SPF and torch down

bacon8685

I am a maintenance man at a humane society animal shelter in florida and we have a thrift store that used to be a old hardware store. it has developed leaks all over the roof, and has a raised section of the roof that is about 3 feet taller then the rest of it. my question is that the raised section have a type of roof system that appears to be like a spf system but i'm not 100% sure my boss has found a community service worker that does roofs and he said you can put torch down over that sort of roof, does anyone know if this is true wheni ran into it working for a general contractor we were told that type of roofing system has to be removed before anything is put over it. does anyone know ?

Ed the Roofer

No, you can not, but I don't have personal experience, just information from other roofers on the net.

Either patch the SPUF, Sprayed Poly-Urethane Roof, or remove and replace it.

Ed

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Grumpy

In any of the specs I heave read I have never seen spf as a suitable substrate for modified bitumen. Infact come to think of it I have never seen spf as a suitable substrate for any roofing system other than those that are liquid applied, like elastomeric built up or polyurea.


This guy may "do roofs" but is he a roofer?

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

bacon8685

He says that he is a "sub contractor" but as it is community service mandaited by the court system here in florida there's really no way for us to verify that he is what he says he is. In my opinion he doesn't know his butt from a hole in the ground but its my boss that trust him. i just wanted to see if it was safe or even possible to put torch down over spf roofing system and in my opinion i do not like the spf system we've had nothing but trouble outta it. but we are a non profit organization so funds to replace it are very very very low so we have to do patch and go work.

Grumpy

In FLorida installing roofing without proper licensing is a felony. He should be able to provide you with documentation of his ROOFING licenses(s). I says plural licenses, since I Know each county has their own licensing.

Torching to it will ruin the spf for sure. Try contacting a company who specializes in restoring spf. Maybe try spray maxx

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

bacon8685

Thats what i have figured and read I know when i worked for a general contractor we had so many diffeerent lic. it wasn'te ven funny. I figured it would ruinu the roof and end up costing more damage so basically a complete tear down and start over from the deck up, or has nayone heard of a sealent called coolseal we used to use it on mobile homes and flat to slight pitched roofs was wondering if there was a less expensive alternative to that.

SinglePlyGuy

I would HIGHLY recommend NOT putting torch down directly over SPF.

As Ed mentioned, coat the roof or get rid of it. Depending on the deck makeup you "MAY" be able to get away with Mechanically fastening through it with a seperator board and a membrane.

I would lean toward getting rid of it personally...esp if it is bad shape and has moisture.

Grumpy

Cool seal is about as cheap as you can get without sacrificing quality. The stuff sold on the shelves at home depot may look similiar to other elastomeric products like cool seal; however their % of solids, or lack there of, make them basically house paint and you won't accomplish anything by installing the thinner products.

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

rwolfe

bacon,

You absolutely cannot torch a mod over a puf roof. (funny someone would mention that though. Typical florida roofing)The only thing you can do is apply an elastomeric coating or slap another crappy puf over the top. Assuming the puf is not under warranty, there are a number of elastomerics you can use. But I've have yet to see a puf roof that wasn't cratoring all over the place. Shame on the owner for buying the junk. But you have a choice of several APOC or Neogard products that will do what they claim to be able to do.

rw.

If your anywhere near fort lauderdale, I'll get it taken care of for you.

rw

rwolfe

BTW.

The owner bought a puf system because he was looking for less alternative. You'll be dealing with this roof for the life of the puf. Take that to the bank. If the puf is in decent shape, don't look for the cheap way out when considering a coating. Or that will be the second mistake made on that roof.