Any issues with Durolast?

I am considering using Durolast on a 15,000 sq. ft. commercial warehouse. I am getting mixed reviews on the product from doing a bit of research. It seems like it is the best PVC product out there with durability, quality and the warranty they offer.

Why would I go with a different product?

Does anyone have any bad experiences with them?

Mike, as you say, if it will last that long, they are doing something right...You too! I believe they make Duro-Last here in Michigan, but we don't install it. It is only about 40 mils though, so there is very little room for error.

We did the new front facade of a shopping mall this past fall and it had a 25 year old 60 mil EPDM roof on it that was about 25 years old. It looked amazing for that age. It did have good pitch to it though so there ws never any standing water. I know that makes a difference too. I gues we should just get us a spray rig and install chopped fibeglas and emulsion. EVERYTHING is good and everything can be bad. It is funny as you say how a roof can fail and at the same time a section right next to it be still good.

I have seen shingles last 40 and 50 years too, and then you have the miserable failure in 5 years. Not good.

John,

You give me 90,000 squares credit, (roofer's - we can multiply by 100, but don't expect us to divide by it LOL )

"The funny thing is..." if you could see the detail work on that 36 year old Fibertite, you'd laugh. Single ply details in 1981 were pretty sketchy, and Fibertite details were non-existent.

When I say it's really bad, I really mean it. But it just keeps plugging along. That's probably the best testimony I can give. The Fibertite survived 36 year in SPITE of us, not BECAUSE of us.

To argue with The SEAN on the other thread about EPDM... while 60 mil adhered EPDM is a good roof, to use his own words (paraphrased since Im not on that thread), he has "maintained them 30+ year".... where as we put this Fibertite down and it's forgotten about for 30 years. Fibertite Customer's from the early years have no idea who we are. The people that made those decision are long gone, and all the people there now know is - The Roof Don't Leak. They think all flat roofs are good, and often learn otherwise.

We've put on EPDM since around '78, Fibertite since '81, Hypalon and other PVC's since '84, TPO since '88.

NOTHING in the single ply realm has come close to matching Fibertite's performance. NOTHING!!! Oh, we've got some 30+ year old hypalon's, some 30+ year old EPDM. But there's lot's of failed roofs in both classes too. I've seen individual sheets of hypalon fall apart, stopping at the seams, while the rest of the roof is perfect. It's CRAZY stuff.

Derbigum has often performed for 30 years or more, but there's still been maintenance involved, and that's a whole different class of material.

EPDM, I doubt we have a single 30 year old EPDM that hasn't had to have some flashings re-done, seams re-stripped, etc... and for every one that made it 30 years, there are multiples that didn't.

TPO... has been a failure since it's introduction. Everyone knows it now, but in the great race to the bottom, people keep putting their faith in the lowest price denominator.

I put Durolast in a class only slightly better than TPO. It's a great reinforcement, covered by a cheap PVC blend (although I have no idea what's their current formulation is but I've never been told it's anything other than a pthalate modified PVC). Based on my own field observations.... In 12 years it is usually brittle. In 15 there are usually spider cracks forming over screw heads. By 20 years, it's usually incapable of surviving any sort of external stress without failure. Many fail to make it to 20 years. "The World's Best Roof" is nothing more than one of the World's Best Marketing Scams, in my opinion.

I only do roof repairs, Durolast is my biggest money maker. I am constantly repairing their roofs. My customers are so upset with durolast that they would rather pay me even though the roof is still under warranty, mainly because the warranty is shit. the installer ALWAYS finds an out of warranty reason why the roof is leaking and the customer then pays top dollar for the repair, even though the problem is definitely a warrantied item. the biggest problem I'm seeing in the repairs area are spider web cracks where the sun has been beating on the membrane constantly, also wherever the leister had a sudden stop while welding, which makes a tiny burn hole in the membrane, be it factory or installed in the field. Very few durolast roofs I work on have exceeded their warranties.

Mike, I was hoping that you would chime in. A hundred thousand squares a year gives you a lot of credibility! The funny thing is that without attention to the details, it really doesn't make any difference which product you use. I can make some crap material last much longer than some of the good stuff, by simply making the "weakest Link" stronger. When you take a good product like Fibretite, and do all of the details correctly without skimping on the details, then it will last even longer. We do a lot with slate and tiles, and with them, you are looking at multiple generations instead of years. I will be dead and buried long before most of these roofs need to be replaced, and I still insist that the details be done correctly. Obviously, you are the same with the details on your flat roof systems. People don't really know what "VALUE" looks like until well after the warranty is gone.

Cheap will always be here, but value lasts for a lot longer. It makes me wonder if this JuliaJ who says that he/she will be subbing this out, owns the building or is doing the roofing for someone else. I wonder sometimes why people want to do things that they don't know how to do or know very little about. We do some low sloped roofing, but that is not our specialty. On a larger roof, I would not hesitate to tell the owner that they should get one of the specialty contractors to do the work. The specialty contractors also know enough that if they are dealing with a slate or tile roof, they should call me. You have forgotten more bout flat roofing, especially something like Fibretite than most of us will ever know. The same goes for slate or tile for us. If I can't add real value to a job, I won't do it.

Iam a mid size commercial/ industrial contractor that installs around a million sq ft of thermoplastic membrane a year. I currently install Fibertite, sarnafil, Carlisle, Firestone, Manville membranes, i did durolast for 3 years and there are several durolast guys in the area. I've seen a lit of it, and there are.... Lots of issues.

It isn't the best pvc by a long shot. Sarnafil, as a pure pvc is much better. Any of the pvc/KEE blends like Carlisle, Manville, any rebranded Cooley c3 sheet, are much better. Fibertite, a stand alone KEE is even better yet.

I installed durolast for 3 years. Every roof we installed was replaced inside 15 years. One of those customers, a large national Bank, had so much trouble with durolast that they started replacing them all before their warranties were up.

I am currently replacing 200,000 Sq ft of completely deteriorated durolast that is 20 years old. There is a 100,000+ Sq ft Fibertite next to it that is well over 30 years old and doesn't leak at all.

Read the fine print of the warranty. The best warranty is the one you never need to use.

That's all I have to say about it.