Madsen Commercial Roofing Services Roof Replacement : Waterproofing Solutions : New Construction Roofing : Preventative Inspection & Maintenance : Roof Evaluation and Budget Estimation : Emergency Roofing Services

Metal roofing is a reliable commercial roofing system that offers a myriad of competitive advantages over other systems. Available in a variety of profiles, pigments, and textures, metal roofing affords architectural appeal and durability. It is a flexible roofing material in both steep-slope and low-slope systems, and is perhaps the most effective source of protection against fires and adverse weather conditions. With minimal life-cycle costs, metal roofing is the selected surface for cost-conscience operations including government and industrial facilities.

Metal roofing generally qualifies as a cool roof system and provides solar reflectance of over 70%, allowing the roof surface to maintain a reasonable temperature. Additionally, cool metal roofing is an effective way to mitigate the "urban heat island" effect. In fact, metal roofs are highly respected by the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Roof Products Program and a significant part of the California Energy Commission's Cool Roof savings program.

Given their durability, metal roofing systems can last up to 30 years and experienced commercial insurance professionals can find additional savings on corresponding policies.

There are two general categories of metal roofing systems: architectural metal roofing and structural metal roofing. Generally, architectural metal panel roofing systems are water shedding roof systems, usually intended for use on steep-slope roofs. Structural standing seam metal panel roof systems are used on both low and steep-slope applications. Structural standing seam metal panel roofing is applicable for use on low-slope roofs due to its hydrostatic (or water barrier) characteristics.

Architecturally, metal panel roofing systems are typically designed to be used on steep enough slopes that will shed water rapidly off the metal panels' surface, so typically the seams are not watertight. Many of the architectural metal roof systems are well-suited for use on roof slopes of 3 inches-per-foot (25%) or greater. One exception to the general slope guidelines for architectural metal panel systems is the traditional flat seamed, soldered, or welded metal (e.g. copper) roofing. It may be specified on slopes less than 3 inches per (25%). Solid roof sheathing or decking is required for architectural metal panel roof systems, and underlayment is recommended.

Why Commercial Roofing is Hard Work A Siplast membrane, Veral, was used as flashing to provide long-term protection in the areas where the roof tends to deteriorate the most. Veral is a metal clad system, combining glass scrim-reinforced SBS-modified asphalt base with a protective foil facing. Madsen Roofing specializes in commercial and industrial applications, in addition to doing a lot of spec work for consultants. About 60% of the company's work is built-up and modified, 20-25% is single ply and the rest is metal and shingles. Several years ago, Madsen Roofing responded to short notice to start a roof replacement project on a Northern California high school in the middle of July. Interestingly, the project had to be finished within 5 weeks, a 530-square foot job that required the removal of three previous roofs. The top layer was single-ply that had been put on top of two different layers of built-up roofing and fiberglass insulation. One other detail that had to be attended to was an area of the roof that was adjacent to a steep-sloped metal section. Snow tended to slide off the metal on to the membrane, causing extensive damage. For that section of the flat roof, Madsen Roofing used two layers of walk pads over Siplast's Parafor 50, a heavy duty, double-reinforced modified bitumen sheet, composed of high-quality asphalt with a fiberglass-reinforced polyester mat. [Continue...]