Flat Roofing – informational resource about flat roofing materials – Learn about EPDM Rubber roofing, PVC and TPO roofs and Tar & Gravel, Modified Bitumen and other Built-Up roofs.

Roof calculator – estimate roofing prices in your state for different roofing materials – asphalt shingles, metal roofs, and various flat roofing membranes. Learn how contractors price their roofs and pros & cons different roofing materials. Find out how to measure and estimate a roof using extensive step-by-step roof estimating guide and roofing calculator software.

Roof installation service:

We offer a complete-package roof installation service, from pulling all necessary building permits, to coordinating with other contractors and service providers (such as utility companies, architects, etc.) involved in your roofing project.

Our installers and roof mechanics work safely, wear all necessary safety equipment and use state of the art installation tools and equipment. We pay top wages and provide premium workmanship and services.

While a standard labor warranty in the roofing industry (a minimum required by law) is the 2-year period, all our roofs installations include a Labor warranty that matches the material warranty (i.e., 80-mil IB membrane has a 25 year material warranty, which we match with our 25-year labor warranty).

Roof consulting service:

We offer roofing consultation services which include complete analysis of your present roof condition, inspection of structural components, roof deck and roof insulation. We analyze your roofs drainage situation, and identify whether you may need more insulation, drains / scupper or other roof components installed to improve your roof’s performance and extend its service life. We will provide you a complete report of what has to be done on your roof, and identify parts you may not need. We can also negotiate with your General Contractor and/or Architect on your behalf, to get you the right products/services, while including need items and eliminating unnecessary and costly items. This will prevent future “change orders” and up-charges from your GC / Architect / Contractor, and save you money and frustration.

We hold all necessary State Construction Licenses and Registrations:

• MA Home-Improvement Contractor registration (HIC) and Unrestricted Construction Supervisor License (CSL)
• CT Home-Improvement Contractor registration (HIC) and Major Contractor Registration
• RI Home-Improvement Registration and Special Commercial Roofing Contractor Registration

Flat Roof installation service details:

For a flat and low-slope roofing application, we exclusively install IB Cool roofing single-ply membranes with up-to 25 years Commercial and Lifetime Residential warranties.

IB Roof is a versatile flat roofing system that can be adapted for any flat roof type and level complexity. IB roof is a perfect, long-lasting flat roofing choice for:

• Condos, Cooperatives and other Multi-Unit residential buildings.
• Restaurants
• Storage Facilities
• Office buildings
• Manufacturing and Warehouse facilities
• Auto Repair stations and garages, Gas Stations
• Stores and Shopping malls
• All other commercial buildings with a flat roof

With its Cool-roof properties, IB will save you an average of 20% or more on the Air-Conditioning costs, which can run into hundreds of dollars per month. With ever-rising electricity prices, this is especially crucial for climate-controlled storage-complexes, restaurants, and refrigeration-facilities, but will greatly benefit any building that uses Air-Conditioning equipment.

IB is also an environmentally friendly roof and you can have a Green / Garden roof installed, without worries of roof leaks or environmental incompatibility.

IB with its Lifetime Residential warranty, is perfect for any type of residential application: Your Home roof, Garage or even a walk-on flat roof deck. IB can be installed as a water-proofing membrane under a solid wood deck or you can choose an IB DeckShield* – a slip and water-proof, ADA (American Disability Act) compliant decking material. (* Due to anticipated constant foot traffic, IB DeckShield carries a 10 year warranty)

Your One Stop informational source about all aspects Flat Roofing, Cool Roofs, Solar BI-PV Roofs & Roof-top Gardens.

We specialize in Energy-Efficient flat roofing solutions for Residential flat roofs and Commercial / Restaurant flat roofs. We strive to provide our customers, with Eco-Friendly roofing solutions that are recyclable, & will help you conserve energy, as well as benefit environment.

Our Customer’s comments:

CoolFlatRoof installed an IB roof on a flat section of my house. They did an excellent job. I had problems for years with leaks and would hire someone to repair it but after awhile it would leak again. It had never leaked since Leo and Alex put this excellent roof on my house. It also seems to be more insulated: warmer in winter and cooler in the summer. Thanks guys. I recommend you to everyone who mentions a roofing problem. – Jack from Providence, RI

CoolFlatRoof quality promise: We are so confident in the quality of IB roofing systems and our installation, that we guarantee our roofs against any leaks. If the roof we installed ever leaks due to installation error, not only we will fix it, but we will also give you a check for $250.

Flat Roof leaks and repair information

For your convenience, we created a series of roofing guides that will help you choose the best solution for your flat roof and provide you with information that many roofing contractors and manufacturers do not want you to know. Check out our Do-it-yourself guides to rubber roof repair and tar & gravel roof repair for immediate steps you can take to temporary stop roof leaks, until you can perform a complete re-roof.

When your flat roof begins to leak, the process is irreversible, and the sooner you start to deal with these issues, the less you will have to spend on repairs and roof replacement. Read our comprehensive Flat Roof repair guide to gain the insight on the issues and costs involved and ways to minimize your expenses when you deal with roof leaks.

Discover different types of flat roofing materials and choose the best roofing product for your home or business. It is a shame, how in the 21st century, many roofing contractors still use 19th century roofing technology, that is inferior, inefficient and cost you more than a modern single-ply roof. Learn about different single-ply flat roofing systems and compare them to IB Roofs, the leading manufacturer of long-lasting cool flat roofing products.

Compare the two leading single-ply cool roofing products in our PVC vs. TPO roofing guide.

Flat roofing job profiles: Industrial, Commercial and Residential.

Testex textiles Corp. Central Falls, RI

Restaurant/Meat Market/Deli Rt. 1 – Hampton, NH

9th St. Condominiums Providence, RI

Does your Commercial / Industrial / Restaurant roof leak?

• Do you have to install plastic covers or tarps to protect your expensive machinery?
• Does water damage your office computers and equipment?
• Is your product inventory being destroyed by roof leaks?
• Do you loose business space, restaurant sitting, and production capacity due to your old, leaking flat roof?
• Does your black rubber or Tar & Gravel roof make the AC run like crazy, while it is still hot inside?

All of the above is true for these folks, and they are sick of it!

