Houston is known for its unpredictable downpours, which can quickly turn into costly disasters that require Houston building maintenance services for reliable solutions. Every year, these storms will test the limits of your commercial flat-roof structures, specifically their roofs. Because of this, working with a team of building maintenance experts like MIR Enterprises in Houston is non-negotiable for keeping your commercial flat roof leak-free all year long.
You may be wondering, Why are flat roofs more susceptible to leaks? The truth is that this type of commercial roof has many inherent design flaws that make it significantly more prone to water damage, especially compared to a traditional pitched roof. This is because roofs with a slope are able to rely fully on gravity in order to quickly remove water, while flat roofs have to be specifically designed for water management instead of runoff. The primary causes for these leaks include:
- Ponds of standing water
- High seam count
- Numerous penetrations
- Slow drainage
- Thermal expansion
Use this blog as your guide to diving deep into not only what specifically makes flat roofs susceptible to leaks, but also how Houston building maintenance services through MIR Enterprises can help.
Anatomy of Commercial Building Leaks: Where Roofs Fall Flat
Contrary to many Houston building owners’ beliefs, tears in the roof don’t just happen overnight. In the majority of cases, the cause is actually a long series of highly predictable, yet small factors that can lead to significant, long-term damage. The biggest factor for this is structural issues that are often called leak hotspots.
The most common failure point for commercial flat roofs is flashings and penetrations. This includes vents, pipes, and HVAC units. These are hotspots because they continuously require the roof membrane to be cut and resealed around them due to regular maintenance and replacements. The biggest reason for their failure is due to their location, as they are usually situated where vertical elements on the roof meet the horizontal pane. This means that as these elements face expansion and contraction due to temperature increases and decreases, they have double the possibilities for shifting and damage.
Seams and laps are often a commercial flat roof’s biggest enemy due to its single-ply membrane. This is because a flat roof is constructed using overlapping sheets of material with the edges being joined together, which helps with waterproofing. Hot-air welding joins these seams. While the bond is typically strong, factors like poor cleaning, extreme heat, or incorrect equipment pressure can weaken it. These seals can easily peel open over time, creating easy access for standing water.
The final element that causes flat roofs to fail, requiring building maintenance services, is the drains. Flat roofs face drain failure due to two reasons:
- Clogging: Because of the lack of slope, debris, silt, and leaves can accumulate extremely quickly.
- Damaged flashing: A flat roof’s drain penetrates the roofing deck. If the flashing cracks, water leaks into the building even if the drain remains clear.
Building Maintenance Protocol for Rain-Proofing
Knowing why a leak occurs is half the battle, the critical portion is understanding how proactive building maintenance services can help keep a flat roof water-tight, which is imperative for protecting your business’s assets. When it comes to owning a commercial building in Houston, building maintenance services help protect your roof by using proactive repair strategies instead of reactive replacement and large-scale repairs. This section of the blog will follow essential roof maintenance protocols to keep your roof water-tight through Houston’s rainy season.
The most important aspect of this Houston building maintenance protocol is to service your roof during the pre-rainy season. During this time, it is important to prioritize debris removal and remove all sticks, leaves, and trash from the entirety of the flat roof. Additionally, hiring a building maintenance services specialist, like MIR Enterprises, to perform a visual membrane assessment can be excellent for establishing a starting point for all proactive maintenance. By checking for blisters, cracks, and wrinkles ahead of time, our team of specialists can potentially stop large-scale leaks before they impact your Houston business.
Through this thorough inspection, we can locate potential hotspots that may require re-sealing due to expansion or contraction strains. By starting your rainy season off with a thorough and full-scale understanding of what challenges your commercial flat roof may be facing, you can keep your reactive building maintenance services to a minimum and enjoy a predictable, affordable financial situation.
Repair Services and Building Leak Prevention Techniques
After your pre-rainy season inspection, our building maintenance service team can help not just by patching any prior damage, but by strengthening the flat roof as a whole in order to prevent a storm from having detrimental outcomes. The primary avenue is a multi-layered approach to optimize drainage and enable the roof to withstand intense water damage and thermal cycling.
One way to do this is by seeking to improve the overall flow of the water. Tapered insulation redirects water away from low spots, preventing ponding. Additionally, improving the drain system is vital; typically, this includes replacing outdated roof drains with modern, high-flowing systems.
Along with drainage solutions, our team at MIR Enterprises can apply professional-grade asphaltic or acrylic coatings to protect against UV resistance. By upping the UV light protection, you can greatly deter thermal cycling within a flat roof’s materials, which may help cut back on shifting and damage.
How a Roof Leak Affects Building Maintenance
Sometimes, even the most impressive building maintenance service protocols still lead to slight water damage, especially when it comes to hyper-vulnerable flat roofs. Because of this, it is essential to understand not only how to react when an unexpected roof leak occurs, but also the consequences of not hiring a Houston building maintenance service specialist to fix it quickly.
If you notice a leak, it is imperative to quickly lay out an emergency tarp in order to protect your flooring from water damage and any potential contamination. This is essential for protecting your business from costly flooring, drywall, and furniture damage.
By avoiding the emergency tarp and, most importantly, calling MIR Enterprises swiftly, your Houston commercial building might become a mold and mildew breeding ground, which can lead to significant health scares for your staff and guests. Additionally, water damage can slowly eat away at your steel and wood, allowing your building to become less and less structurally sound. Finally, your AC may become less efficient due to increased insulation inefficiency.
Your Building Maintenance Partner For Flat Roof Longevity
If you want to protect your flat roof commercial building in Houston, building maintenance services from MIR Enterprises are paramount. By implementing our proactive maintenance strategies, you can save your budget and your building from detrimental, dangerous water damage due to flat roofing issues. Don’t wait for a brewing storm to get ahead of your flat roof building maintenance and stop water damage in its tracks. Contact MIR Enterprises today for a free building maintenance estimate.
