Understanding Standing Seam Metal Roofing
December 20th, 2009 by Jack Hanley
When you’re installing , you’re utilizing ’state of the art’ roofing. This type of roofing is much more durable, very easily sustainable, and economically friendly. They can provide you with excellent service for up to three to four decades. But a word of warning is called for – if you plan on mounting rooftop equipment, or any type of ancillary mechanical equipment, then you have to be careful not to compromise the strength supplied by the standing seam roofing.
If you ask an expert, they’ll tell you, attach as few things as you can to your roof. It can really save a lot of future headaches and money. But let’s face it, sometimes you can’t avoid a situation where you really do have to attach something to the roof. But a few tricks are available for the installers that can help them to do this work without compromising your roof integrity. You may need to attach fall protection equipment, or HVAC equipment, or maybe even solar panels. But there’s a way to do all these properly.
The success of your roofing job is going to be realized in the way you deal with the membrane. Some installers seem to not be aware of this, and see the metal as a good place to fasten and secure things. The roof integrity or thermal-cycling traits never enter their minds. So it’s a good idea, if you plan to have one of these roofs put on, to check with the crew and make sure that they know about protecting it when they attach things to it.
Standing seam metal roofing has been improved with the help of a seam-clamping hardware. This allows it to ‘grip’ the seam and not put any punctures into the membrane. The seam works much like a little beam, and provides a good solid and very convenient place for attaching and anchoring rooftop equipment. Walkways or solar panels can be placed while still protecting the integrity of your metal roof. The clamps enable the securing of objects to the seam, and protecting the thermal-cycling factors at the same time.
Like we’ve said, there are times when you just can’t get around penetrating the membrane. This could be in a case where you want to attach some HVAC equipment or some plumbing vents. There’s just no way to mount them and not puncture the roof. So with these, you need to focus on installing a waterproof seal that will assist in keeping the thermal-cycling traits intact.
Most of this information so far has been in regards to regular equipment mounting. But sometimes you have to mount something that has a lot more weight than usual. This means you’ll be mounting to a galvanized steel frame. Many of these are attached to legs, which are made out of round pipe. These pipes go through the roof, penetrating the membrane and attaching to something underneath for support. It’s a stationary mounting. According to the weight involved, it may be that you can still use the seam clamps and stay away from using the pipes.
If what you’re attaching is round, then you’re going to need some flashing. Usually this means using EPDM flashing around the pipes. Black is the best color for resisting the UV rays and lasting longer. You stretch the rubber over the pipes and then secure it at one end with a metal clamp, just like securing a radiator hose for the car. This flashing needs to be anchored to the roof panel only, and kept away from the main structure of the building.
This is just a little insight into standing seam metal roofing and a few of the things that need to be considered during installation. This type of roofing is a really good invention, and has really helped out in the ability to maintain roof integrity. You can find out plenty more by going online and using your favorite search engine. You’ll find that they all agree, that this type of roofing is known for durability and strength, and good protection against roof integrity.
Want to find out more about , then visit Jack Hanley’s site on how to choose the best metal roofing for your needs.
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March 30th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I’m genuinely glad I found this post. I’ve been scouring the web for info on solar energy for some time.Looking forward to reading more posts about energy.