As you can see, they had to protect their VERY expensive machinery with plastic sheets just so the water does not destroy it. Flat roof leaks can cause thousands of dollars in damages to equipment and merchandise alone. Consider redundant roof repairs and costs associated with future replacement rotted decking, wet insulation, and disposal of old roofing material. Add lost business productivity, equipment repair and replacement and damaged inventory. It is time to eliminate your flat roofing leaks once and for all.

The choice is simple – IB Single-ply Cool Roof

A leaky roof creates major problems for many businesses, in for of lost revenue, damaged equipment, and lost business space. We can help you stop those leaks once and for all with IB PVC Roof – our flat-roofing product of choice – and we will back it up with our comprehensive guaranty that you will not have any more leaks.

With Commercial warranties up to 25 years and a proven track-record of over 30 years leak-free performance, IB roof will be saving you money on maintenance, repairs and energy costs. IB Cool roofs reflect over 90% of solar radiation and on a 90 degree day White IB roof will only go about 95 degrees. Compare that to 160-170 degrees for a black rubber ( Epdm ) roof.

IB ChemGuard – the only chemicals, oil and grease resistant roofing membrane available on the market will be the perfect choice for any restaurant or industrial manufacturing facility where chemicals may be present on the roof.

Most businesses require a lot of space to operate efficiently, and it just so happens that most commercial building have a flat roof. These flat roofs just leak, and there seems no end to these roof leak problems. Leaking flat roofs not only cause expensive repairs and structural damages, to the building – they can potentially halt some or all of your business’ production until leaks are fixed. Temporary loss of useful space can be more costly than the roof repair, and the damages to your production equipment may by far outweighs the cost to install a Long Lasting IB Flat Roof which will not only remain water-tight beyond it’s warranty period, but will also save you money on the ever-rising Cooling and Heating bills. IB’s excellent ‘Cool Roof’ reflective properties can lower your AC energy consumption by as much as 20%, and with addition of High-R insulation, it will be less expensive to heat your building.

Even ponding water is not a problem for IB Roofs.

IB Roof was created with the commercial / industrial flat roofing market in mind, and will work on the most complicated flat roof you can think of. If your flat roof has inherited water drainage problems, you has a devastating ponding water after each rain, it is no problem for IB, as it comes with explicit ‘Ponding Water Warranty’ unlike most other flat roofing systems, that will leak, and who’s warranty will be void if there is standing water.

IB Roofs are Eco-friendly – IB is the Green Choice!

Not only IB roofs are perfect for commercial buildings in terms of water-tightness, longevity and performance – they are also friendly for the environment. Cool roof features if IB white membrane will reduce the CO2 and other Green-House gas emissions by reducing your energy consumption for Air Conditioning. IB roof is also a perfect choice for creating a Green Roof or a Roof-top garden which in Urban Environment will reduce the “heat island” effect and will increase the productivity of your office workers, as proven by multiple studies.

Another great feature of IB roofs it that they are 100% recyclable. This means 30 years from now, if you decide to get a new IB roof, the existing one will not go to our nation’s landfills. Instead it will be recycled and reused for other PVC products such as vinyl siding, PVC pipes and conduits, etc.

IB Roof PVC recycling video.

Check out this video of how the 30 years old IB roof installation in Harrisburg, OR was recycled and a New IB roof was installed in its stead:

Excited about IB roof? Don’t wait any longer!

Stop wasting your money on useless roof fixes and losing profit due to your flat roof leaks.


If your roof is located anywhere in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island or other New England states, fill out our Free, no obligation Online Roofing Estimate or call us at 1-888-6-FlatRoof (1-888-635-2876) and we will come up with the best solution to fit your flat roofing needs and budget.

If you are outside of New England, go to www.IBRoof.com and fill out their Contractor Referral form or call 1-800-426-1626, to speak with IB Customer Service, and find an IB Contractor in your area.

Remember, that IB roof is the Most economical commercial flat roof when you consider Total Roofing Cost.

IB Roof can also be upgraded with IB SolarWise – a Building-Integrated Solar PV system, created IB and Uni-Solar. Such upgrade can be done at any point in time after the original IB roofs was installed, without compromising the roof integrity. IB SolarWise is light-weight, and requires no additional structural reinforcement, nor does it need any mounting brackets or railings. In fact SolarWise gets welded right to the IB membrane, and all that has to be done after is the electrical connections! IB SolarWise is the Least Expensive solar system on the market, and has the highest ROI.

If you want to know what a new IB roof will cost, check out our Roofing Cost Estimator – bear in mind, that prices estimated by our calculator refer to a Residential Flat roofs. You can generally expect a lower price for your commercial flat roof, as the ‘economy of scale’ factor kicks in.

IB Roof Systems Reference Information – Ratings and Approvals

This information will be valuable for architects, specifiers, building managers, property owners and maintenance personal looking to have an IB Roof installed. For additional product information you can also download IB Commercial Brochure and IB ChemGuard Brochure.

UL – R15546	FM Global – 3018104
International Code Council – ER 5405	No. 05-1122.03 (Concrete Decks) No. 05-1122.07 (LW Concrete Decks) No. 05-1122.05 (Steel Decks) No. 05-1122.04 (Wood Decks) No. 05-1122.06 (Recover Decks)
FL 2534-R2 (Mechanically Attached) FL 4672 (Fully Adhered)	Cool Roof Rating Council Listing
IB Roof Systems is proud to be an Energy Star™ Partner.

This is only a partial list, containing the most prominent rating and approval agencies’ certificates. Others approvals and certificates that are not listed here, include:

Underwriter’s Laboratory of Canada – ULC

North Eastern Roofing Contractors Association – NERCA

Some of Commercial Flat roofs we have done recently:

Testex Corp – RI

Bellingham Power Plant – MA

9th St. Condo – RI

Some of Restaurant Metal roofs we have done recently:

IHOP Restaurant Cape Cod, Hyannis, MA

Venus De Milo Restaurant Swansea, MA

The truth is, there is a solution that will keep your home, probably your biggest investment, water tight for decades to come. The flat roof you can truly forget about, and the one that will actually save you money on ever-rising energy costs.

