Technology continues to improve roofing materials, and the commercial roofing industry has seen its share of innovative products. From space-age polymers to innovative applications of old standby favorites, you and your professional Charleston roofing contractor may consider a variety of products for use on your new commercial roof.
Commercial roofs are now well beyond the old tar and rubber commercial roof systems. The biggest advances in the industry involve the use of thermoplastic membranes. The chemicals in these roof membranes are not cross-linked and so can be repeatedly softened or cooled, and they offer a wide variety of benefits.
The most popular thermoplastic membranes are TPO, or thermoplastic olefin. An popular development for commercial roofs, TPO’s singly-ply membrane offers robust protection in just one layer. Usually white in color, TPO sheets contain all of your roof’s protective ingredients, including UV absorbers and flame retardants.
Easily fit to a variety of low-slope or flat roofs, TPO membranes come in rolls of many sizes, ranging from 6 to 12 feet wide. In most cases, roofs made of TPO are completely ready for use once the single layer is applied to the roof deck.
In fact, its installation method offers one of its greatest benefits: resilient and sturdy fused seams. Unlike many other polymer membranes, TPO seams are fused together by heat welded with hot air, according to the National Roofing Contractors Association. These fused seams provide one continuous protective system over the entire field of the roof, and offer six times more strength than glued seams.