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Lakewood, WA
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Needham, Massachusetts
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 Roofing material
[#2] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 10:56:40 AM |  |  |
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Robert,
Was there anything printed on it? Your photos look white to me. Not a lot to go on, but I'd make it PVC roofing. Damned near bulletproof when the seams are welded right.
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Jimmy
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Lakewood, WA
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Roofing material
[#3] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 11:15:51 AM | | |
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Yeah sorry Jim, the day was typical Washington and over cast. I didn't notice anything printed on it and it was white, well now aged and a bit off white.
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Rob Jones
South Sound Inspections
Seattle Home Inspection
"If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours."
Ray Kroc |
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Needham, Massachusetts
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Roofing material
[#4] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 11:29:19 AM | | |
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Rob, A well-installed PVC roof with properly torched seams will hold water for 30 years.
Were the edges lifting?
Was there a lot of construction detritus on the roof?
Walking it, did the underlayment give at all?
Your photos look good,
Jim
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Lakewood, WA
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Roofing material
[#5] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 11:36:19 AM | | |
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Hey Jim,
No issues on that roof. The director of the home stated it was installed approx 7-8 yrs ago. The drains were clear and no seams or edges were lifting. No real evidence of pooling. It was solid. The only thing(s) left on the roof were 3 abandoned A/C units which were up on pallets.
Thanks for taking the time Jim.
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Rob Jones
South Sound Inspections
Seattle Home Inspection
"If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours."
Ray Kroc |
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Swansea, IL
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Roofing material
[#6] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 11:41:15 AM | | |
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Looks like PVC.
EPDM is rubber, like a heavy rubber inner tube
There is one brand name of PVC called "Durolast". You can google them and from their website request an information package that includes a small sample of the product. Worthwhile for learning.
How do I know? I asked the same question a few years back. :-)
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Mark A. Perry
www.ahis1.com
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Seattle, WA
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Roofing material
[#7] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 12:32:47 PM | | |
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I generally refer to that stuff as "TPO" (Thermoplastic polyolefin), but I believe it is interchangable with "PVC". I've sometimes found printing along the sheet edges on newer stuff.
Click to View
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It does look like you have some (relatively minor?) ponding issues in that 2nd photo.
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Richard Moore
Rest Assured Inspection Services
Seattle, WA
http://www.rainspect.com
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Roofing material
[#8] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 1:16:57 PM | | |
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TPO is not PVC.
Although TPO, PVC and CPE are all thermoplastic roof membranes, it's important to be able to identify each. For one example, there's been many issues with TPO formulations, resulting in failures not seen in PVC.
Anyone inspecting commercial or apartment buildings should really consider taking a course in commercial roofing. I certainly wasn't qualified to identify materials and their installation requirements before finding the proper training.
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| Bill Kibbel, Historic & Commercial Building Inspections - Old House Resources |
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Seattle, WA
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Roofing material
[#9] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 2:47:47 PM | | |
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Richard's photo probably is TPO because Firestone manufactures TPO and not PVC (PVC is not currently listed on their website). We can't assume that EPDM will always be colored black like an inner tube anymore. Firestone makes an EPDM with a white coating for decreased heat absorption.
http://www.firestonebpco.com/roofing/
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Blair Pruitt
www.axiom-inspection.com |
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Seattle, WA
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Roofing material
[#10] Posted: 08/05/2009 - 3:52:51 PM | | |
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| Quote: Originally posted by inspecthistoric
TPO is not PVC.
Although TPO, PVC and CPE are all thermoplastic roof membranes, it's important to be able to identify each. For one example, there's been many issues with TPO formulations, resulting in failures not seen in PVC.
Anyone inspecting commercial or apartment buildings should really consider taking a course in commercial roofing. I certainly wasn't qualified to identify materials and their installation requirements before finding the proper training.
OK...my bad. I need to read up some more. I don't do commercial or whole complexes but I will get on condo roofs, when possible, for a quick gander at the common area roof. I may have mis-identified some stuff in the past, but I'm mainly looking for bad seams, ponding, etc.
So I have a question...What's in the photos that would make the first few responders believe it is PVC and not TPO?