If you have a flat roof deck you can choose between IB DeckShield or a conventional 80-mil IB roof with wooden deck and railing system to solve your leaks problems and create a permanent water-tight roof-top patio.

When you want the looks of an Architectural Shingles and unsurpassed reliability of IB Roof, IB Traditions gives you both!

IB Cool Flat Roof – The Best flat roofing for your Home!

IB roof has its roots in commercial flat roofing, where requirements and expectations of building products are much higher than in residential market. In fact IB Roof has been chosen as the roofing choice for Hospitals, Airports and Universities through-out the country, where leaking roof is not an option. Many of these roofs installed over 25 years ago are still performing well, without any leaks.

Ice Dam leaks and poor ventilation:

Most low sloped roofs in the northern United States have Ice Dams, which cause roof leaks and expensive roof repairs as well as cosmetic interior repairs of ceilings, walls, carpets and wooden floors. Those are the damages that you can actually see. Ice dams also create invisible structural damages which you can’t find until you open up ceilings and wall. These damages are extremely expensive to repair, as it would require to hire interior remodelers to fix structural damages, outside and inside walls, electrical systems, plumbing, etc.

Ice Dams in a nutshell: Ice dams are caused by poor attic ventilation and heat loss from inside your living space. Large piles of snow will accumulate on your roof after a snow storm. If your attic is improperly insulated and ventilated, the warm air escaping from your living area into the attic, will melt the snow. The water from melting snow will run down the roof and refreeze, usually along the eaves of of your roof. These are Ice Dams. The more snow is melting the bigger Ice Dams you have. After some time, the ice dams become so big, that the melting water cannot travel downward anymore, so it starts to travel upward underneath the roof shingles or rolled roofing seams. As it freezes under the roof, warm air melts it, and it slowly starts to drip inside the attic, causing all of the above and below mentioned problems.

It becomes a vicious cycle were more heat loss creates more ice dams, which causes more damages to structural walls and insulation, destroying your home from inside, increasing your energy-related expenses and causing more heat loss, which creates bigger ice dams…

Negative effect cause by Ice dams, and which many homeowners neglect to address is the wet insulation in the attic and inside walls. When insulation gets wet, you loose insulating value, so your energy costs increase, as heat loss in the winter drives up your heating bill. Same happens in the summer with cooling. Also, mold begins to grow in the attic and inside walls, which cause and/or aggravates allergies, asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

Solution to Ice Dams problems on low-slope roofs:

IB roofing membrane is perfect way to eliminate Ice Dams on a low slope roof, as it is a seamless blanket over entire roof. Hot air welded seams prevent water from backing up and re-freezing as is the case with shingles and rolled asphalt roofing, there-fore eliminating the effects of Ice Dams. Also, Most of the snow will actually slide off the IB roof, thus there will be a minimal Ice and Snow accumulation along the eaves.

Additionally, we’ve designed a special Ridge Vent system which we use on every low-sloped roof with ridge/soffit ventilation in place. This system prevents the wind driven water form entering your attic space through the holes in the ridge vent, while allowing the warm air to escape the attic.

Now you too can have this outstanding roof on installed on your home. IB make the perfect choice for any residential flat and low-slope roof. IB roof will give you years of worry-free service, and make your home more energy efficient, as well as transferable Lifetime Warranty! IB will also add beauty and usability to your home with its specialty Traditions & DeckShield membranes.

Traditions Classic: Printed Shingle Pattern

If you have a low-pitched roof which is flatter than a minimum required for a conventional roofing, but is still visible from the ground, IB has the perfect solution – ‘Traditions Classic’.

Traditions is a single ply membrane that was designed to eliminate the problems associated with conventional asphalt shingle, but will give you the looks of an architecturally designed shingle roof that fits your home.
Traditions Classic carries a Lifetime Material Warranty and is also fade resistant and is perfect Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut climate. It outperforms any shingle roof from any manufacturer.

Traditions – Design and appearance:

Traditions Classic gives you the perfect combination of integrity and beauty. It takes the excellent qualities of Industrial Grade IB flat roofing membrane and an outstanding looks of asphalt shingles with a choice of three popular colors:

Sierra Vista: Light Brown color will give you a perfect combination with red brick homes as well as other red, tan and brown shades of conventional siding.

Stony Ridge: Grey color – will blend perfectly with grey and most other colors.

Mountain Spruce: Great for suburban areas, and will bled well with background forest, as well as bushes and trees surrounding your home.

Traditions – Maintenance and Life-cycle:

A good roof is the one you can forget about and Traditions classic is no different. Traditions Classic is virtually maintenance free and is specially designed for low sloped roofs. The high quality membrane resists mold, mildew, algae, chemicals and ultraviolet rays, and will continue to look great on your home for years to come – guaranteed!

IB roof, originally created to meet high demands of commercial/industrial roofing market, is now available to the home owners in New England. We provide a complete package combined with professional installation and personalized service to meet the needs of our clients, and we strive to surpass your expectations, while providing reasonable pricing.

Whether you have a house with a leaking flat roof or a business structure such as a shop, storage facility, office building, etc., we invite you to join the ‘elite club’ of our customers. We promise that we will treat your roof as our own!

If your flat roof currently leaks, we recommend that you take a look at our flat roof repair guide to get more insight on the options and solutions to solve your leaks problems. To learn more about modern roofing technology, check out the Single Ply Roofing overview.

Getting IB roof installed for your home or business in CT:

We will closely work with you or your builder/architect to provide the best long-term roofing solution for you. We invite you to use our interactive roofing cost calculator to get an instant price quote to replace your roof. To schedule roofing project in Connecticut, fill out the roofing estimate form.

Some of the Flat Roofs in Connecticut, that we have done recently:

Update: Feb. 13, 2009 – We finally implemented a roofing and construction blog, and all our job profiles will be posted there.

First in a series is a 50-mil residential IB Roof installed in Andover, CT

After a major leak of a 5 years old rolled asphalt roof occurred in home-owner’s bedroom, a major rot damage and mold problem was discovered. Find out how the costs of water damage restorations and mold removal, moved this Connecticut homeowner to seek a permanent flat roofing solution, and why he chose IB Cool Flat roofing membrane.

