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I need to get my 7-year-old flat roof re-done. Does anyone know what the best material is? In other words, what kind of flat roof should I be getting? My mother says gravel. My neighbor says something called TPO roofing with insulation underneath. NO idea what that is.
Hoping for something that will last 10 years, ideally.
TPO is a new type of rubberized material. Lots of commercial buildings have used it with no problems. A local public building e has a PVC roof and its about 20 years old. TPO may be an improvement since then. There has been some patch work done and it looks like what we used to do to patch a bike inner tube. The old stuff was black but the newer stuff is white.
If the roof is flat, as in flat, you might be able to find a roofer that will remove any gravel, clean the current surface, and remop it with dead level asphalt. The Type 1 dead level asphalt will stay a little sticky in the hot sun so you won't be able to walk on it and you won't put gravel on it. It will always seek a dead level naturally while on the roof. Any holes knocked in it will self fix itself unless the holes are huge. It's like putting the blob on your roof. The life expectancy if done correctly can be beyond 10 years.
FWIW, if the current roof is only 7 years old, I'd be wanting know why it failed so soon. A gravel roof can easily last 20 years.
If the roof is flat, as in flat, you might be able to find a roofer that will remove any gravel, clean the current surface, and remop it with dead level asphalt. The Type 1 dead level asphalt will stay a little sticky in the hot sun so you won't be able to walk on it and you won't put gravel on it. It will always seek a dead level naturally while on the roof. Any holes knocked in it will self fix itself unless the holes are huge. It's like putting the blob on your roof. The life expectancy if done correctly can be beyond 10 years.
FWIW, if the current roof is only 7 years old, I'd be wanting know why it failed so soon. A gravel roof can easily last 20 years.
I need 2 flat roofs re-done: one on a carport, another on a patio.
The carport roof that is there now (installed by previous owner) is roll roofing that I believed was applied with tar. That roof is not leaking but the roof is shot.
The other flat roof (over patio) I need re-done has some kind of bitumen roofing. That one is leaking in a corner.
The roof estimates I have are for TPO and the roofer says it has a 12-year warranty.
Is there anything better than TPO?
I suppose a shift to a pitched roof would qualify. I had to deal with flat roofs on commercial buildings for years. The membrane solution is the way to go. With any roof, the stability of the support structure is key. Thermal differences around parapets and shifting loads from rain or snow make cracks in tar at those locations an eventual given as it loses flexibility. A membrane roof that has a leak only takes a simple patch over an obvious split or hole. A leak in a tar / gravel roof can be impossible to find, and the only relatively certain repair is an entire re-roof. BTDT.
The warranty on a roof is limited to protect the roofer. The warranty and expected life span of the material is more critical.
BTW, on a flat roof, once it is done, NOBODY goes up there. As many as half the leaks in one are from humans somehow puncturing it. Newbie HVAC techs are the worst.
Hopefully, it's not a truly "flat" roof. There should be at least some pitch to a drain with cants or tapered insulation. A flat roof that ponds water will fail much sooner than one that sheds water.
I put a regular asphalt shingle roof on a porch with 1 in 12 pitch. Neighbor who knows a thing or two about roofing told me I should have used roll asphalt, not shingles. That would match the rest of the house. TPO may be more difficult to do.
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