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Richard Moore
Rest Assured Inspection Services
Seattle, WA
http://www.rainspect.com
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Samantha, AL
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Roofing material
[#11] Posted: 08/06/2009 - 04:30:25 AM | | |
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To me it looks to be Trocal (PVC).
AT the curbs was the flashing metal with a coating on it that looked like the roof?
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Have a good day inspecting.
Phillip R. Smith Sr.
Samantha (Tuscaloosa) AL
www.homesweethomeinspectionsal.com
"When you inspect crap, you find crap." Phillip 2010
"Always desire to learn something useful."
- Sophocles
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Swansea, IL
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Chicago, IL
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Roofing material
[#13] Posted: 08/06/2009 - 07:24:36 AM | | |
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TPO is more smooth surfaced than PVC; this is a fairly subjective analytical method, as the differences are very slight. You can see a little more scrim/fabric texture in PVC. Honestly, I've been fooled a couple times as the differences are minimal.
TPO was developed to blend the positive characteristics of EPDM and PVC. It has the UV and heat resistance of EPDM with the hot air weldable feature of PVC's.
And, it's white, so it's viewed as a more "green" roofing material.
I can't tell which it is from the photo.
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Kurt in Chicago
"If I smell it, it goes in the report".............Phillip Smith...2012
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Roofing material
[#14] Posted: 08/06/2009 - 4:42:14 PM | | |
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| Quote: Originally posted by kurt
TPO is more smooth surfaced than PVC My experience has shown the complete opposite.
Quote: I can't tell which it is from the photo. Neither can I.
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| Bill Kibbel, Historic & Commercial Building Inspections - Old House Resources |
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Chicago, IL
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Roofing material
[#15] Posted: 08/06/2009 - 8:18:27 PM | | |
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Yeah, trying to tell them apart by the scrim texture is pretty vague, or impossible. I had a rep try to show me and honestly, I'm not sure I could tell the difference even with him standing there pointing out the differences.
If it's newer, I'd guess TPO simply because that's the big push around here instead of PVC. If it's older, I'd guess PVC.
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Kurt in Chicago
"If I smell it, it goes in the report".............Phillip Smith...2012
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Needham, Massachusetts
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Roofing material
[#16] Posted: 08/07/2009 - 03:30:51 AM | | |
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Richard,
I guessed PVC because I don't think I've ever seen a TPO roof.
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Jimmy
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Chicago, IL
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Roofing material
[#17] Posted: 08/07/2009 - 08:40:29 AM | | |
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OK, self correction because this is sort of a vague pathway......
Bill is right. The TPO has a slightly more visible scrim texture than PVC. I checked up, and I was wrong.
At least, I think I'm wrong. It's really hard to tell the difference between the two.
I do know that some of the early TPO's had a mega-problems with delamination/scrim separation, and none of the installers were welding it correctly. If it's older TPO, beware.
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Kurt in Chicago
"If I smell it, it goes in the report".............Phillip Smith...2012
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Gaston, Oregon
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Collins, NY
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Roofing material
[#19] Posted: 08/10/2009 - 1:15:29 PM | | |
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So Jim, you would base an ID on the whether the roofer actually used the correct boots? Those are some pretty long odds.
Tom
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Tom
http://clearcreekhomeinspection.com/
Life is tough enough as it is, it's tougher when your stupid. Don't do stupid things.
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Gaston, Oregon
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Fowlerville, Mi
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Roofing material
[#21] Posted: 08/16/2009 - 08:39:06 AM | | |
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A tpo boot would not weld to a pvc membrane. They are completely incompatible.
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Morristown, TN
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Roofing material
[#22] Posted: 08/27/2009 - 02:26:15 AM | | |
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I think PVC is best now a days, there are so many companies offering the same brands but mostly people like this only, because of trust people have in it.
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wernersville, PA
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Roofing material
[#23] Posted: 09/09/2009 - 8:43:26 PM | | |
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Yeah it looks like EPDM, i have used this coating for my roof repairing, its really a good product, If its really EPDM than after using this you need not to worries for your roofs.
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