From our customer:

Thanks again for a job well done. It is a good feeling to know that I won’t be dealing with water coming in my house any longer. You have good men working for you. They are very respectful and professional. The roof looks great!

Great Job! Thanks, Alex.

Picture galleries of older roofing projects completed in Connecticut:

Some of Metal Roofs we have installed recently:

We provide Residential and Commercial roofing services for businesses and home owners, using the best flat roofing material available on the market today – IB Flat Roofing systems – PVC single-ply cool roofing membrane. Any roofing system, no matter how good it is, can leak if installed improperly – that is why we install all our roofs in accordance with IB installation requirements, MA building code, and special attention to details and geographic location of the roofing job.

For example, a roof located near the ocean is more prone to strong wind blow-offs, uplift and wind-driven water leaks. That is why in coastal areas, we double the number of heavy-duty fasteners used to hold down the roofing membrane securely attached to roof deck.

We will treat your roof like it is our own:

Our Moto is ‘to install every roof right, so we won’t have to go back for a service call’. This may sound a bit selfish, but it is the most beneficial for your roof, and for you. Since we match the labor warranty of our installations for the same period as the product warranty, we install every roof to be sure there will be no leaks.

Getting IB roof installed for your home or business in MA:

We will closely work with you or your builder/architect to provide the best long-term roofing solution for you. We invite you to use our interactive roofing cost calculator to get an instant price quote to replace your roof. To schedule roofing project in Massachusetts, fill out the roofing estimate form.

Recent roofing jobs we’ve completed in Massachusetts:

Roofing Massachusetts – a series of mini roof installation reviews, covers a few flat and metal roofs that we’ve recently completed in different cites in Massachusetts – Framingham, Westminster, Hingham, Boston, Wellesley, Wayland. We will update this list as well as publish more roof installation reviews as we get more time to do it. New reviews will include flat and metal roof installations in the following cities:

- Metal Roof in Attleboro, MA – A slate impression steel interlocking shingles metal roof installed on a roof of a single-family home on a quiet street in Attleboro, Mass.

- Metal Roof in Revere, MA

- Standing seam metal roof in Plymouth, MA

- Residential IB traditions roof in Arlington, MA

- A flat roof on apartment building in downtown North Attleboro,  MA

- A roof deck installed in Brighton, MA

- A metal roof installed in Haverhill, MA

Massachusetts roofs installed during Winter 2009:

Flat Roof in Lowell MA – We removed old and leaking EPDM rubber roof, installed new 4″ ISO insulation with 24-r value and a new 50 mil IB PVC flat roofing membrane. Besides the IB roof installation overview, we point out the inherent defects in rubber roofing systems, and why homeowners should avoid installing EPDM roof on their home and dealing with shady roofing contractors “specializing” in rubber roofs.

New flat roofs, installed in August 2009:

Solar Decathlon house with IB flat roof & Solar PV panels: Team Boston (Tufts and BAC) built a solar home with innovative green construction technologies such as: 6.4 KW Solar Photovoltaic system, solar hot water and a Trombe wall – a solar-thermal-mass window/wall systems to compete in 2009 DOE Solar Decathlon. Cool Flat Roofs, together with IB Roof Systems sponsored and installed a 50-mil white IB PVC roofing membrane, with water collection system using IB U-flow drains, and helped the team install the solar PV / solar hot water array.

Old rubber roof replaced with 80-mil IB roof in Boston : The old roof was replace, and extencive brick work on parapet walls was perforemed to ensure highest quality of installation and long-lasting protection for this house in Boston / Roxbury. Roof size was just over 400 sq. ft. and it took 8 days total to install this roof. Read the complete review of this roof installation with many picture and videos.

Flat roof deck in Wellesley, MA: A new construction addition was built and a flat roof deck was installed over a garage roof. We used an 80-mil grey IB roof to ensure permanent water tightness. A new deck will now be installed over sleepers, for which we welded down 2″ wide strips of membrane to protect main roof. Also a prefabricated post flashings were installed over 4×4 railing posts to insure that post would not leak. Roof installation was completed in one day.

Sanding seam metal roof in Wayland:

In the middle a of June 2009, we’ve completed a standing seam metal roof installation. Roof was installed on a residential house in Wayland, Massachusetts. As some may recall, May and June of 2009 had lots of rainy days, so we had to cope with weather as well as many unnoticeable complications which this roofing job has posed for us.

In a nutshell, the roof was constantly subjected to Ice Dam related roof leaks, due lo relatively low roof slope and some heat loss from inside the house, falling ice which would tear off the gutters in the winter and pose danger to people living and visiting the home. One of the most strange things we’ve encountered was the masonry chimney which had a wood frame built around it and stucco installed on the outside, for visual effects. This was actually the first such chimney I’ve seen. Usually stucco is installed right over the chimney, which I though was the case here. Later, after the job was complete, we;ve discovered that the stucco shell of the chimney had cracks in it and was leaking. Where as before such leak would be attributed to old roof, now we could easily pinpoint and eliminate the source of leaks.

You can read more about this project on our roofing blog: Metal roofing in Wayland, MA

Home owner’s remarks after the job was completed and chimney leak eliminated:

Leo,

I did manage to find some time to seal and refinish the chimney. The moment of truth came yesterday when I went into the attic after a long steady rainfall to find the former leak site completely dry. The spot I suspect is at the joint between the concrete cap and the stucco on the front side of the house. There was a crack there that lined up with water flow marks down the side of the chimney. I think the water was able to curl under the cap to that crack and then pass behind the stucco to cause the leak.

I am now very happy to have a completely watertight roof that should stand up to winter ice and snow for a long long time. Thanks again for your work and for the trip you made to assess the leak. With any luck, you won’t hear from me for a long time about the new roof. I wish you and your crew success in your business and in life

Glenn.

EPDM Rubber Roof repair service in Mass.

Rubber roof repair in Massachusetts – we now offer a service to repair your leaking rubber flat roof (EPDM rubber roofing), for a fraction of the cost to install a new IB roof. Although it is usually a better idea to replace the roof as leak damages will only progress and throwing money away or roof repairs that last a short period of time in not economical, it may sometimes make sense to repair a rubber roof if it is only a small flashing that is leaking because of a bad seam, or a failed rubber components.

