Industrial Roofing

Chemical exposure dictates membrane type. PVC (Sika Sarnafil, IB Roof Systems) is required for any building with chemical fumes, solvent vapors, or pharmaceutical/lab operations — TPO and EPDM degrade rapidly when exposed to industrial chemistry. A building that produces cleaning products, plastics, paints, or pharmaceuticals gets PVC across the entire roof.

Heavy-mil membrane for traffic. Industrial rooftops see HVAC service technicians, smoke vent inspectors, skylight cleaners, and antenna maintenance crews — far more foot traffic than a typical commercial roof. We spec 80-90 mil membrane on industrial installs (vs the 60 mil standard on office and retail) for puncture and tear resistance under repeated foot traffic.

Equipment-curb reinforcement. The rooftop HVAC units, exhaust fans, and process equipment on an industrial roof can weigh hundreds to thousands of pounds each. Every equipment curb needs reinforced membrane flashing, often with additional ply layers or membrane sleeve over the curb itself. We rebuild every curb to current standards during a re-roof.

Smoke vent and skylight integration. NJ fire code requires smoke vents in industrial buildings over certain occupancy thresholds. Each smoke vent has its own flashing detail that gets rebuilt during a re-roof. Skylights similarly require full flashing rebuild — often dozens of skylights on a large industrial roof.

Reflective vs traditional. White reflective PVC qualifies for federal Section 179D commercial energy-efficiency deduction. On warehouses with significant HVAC load (refrigerated logistics, indoor agriculture), white reflective recovers its cost premium over 5-8 years. On uninsulated metal-deck warehouses without HVAC, color doesn't matter as much economically.

Active manufacturing operations can't tolerate work stoppages. Replacement scheduling has to work around production shifts, USDA inspection days (food production), pharmaceutical clean-room validation cycles, and 24-hour distribution operations.

Phased install breaks a 100,000+ sq ft roof into 5,000-15,000 sq ft sections that can be torn off and re-installed in single workdays. Between phases, weather-tight protection is deployed. The schedule extends but the operations underneath continue.

Tarping inside the building over sensitive equipment is standard. Many industrial operations have CNC machinery, robotic systems, or pharmaceutical equipment that can't tolerate dust ingress. We deploy interior tarping at phase boundaries before tear-off starts.

Trade coordination is heavy. Rooftop HVAC equipment often needs to come off temporarily for curb rebuild — coordinated with the HVAC contractor. Electrical for rooftop equipment may need temporary disconnect — coordinated with the electrical contractor. Sprinkler system penetrations may need temporary protection — coordinated with the sprinkler contractor. We run all the trade coordination so the building owner doesn't.

Industrial roofs often span hundreds of feet without internal drainage between exterior parapets. The result, on older buildings, is significant ponding water — sometimes inches deep — that voids most manufacturer warranties and accelerates membrane wear.

The fix during a re-roof is tapered polyiso insulation crickets designed to direct water toward existing drains, scuppers, and overflow scuppers. Custom-designed tapered insulation layouts are produced by the insulation manufacturer based on shop drawings of the existing drainage pattern. This typically adds 30-50% to the insulation cost on poorly draining roofs but eliminates ponding entirely.

Drain count and capacity. NJ code requires roof drains sized to handle 100-year storm events. Older industrial buildings sometimes have undersized drainage that fails in major storms. We assess drain capacity during the pre-install survey and recommend additional drains or larger drains where required by current code.

Overflow scuppers. Every primary drain needs a backup overflow scupper — required by current code, often missing on pre-1990 industrial buildings. We add overflow scuppers during re-roof projects where they're missing.