When people talk about commercial roofing systems, they often mean single-ply roofing membranes. These are TPO, PVC, and EPDM. The best commercial roofing system depends upon your needs. What’s best for a department store, won’t be best for a restaurant. What’s best for a restaurant, might be excessive for a garage.
The Best Commercial Roofing System for Commercial Buildings
Generally speaking, TPO is regarded as being the best commercial roofing system for most commercial buildings that are not restaurants. These include flat roofs on retail buildings and department stores, warehouses, office buildings, manufacturing buildings, hotels and motels, medical offices, condominiums and apartments. As mentioned below, PVC should be used on restaurants. Small delicatessens, cafes, bakeries, etc. might be able to get away with not using PVC. Contact us for a free no-obligation visit so we may determine which commercial roofing product is best for you.
We say TPO is generally the best commercial roofing system because it’s less expensive, and lasts longer than, PVC. A new TPO roof should last at least 20 to 30 years, if properly installed, regularly inspected and maintained. As of the time of this writing, a TPO roof installation in Colorado or Wyoming costs around $7/sf. For your new TPO roof, you may choose from either white, gray, or tan. White and tan are Energy Star* certified.
We offer Standard TPO, Fleece-backed TPO, Self-adhering TPO and TPO with a protective film. The protective film helps to protect the membrane while it’s being installed.
We installed this TPO roof for The Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company in Brighton, and this TPO system for the Greeley Inn.
The best commercial roofing system for restaurants is PVC
Who uses a PVC roofing?
Restaurants use PVC roofing because it is resistant to animal fat, oil, and grease. When a chef cooks your meal at a restaurant, they use olive oil, butter, lard, grease, etc. in hot pans. When they cook your steak or fish, the fats in these meats break-down and melt. All these greases, oils, and fats pop and splatter all over the place. They also get sucked-up by the exhaust fans located above the range.
The filters in the ventilation system above the range do a great job of attracting grease and oil particles. However, they do not collect all of particles. Some go up through the ventilation system, and get depositied onto the roof. These particulates prematuring break-down TPO and EPDM. This is why these single-ply roofing products should not be installed onto restaurant roofs. That’s why PVC is the best commercial roofing product for restaurants.
We installed this PVC roof for LuLu Asian Bistro in Fort Collins, and this PVC roof for Panera Bread in Cheyenne.
PVC is not the least expensive, however, nor is it the longest-lasting. Most PVC roofing lasts about 25 years. Depending upon the manufacturer, there are either 20 or 30 year warranties available. The thicker the ply, the longer it lasts. Although PVC comes in a small variety of colors, such as white, tan, brown, red, grey, and green, white is the most popular since it helps to keep your building cooler during the hot summer months. We offer standard PVC and fleece-backed PVC roofing products for flat roofs.
The Best Single-Ply Roofing Product for Residential
If you’re looking for the longest-lasting yet least expensive single-ply roofing system, EPDM is your best bet. If properly installed and maintained, an EPDM roof often lasts around 30 years. And, at around $5.50/sf, it’s also the least expensive. EPDM, also known as a rubber roof, is great for detached garages, home additions, as well as medical buildings, car ports, automotive garages, and more.
We offer Standard EPDM, Self-Adhering EPDM, Reinforced EPDM, and White-on-Black EPDM. Standard EPDM is the base EPDM product. It’s strong, flexible, puncture-resistant, and fire rated. Self-adhering EPDM offers significant savings in labor. In addition, it offers great weatherability and hail resistance. Reinforced EPDM includes a layer to touch polyester fabric for even greater tensile strength and performane. White-on-Black EPDM is a non-reinforced roofing product. It’s great for those interested in lowering their Summer utility bill as the white top layer reflects heat away from the building.
Commercial Roofing System Installation
For a professional commercial roof installation, look no further than Bob Behrends Roofing. We have a dedicated commercial roofing crew that specializes in single-ply membrane installation and repair. In addition, we have a dedicated commercial roofing inspector. When our crew is done installing your new flat roof, our own commercial roofing inspector inspects their work to make sure everything was done correctly and to code.
Our work is backed by our own 5-year workmanship guarantee. And, it’s held in our system by address and doesn’t need to be transferred if the property is sold. Because we are a large Colorado commercial roofing company, we buy roofing materials in bulk. This means we can offer competitive pricing other commercial roofing companies can’t match.
We are fully licensed and insured with general liability insurance throughout Northern Colorado, and we always pull permits before starting any commercial roofing job. We are also qualified installers of Versico, Mulehide, Genflex, Johns Manville and IB Roof Systems. This allows us to offer 10, 15 and 20-year labor and material warranties on commercial and residential jobs.