We can repair corner flashing (inside and outside corners), fix in-field leaking seams  with rubber seam tape, or re-seam the existing seams with 9″ cover tapes, to dramatically extend roof service life.

For these rubber roof repairs we use only the best flashing components such as Carlisle and Firestone peel-stick flashing and cover tapes in 6″, 9″ and even 12″ width – this allows us to be able to repair nearly every type of rubber roof leak, as well as install new flashing around skylights, chimneys and other flat roof penetrations and curbs.

We also do custom copper flashing work when performing a rubber roof repair. As you can see in the picture above, a new copper counter-flashing was installed after a rubber corner patch was applied to the chimney flashing. The couterflashing  was replaced after squirrels chewed and ate the lead flashing that was originally there.

Some of the Flat Roofs in Massachusetts, that we have done recently:

Some of Metal Roofs we have done recently Massachusetts:

• Types of flat roof decks – Choose between IB DeckShield & traditional wooden deck over flat roof.
• Flat Roof deck prices – Learn how much a flat roof deck will cost.
• Roof deck leaks – Learn why flat roof decks leak and how to prevent/eliminate these leaks.
• IB DeckShield – Details of IB DeckShield roof assembly – how it works and what goes into it.
• IB 80-mil with PT deck – Details of PT wooden deck over IB 80-mil roof assembly.

Roof deck & leaking.

Many homes in New England have a walk-on flat roof decks with living space under them, and 90 percent of these deck roofs leak, ruining your rooms. Stains on sheet-rock ceilings, popping hardwood flooring, wet carpets and rotted framing are just some of the damages that you may sustain as a result of these leaks. Destroyed personal property such as beds, book shelves, computers, TVs and other electronic equipment can also be considered in cases of severe roof leaks.

All these items are very expensive to fix and even more expensive to replace. Yet you can easily solve these problems in a fairly cheap way (when compared to costs of replacing and repairs you have to incur if you let the leaks continue) with IB’s life-time roofing product. With IB Roof, you will never have to worry about roof leaks again and you could finally regain full use of your roof deck or patio.

Creating a leak-free Roof Deck with IB roofing systems

We offer two different solutions for you to permanently solve your roof deck leaks. Both ways utilize IB’s time-proven CPA membranes featuring hot-air welded seam. The main difference between the two methods is the product you choose to use, and aesthetics you desire.

Assembly type 1: IB DeckShield – a fully integrated waterproofing membrane system designed for use on walk-out roof decks. DeckShield as highly slip-resistant that Complies and exceeds ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements.

Learn how IB Deck Shield membrane is installed, installation prices and more general information of roof deck waterproofing using IB DeckShield membrane.

Download DeckShield brochure

IB DeckShield – a beautiful and durable decking waterproofing membrane.

Benefits of using IB Deckshield assembly:

• Enhances the appearance of decks
• Eliminates annual painting and staining of wood decks
• Durable, Slip resistant Waterproofing system.
• Resists mildew, chemicals, and UV rays.
• Eliminates hazardous wood splinters and unsightly concrete cracking.
• Complies with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements.

Assembly type 2: Deck on top of flat roof: IB PVC membrane with a wood deck installed over it – a more traditional way of roof deck construction, features an IB Lifetime single-ply membrane with fusion-welded seams. This method will ensure permanent water-tightness of your roof deck combined with a deck and railings system built with your choice of wood and pattern. Download IB Roof brochure

Benefits of using IB 80-mil membrane with PT / Composition deck on top:

• Wooden deck on top of IB 80 mil roofing membrane protects the roof from accidental mechanical damages.
• Allows people to have a more traditional wooden deck / patio.
• Composition deck assembly eliminates the need to stain / paint the wood.
• Allows extended use of outdoor grills without worrying that you’ll burn through the roof.
• Allows the Creation of beautiful deck designs and the use of Steel outdoor furniture.

IB 80-mil PVC roofing membrane with composition board deck assembly create this beautiful patio

Happy client enjoys her private roof-deck in Arlington, MA. Roof assembly consists of 80-mil IB Roof for waterproofing, and a diamond-shaped, low profile deck.

Cost of flat roof decks

Why roof decks leak?

Most roof decks in existence today, use a flat roofing material that were created over a century ago and were not designed for use as roofing for residential homes and living area. Another reason is original design flaw implemented by architects and/or builders, who were not qualified in flat roofing and did not have appropriate roofing technology to use.

Ponding Water leaks:

Very often you can find ponding water accumulating on these deck roofs. Majority of flat roofing system existing today cannot sustain constant ponding water and as a result water enters your house, and destroys your possessions and property.

Wood Deck and Railing leaks:

Often there is a wood deck installed on top of a flat roof or some sort of a railing system. To make these railings securely attached to the roof, builders often create roof penetration for every railing post on the roof. The only way to “seal” these penetrations for most builders, is to use roof cement or pitch-pockets – both of these methods are considered unacceptable by the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA). Yet most builders don’t have the appropriate products, expertise and many times, don’t care enough to make these penetrations water-tight.

This, results in more leaks – usually these leaks don’t appear inside your home for years, but the hidden damages can cost thousands of dollars to fix. Water slowly enters your home and rots the beams and studs. While unnoticed for a long period of time, such leaks my sometimes result in partial or complete re-framing of your roof and/or support walls.

Leaking Flat Roof Deck

Details of roof deck construction using IB Membranes and DeckShield

IB DeckShield roof / deck assembly and installation:

DeckShield is easiest to use in new construction, however it can be easily adopted for retrofit use on existing homes. IB Deck Shield is installed as a fully-adhered application on top of Dens Deck – a fiber-cement type board that is 1/4 of an inch thick, or over plywood.

The surface for installing IB DeckShield must be clean, smooth and flat. That is why in some retrofit applications use of DeckShield may be difficult or impossible. When you have an uneven surface it is best to use the regular IB Roofing Membrane with a wooden deck over it. If you still want to use Deck Shield for a retrofit roof deck project, expect the additional costs of making your roof surface even.

DeckShield can be used for a small balcony as well as a large roof deck, and for everything in between. Hot-air welded seams make IB DeckShield a long-lasting waterproofing solution that is both eye-pleasing and safe to walk on when it is wet. Expect many compliments from your family and friends when they get to see your new roof patio with IB DeckShield.

