Equipment Review October 2008:
Torch-down; to be or not to be...
Every year many roofing manufacturers and distributors ponder over the fate of torch-down products, especially in the wood deck markets. The torch manufacturers wonder if sales will continue at their present pace before their sales start dropping. The insurance carriers threaten to cancel commercial roofer's policies if any of their work is torch-down and/or it exceeds a certain portion of their overall business base. (Suggestion: If you no longer do any torch-down, notify your insurance carrier. They may lower your rate).
Despite all of this apparent negativity towards torch-down systems, sales continue to be steady, and are slightly increasing, for a roof system that will last about 10-15 years. There are probably many reasons, but certainly speed, ease of installation, and lack of sophisticated equipment certainly appeals to many roofers, especially the ones that have been using these products for years. It is still a cost-effective non-hazardous product over concrete or metal decks. These substrates are fairly hard to burn and the modified bitumen adheres very well.
Greater care obviously should be used when installing torch-down over wood decks or wood substrates. Overheating the membrane can cause the wood deck to burn after the membrane has been applied. Whole buildings have been lost due to careless installation techniques, but with proper training and safety procedures like inspecting the newly torched area with infrared thermometers to detect any smoldering areas, fires can be kept to a minimum.
A potential problem area many roofers may not be aware of is the LPG tank. Many roofers use 5 or 10 gal LPG tanks for smaller jobs. Tanks this size contain OPD valves. The OPD valve prevents overfilling of tanks (government regulation effective April 2002) and may also cause a torch to perform below manufacturer's specifications due to pressure loss. Always check the tank size before blaming the equipment. 12.5 gal & 25 gal LPG tanks do not have OPD valves and are the best choice when using torch-down for high production jobs.
Torch-down seems to grow in usage during very wet & rainy seasons. Reroofing or repairs generate a lot of sales by smaller roofers where a new roof can be installed or repaired fairly inexpensively. Unfortunately this can also generate a lot of shoddy work by non-licensed roofers. Modified bitumen torch-down products certainly offer the roofer an alternate, relatively inexpensive product to BUR, spray or TPO or PVC single-ply products. Consider the use and application carefully and be sure it's the right product for you, the talents of your crews, as well as your customer's needs.
For any roofers using torch-down material on a commercial job, we recommend the industry standard Dragin Wagon. A 7-burner (or 5-burner) full roll application machine can generate up to 1,200,000 BTU's and apply one square of modified bitumen in 3-5 minutes. They also offer an inexpensive line of hand torches (TorchMaster) with or without a Piezo Electronic start.
This article was submitted by John MacLaughlin, National Marketing Manager with Roofmaster Product Company. Roof Master offer over 8000 roofing tools & equipment and safety products.
