A Roof Is a Roof, Right?
Before we talk too much about commercial roofing, let’s start by answering a basic question – what is a roof? The roof of any structure exists to provide coverage and protect the building’s contents from the elements, provide some structural support, and add insulation value. Roofs can also be designed to add some specific aesthetic value, but that isn’t always a primary consideration when it comes to commercial roofs.
What’s the Difference Between Residential Roofs and Commercial Roofs?
The differences mainly revolve around the slope, scope, and scale of the roof in question. Residential roofing is designed to cover houses or other buildings of similar size. Residential roofs are often pitched, which means they display a significant slope. One benefit of having a greater slope to the roof is that both precipitation and debris can be channeled off more easily.
But commercial roofing is often designed to protect much larger buildings. High-pitched roofs are uncommon for large structures, as they’re more expensive to build and are also less practical for buildings with a wide roof span. For this reason, most large commercial facilities have a flat or low-slope roof. But here’s one beauty of metal roofing; a metal roof can be installed for either residential or commercial roofing purposes, since it can work well for almost any roof slope.
What Are Some Commonly-Used Commercial Roofing Materials?
Most commercial roofing customers go with a low-pitch or flat roof design. The materials used for these types of roofs are often cheaper and easier to install than residential roofing, but many of these commercial roofing materials also carry greater potential for leaks and need more frequent maintenance. Here are some of the more commonly-used materials for commercial roofs:
♦ EPDM Roofing
EPDM stands for ethylene propylene diene terpolymer. It’s a synthetic rubber material typically available in three levels of thickness, each of which is progressively designed for greater ruggedness and longevity. And another good thing about rubber roofing is that needed repairs are often relatively quick and inexpensive.
♦ PVC Roofing
PVC is a type of plastic that’s known to be affordable and durable. PVC is resistant to chemicals, making it a good solution for commercial, industrial, and restaurant facilities which have grease traps on the roof. A properly-installed PVC roofing system can last 20 or more years with little needed maintenance.
♦ TPO Roofing
TPO (short for thermoplastic polyolefin) is one of the more popular commercial roofing materials, thanks to its price point and relative durability. In fact, TPO roofing is the fastest-growing segment of the US single-ply roofing industry. But TPO installation can be somewhat involved, as it usually involves the use of a heat welder.
♦ Flat Roofing
In addition to common single-ply options, modified bitumen and buildup roofs are still popular as low-cost choices for commercial roofing. Buildup roofs are comprised of roofing felt, asphalt, bitumen, and tar, with a layer of crushed stone on top. Modified bitumen starts with the components of a buildup roof, and then adds on some polymer-reinforced layers or cap sheets.
♦ Metal Roofing
Metal is a sound choice for pretty much all roofing applications, both residential and commercial. One notable thing about a metal roof is that it can be installed at almost any required slope. While it’s true that metal roofing is more costly than some other comparable materials, it’s also easier to clean, maintains its appearance much longer, needs little-to-no maintenance, and is designed to last you a lifetime.
What Makes Metal Roofing a Better Choice for Commercial Roofs
There are lots of advantages when it comes to choosing a metal roof for your commercial building needs, starting with the metal roofing components themselves. And a standing seam metal roof displays lots of design advantages over corrugated metal roofing.
1. Positive attributes of metal roofing
Here are just a few reasons to choose metal roofing. It comes in many profiles and colors, is naturally incombustible, sheds precipitation very well, and is very resistant to severe weather threats like wind, hail, and lightning. Metal roofing is also incredibly durable. A well-installed metal roof can literally last you a lifetime!
2. What metal roofing options are there?
The two most common designs are corrugated metal roofing and standing seam metal roofing.But standing seam rises above as the preferred option in terms of both performance and aesthetics. There are also several metal substrates from which you can choose, like galvalume steel, aluminum, and copper. Aluminum is the cheapest material, but it’s also the least rugged. Copper is the premium choice, but it also comes at a premium price. Galvalume steel is a solid option to consider because it’s strong, rugged, durable, comes in many colors and finishes, and is also more affordable than copper.
3. What’s the warranty like on a metal roof?
As is true with other roofing materials, the warranty will depend on both which metal you choose and how it’s installed. A galvalume steel substrate coated with Kynar 500 will significantly outperform other comparable metal roofs, and some metal roofing contractors like Skywalker Roofing stand behind their work much better than other installers will.
4. How do you choose the right metal roofing provider?
That’s a great question. There are lots of roofers who can nail a shingle, but there aren’t many local metal roofing contractors in NC or VA who can handle your commercial metal roofing installation properly. If you want to check out some unbiased customer reviews, click over to Guild Quality – it’s one of the best home improvement contractor review forums around!
Choose Skywalker Roofing to Meet ALL Your Commercial Roofing Needs in NC and VA
Skywalker Roofing is a name you can trust for commercial roofing. No matter what you’re looking for in a commercial roof installation or commercial roof replacement solution, we’ve got you covered. We manufacture and install custom standing seam metal roofs right on site, and nobody beats our standards of workmanship and personalized customer service.
Skywalker is your BEST commercial roofing solution across the NC Triad, NC Triangle, Mooresville & Lake Norman area, and southern VA region all the way up to Roanoke.
Got some questions about metal roofing or other commercial roofing solutions? You can connect with us online, or for an even faster response, just give us a call today at +1 (336) 627-5596. We’d love to show you the Skywalker difference!