DeckShield colors and texture:

DeckShield has a look and texture of tiny pebbles – something similar to a floor in a swimming pool. You can choose between two distinct colors – Tan and Grey – both look great and will compliment your home.

Since IB DeckShield is made from the same material as other IB membranes, it is easy to accommodate for any roof penetrations such as Railing System and Roof-Wall detail. This will ensure that your roof will be water-tight and you can take full advantage of your deck or patio once again and will not have to worry about leaks. Invite your friends and family for a cookout, enjoy a cocktail or watch the stars.

If you live in Massachusetts and your rubber roof leaks, you can also hire us to professionally repair your EPDM Rubber Roof – fill out the Roof Repair Request form bellow. We will also provide you with an estimate to replace your old rubber roof with Lifetime IB PVC roofing membrane. We provide our rubber roof repair service for a very reasonable fee of $350, which includes 2 hours of repair work as well as high quality, peel-and-stick Rubber Roof flashing materials made by best names in the EPDM roofing industry – Firestone and Carlisle.

We recommend that you also read our guide to residential flat rubber roofing, which describes why your roof could be leaking, how most residential roofing contractors get into flat roof installations, their “training and experience” background and most importantly why you should avoid installing another EPDM rubber roof on your house.

If you are unsure if you are better off fixing your rubber roof yourself or hiring a roofing contractor like us – read our guide DIY rubber roof vs. hiring a roofing contractor. This article will explain advantages of both options as well as show you how much it costs to buy EPDM flashing materials, adhesives and required tools as well as describe step-by-step process of rubber roof repair using newer peel-and-stick EPDM flashing materials.

Rubber roof repair services in Massachusetts fill out form bellow or call: 617-444-9020

Roof repair service cost – $350 flat fee for first 2 hours of roof repair work, including peel-and-stick rubber flashing materials. Any work after initial 2 hours will be discussed and priced accordingly.

Find out more about our Rubber Roof Repair in MA – prices on projects over 2 hours, materials used, geographic area which we cover and warranty information.

We want you to also be aware that rubber roof repair can (should) be performed when the outside temperature is above 40 F. Otherwise the EPDM glue and/or primer will ether freeze or will not apply properly. In some cases contractors will keep the adhesives warm inside their trucks, and only take it out right before they actually use it. While this method somewhat works, we do not recommend it, as such repair can fail prematurely.

Rubber roof repair request form:

Name:	*
Address:
City:	*
State:	Massachusetts Connecticut Rhode Island New Hampshire Maine Vermont Other
Zip:	*
Phone:	*
E-Mail:	*
	Please describe your roof, leak problems (e.g. near skylight or at the roof-to-wall flashing, etc), and any additional information that would help us better prepare for your roof repair.
Roof Details:

You can also request an estimate to replace your existing roof. Select one or more products. You can select multiple products by clicking on multiple boxes.

IB Standard Membrane: IB 50-mil White IB 80-mil White/Color IB 80-mil ChemGuard

IB Specialty Membrane: IB DeckShield IB Tradition Classics IB Solar PV Roof

Other Roofing products: Metal Roofing (Standing seam, Steel or Aluminum Metal shingles) Thermo White Spray-On Roofs (For steel standing seam)

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DIY rubber roof repair guide – learn how to fix rubber roof using black rubber glue.

This do-it-yourself rubber roof repair guide will walk you through a simple rubber roof seam patching process, using old rubber glue. Please note, that due to accelerated “black rubber glue” failures, EPDM industry has switched to newer and better Peel-and-Stick method of gluing the seams between rubber membrane and flashing material. Peel-and-stick method uses special flashing material and a so called “rubber primer”, which gets tacky faster than rubber glue and hold the seams better and longer. Still, even the seams “glued” together using the newer peel-and-stick plashing method, will fail after about 7-10 years. After that period, most EPDM rubber roofs will require some kind of roof repair and in some cases complete “re-seam” job. Re-seam repair means that all seams are covered with a peel-and-stick cover tape of 6-12″ in width. This will usually buy you another 3-5 years of roof life, after which you will have to repair it again.

Therefore we recommend that instead of installing (or in some cases even repairing) the rubber roof, you install a new, Lifetime IB PVC Roofing system, which is installed using hot-air welded seams instead of being glued together. Once IB roof seams are welded, you cannot pull them apart without tearing the membrane itself.

This ‘Rubber Roof Do-It-Yourself repair guide’ is intended to give you the basic knowledge of how to
repair a flat rubber roof. However, such repairs are NOT considered DIY projects by the roofing industry professionals, and we recommend you to seek help with your roof repair from a professional roofing company specializing in Flat Roofing. If you are located in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island, you can contact us by filling out Free Roof Estimate Request form, and we will provide you information and options to solve your roof leaks problems.

Rubber or Epdm roofs came to existence in 1960′s and since then, billions of sq. feet of rubber roofs have been installed all over United States. Rubber roofs are probably the Most used flat roofing technology, mainly due to its Very Low cost. Epdm roofs are very cheap to produce, so most commercial roofing manufacturers jumped the band-wagon and started making them in mass quantities. While Epdm rubber-like membranes are very common, so are the roof leaks associated with them.

Epdm membranes themselves are a decent roofing product, hence most of them carry warranties that range from 30 to 40 years. However, those warranties ONLY cover the membrane itself, which unless is physically damaged, will usually remain intact through it’s service life.

However, the long warranties of Epdm DO NOT cover the cause of 99% of all flat roof leaks – the seams between sheets of membrane. Seams are the inherited flaw and a weakness of not only Epdm rubber roofs, but most other flat roofing technologies available today. Seams are put together with adhesives, and lately with peel-&-stick tapes, which after some time on the roof just comes apart, and the roof starts to leak. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to prolong the life of seam adhesives, and the only two options to deal with leaks are: Repair or Replace

Rubber roof repair How-To in 4 steps.

Note: Do not attempt to repair you rubber roof if the outside temperature is below 35-40 degrees, as it might be too cold for the adhesive to dry properly. Consult the sales people at the roofing supply warehouse listed below. Also request installation documents for adhesives and/or seam tape that you will need to purchase. These document will give you exact application requirements and directions.

Step 1: Locate the source of leaks

Tools you will need: Ladder, Paint-Brushes, Rubber gloves, Seams Probe Tool and Silicone hand roller. These tools can be purchased from the roofing supply warehouse like Bradco Supply or Harveys Industry or from a local lumber yard. We recommend getting the brushes from the roofing warehouse, to make sure it is compatible with the adhesive and cleaning solution. Home Depot and Lowe’s will probably not
have the hand roller on the probe tool, but you can find something similar there. They will certainly have ladders, and will usually have a better price on them.

You will also need the solvent-based cleaning solution for seams and Epdm seam adhesive and/or seam tape. These should be purchase from the roofing warehouse. Home-Improvement stores do not have what you need.

Caution: Do not use ‘Ice&Water tape’ – you should only use the seam tape made for Epdm rubber roofs.

Seam Probe Tool

2″ Silicone Hand Roller

As we stated previously, most of flat roof leaks occur at the seams, so we you will need to inspect all seams on your rubber roof. Once you acquired the needed tools and supplies, you will need to find the source of leaks. To locate the leak in your rubber roof, you will need to actually get on the roof and with a simple probe-tool check all the seams to find the place where adhesive no longer holds the membrane together. Also check all roof penetrations (Pipes, Vents, etc.) and curbs such as Sky-lights and HVAC units. Mark the spots where the seams are broken.

If you have loose gravel on the roof, you’ll need to sweep it off the seams with a heavy broom, so it is not in your way. Do not use shovels or any thing that has metal edges as you may cause additional damage to the membrane.

Step 2: Prepare your roof for repair

Now that you’ve located the source of your roof leaks, you need to clean the surface of the rubber, so you can apply the adhesive and/or seam tape. With cloth and warm water, thoroughly wash off as much dirt as you can and let it dry. Do not use gasoline to clean the rubber membrane. Although many installers will tell you it is safe – any manufacturer’s warranty prohibits cleaning epdm rubber with gasoline.

I’ve found a rubbing alcohol to be a good and inexpensive solution. There are also cleaners available from the manufacturer, and these are the best to use, but they are expensive and only come in 1 gallon cans. So if you have a very small area to clean, get the rubbing alcohol.

Once the roof surface is clean and dry, pull the seams apart about 1 foot away from the location of the leak. According to manufacturer’s directions, thoroughly clean seams with the cleaning solution, making sure you remove all existing adhesive and let it dry. The procedure may have to be repeated.

This and next steps are MOST crucial to the quality of the repair and elimination of the future leaks.

Step 3: Applying Adhesive and/or Seam Tape

Use the brush to apply the adhesive to both surfaces of the seams. Try to get the adhesive as deed as you can under the top sheet of membrane (6-8 inch wide seams a recommended). Also thoroughly apply adhesive to ‘corners’ – where you pulled seams apart and the new adhesive comes in contact with the old one.

Once you’ve applied adhesive, put the seams together and use the silicone roller to apply pressure to the seams. This will ensure a quality seam repair. Let the new seams completely dry. Do not attempt to test them with the probe tool just yet. Wait 24 hours until the next step.

Step 4: Testing the seams and applying the Seam Tape

Now your newly-repair seams should be dry and ready to be tested. Use the seam probe to test all seams that you have repaired. If you followed the previous directions and used the silicone roller, your seams should be like new, and the probe should not be able to split the seams. If you do find imperfect adhesive bond, repeat Step 3 by reapplying the adhesive and using the silicone roller to apply pressure.

At this stage, we recommend to also use the seam tape to further ensure quality of your repair job and extend the length of time which the repair will last. Apply the seam tape with the silicone roller, extending it by 1 foot in each direction from the end of your seam repair. Use the edge of the silicone roller to make sure there is good adhesion where there is a slight elevation change from one sheet of rubber to another. If your seams job was done well, there is no need to test the seam tape. You are now done!

Conclusion

Now that you have done the seams repair, you eliminated the leaks. However, even when done by a professional, such repair job usually lasts up-to one year. Sometimes as little as only 6 month. There are many factors affecting the length of the rubber roof repair.

To name a few:

• The quality of the repair itself
• Presence of ponding water (which will greatly reduce the length that such repair will last)
• Moisture and condensation trapped under the rubber will also speed up the occurrence of more leaks

There are many more reasons why your roof may and probably will begin to leak again. Check out our Flat Roof Repair Guide for more info regarding the causes of leaks and what to do when they happen.

To minimize your Costs associated with flat roof repair we recommend you to contact us to get IB Cool Roof. IB Roofs differ from the regular rubber roofs in the way the seams are
attached together. IB PVC roofing system uses Hot-Air fusion welding process, to permanently attach the seams together. With IB roof, you will never face the same problems associated with the rubber roofs, hence, to need to repair, unless there is some sort of physical damage puncture through the membrane. But even in case of such damage, repair is as easy as welding a patch over the damaged area – no need to use solvent cleaners and adhesives.

To back up its products, IB Roof Systems is the only roofing manufacturer to offers the Lifetime Residential Warranty. IB roof can also be upgraded with IB SolarWise BI-PV – the only Fully Integrated Solar PV system available for flat roofing Homes and Commercial buildings.

Disclaimer: This ‘Rubber Roof repair guide’ is intended for informational and reference purposes only. We do not recommend implicitly or explicitly, to anyone, performing any of the procedures described in this guide. We are also not responsible for any property damage or personal injuries resulting from following this informational guide.

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If you have a leaking rubber roof in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island we can repair your rubber roof at a relatively low cost, using only the best materials that rubber systems have. Example of such materials are peel-and-stick flashing and seam tapes. We do not use black rubber glue as it is outdated, and leaks much faster.

Quick Navigation:

• Why homeowners should avoid rubber roofing – The truth of about residential flat roofing market and why you should stay away from rubber, and carefully choose your roofing contractor.
• Alternatives to rubber roofing – Find out what other, better flat roofing products are available for a similar cost, but without the EPDM’s inherited problems.
• Residential rubber roofing – Learn why rubber roofs should NOT be used on a roof of your home.
• Commercial rubber roofing – Limitations of EPDM rubber in the commercial flat roofing applications.
• Why rubber roofs are so popular – Quick history of EPDM rubber in US flat roofing market, and key to its popularity

Truth about residential flat roofing market and contractors.

This rubber roof is just 1 year old, and has been leaking since day one, until we replaced it with a lifetime IB PVC flat roofing membrane.

Rubber Roof Contractors: It is unfortunate, but most residential flat roofs are installed by roofing contractors that specialize in asphalt shingles. Since they can easily purchase rubber roofing materials from their roofing supply warehouse, and are not required to be certified installers, nor do they need any special training or equipment, they will often undertake such projects to keep their crews busy.

Incorrectly installed EPDM roof in Quincy, MA – rubber glued right over shingles:

The truth is such that to get a quality, rubber roof installed, it usually has to be done by a commercial roofing company that specializes in flat roofing. However it is often the policy of such companies not to work with residential customers, for which there are many reasons. These contractors work with large commercial and institutional customers, employ union workers who are trained roof mechanics specialized in their particular niche. For example, a commercial roofing contractor will have separate crew doing metal roofing or slate – these guys are “roofers”, and yet another crew doing flat roofing ONLY – these are “roof mechanics”.

A residential roofing contractor, usually employees just roofers, who are good at what they do all day long – installation of asphalt shingle roofs, and often do not have a clue about how flat roofs work. When they get a potential client with a flat roof, they go to their supplier, as what supplier has for flat roof, and the salesman at the supply warehouse TEACHES the roofer how to install EPDM rubber. This is not creative fiction or product of my imagination – I see this happening nearly every time, when I come in to get something.

“Trained rubber roofing installers”: If you are lucky, you may get a roofer that has received some sort of training about rubber roof installation. For example, one of my suppliers, provides installation training programs for their roofing contractors who install only asphalt shingles. The idea behind such training seminars is to increase awareness and solicit sales of more roofing products. A manufacturer technician provides a sample installation on a 8×8 feet demo stand.

Bellow is and example of such “hand-on rubber roofing training”.

As you can see, the roofers just sit around the demo stand while the MFG Installation technician shows them what to do. The whole demonstration took about an hour and a half, and covered thing like installing flat roofing insulation (ISO), adhering rubber to the ISO board, flashing a sky-light / chimney penetration with un-cured flashing material, installing the membrane up the vertical wall, cleaning & priming seams and installing seam tape, installing drip edge and a tape to seal the drip edge fasteners, and installing termination bar. In the same 1.5 hours we’ve also learned “learned” how to correctly apply yellow glue – membrane adhesive, seam primer – seam & flashing glue and how to install these systems in the winter, while violating manufacturer’s installation specs.

Out of 25 or so roofing contractors present, there were about 15 or so questions particular to the installation details. 7 of them where asked by me! Bear in mind that I already knew how to install a rubber roof and attended the event to talk to my salesman, representatives of the metal roofing manufacturer and for free refreshments

In any case, each one of those 25 or so roofing contractors, willing to learn a new, and very complicated roofing system, asked an average of 0.3 questions about this systems.

Rubber roofs for residential customers: It was clear that my supplier and the roofing representatives were selling to Residential Roofing Contractors. Not once did they mention roof-top HVAC units, roof hatches, elevator shafts, gas/electrical pipes, roof drains, etc. They did however insisted that the rubber is a good choice for a low slope shed dormer (without mentioning the poor low slope roof ventilation and ice dam prevention associated with shed dormers). They also mentioned that rubber is a good choice for a flat roof decks and patios.

EPDM Rubber roofing and flat roof homes.

Homeowners with flat roof homes often find themselves in a situation where their roof starts to leak rather unexpectedly – i.e. only after a few years since the roof was installed. This for the most part happens to homes which have a rubber roof on them. While most flat roofs will only last 10-15 years, older systems such as Tar & Gravel, Bur and in some cases Modified bitumen roofs are usually installed by roofing contractors that are somewhat specialized in their scope of work – these are “the old-timers” or former union guys that decided to try their luck working for themselves, and they actually went through a special training and have years of experience. Problem is that roofing systems they install do not last long for many reasons outside the scope of this article.

Homes that have a rubber roof, begin to leak well before their minimal life expectancy is reached because in many cases they are roofed by your typical shingle roofing contractor that is so confident in his/her abilities, and a rubber roof is merely a roof with a low slope.

Why rubber roofs are so popular?

The truth is, rubber roofs (EPDM) are the most used flat roofing products in the US / Canadian commercial roofing market. Rubber roofs we first put in service over 40 years ago, and since gained popularity among roofing contractors and their customers. The reason for such success lyes in the condition of flat roofing market of that time and the available alternatives.

Back in 1960′s oil was still very cheap, it was more than a decade before the oil crisis of the 70′s and there wasn’t that much demand for oil. The oil refining process was far from being efficient and the industry was looking to get rid of many by-products of oil refining process.

At the same time flat roofing industry at that time was the same as at the turn of 19th century, and the most common product to use on a flat roof was either a BUR (built-up roofing, using multiple layers of tar paper, saturated in hot tar or hot asphalt) or Tar & Gravel roofing, which was essentially a BUR roof with gravel added for additional protection. Flat roofing technology has not changed for 100 years and contractors needed a new, easier to install and cleaner product, hence, the EPDM was born.

EPDM consists mainly of oil (carbo-hydrate) based by-products with some modifiers and stabilizers added to extend its service life. Rubber roofing was cheap to produce, easier to install that conventional (BUR) roofs, did not require any special equipment to put it down and the membrane could potentially last for decades, as it was UV stable and did not break down when exposed to the weather.

Because rubber roofing was cheap, quick to install, and offered a potentially long service life, and with lack of any opposition from better roofing products, it quickly became the king of flat roofing and the pioneer of the single-ply flat roofing market.

Useful resources:

DIY epdm rubber roof repair – Our original article on how to fix a rubber roof with EPDM rubber adhesive (no peel-n-stick tapes)

Rubber roof repair guide – A part 2 of our Do-it-yourself guide teaching you hot to fix EPDM rubber roofing systems with primer and seam tape.