TPO Roof

Should a TPO roof look like this 1 month after install?

Thanks for all the info, now I know what to stay away from, once I start installing these types of roofs :huh:

TomB, they would have used fleece as a means of providing a separation layer between old an new without the expense of an insulation board.

Interesting. TPO is extremely dimensionally unstable. IOW, it moves a lot with temperature changes. I'd chalk it up to a contractor trying real hard to get a job he didn't know how to do, or wasn't qualified to do, selling a rock bottom dollar system, hiring a crew he had no control over, installing the material too loose, over an ill prepared surface, and now you've probably got some dimensional stability issues magnifying the problems listed above.

Looks like crap. Will not last as long as it should. But it's already a very cheap system and it could just be the buyer got everything they should have expected, or deserved, depending upon the level of homework conducted prior to awarding the job.

There ain't no law against wrinkles and ponding water unless it was written into the spec. If the mfr gives the warranty, I'd say the owner has no recourse whatsoever.

Pathetic on multiple fronts.

You can try to pin it on some problem with the TPO and fleece not playing well together. Personally, this probably would have turned out a lot better if they had laid an independent layer of fleece down first, then a standard TPO. Fleece back membranes should be adhered, imho.

At first glance, it appeared to be a TPO re-cover over old/wet BUR, (blisters & the dark-colored debris residual on the new membrane).

But then it gets stranger......Mechanically-fastened fleece back? WTH?

Yeah, I'm not a TPO guy, but you got me wondering, If the EPDM that they just sliced and left in place, is bunching-up under the new TPO. Maybe in their haste to roll out the TPO, they disturbed the existing EPDM. Maybe static electricity played a part.

If that is the case, they would have had to notice, as they were rolling out the roll, that their new material was not laying flat.

At that time it would have been a very easy chore, to simply just pick up the old EPDM and throw it away. It was already sliced-up.

It seems like a dumb mistake that could have been easily rectified, in the field.

Instead, they now have a bumpy roof and a soon to be pissed -off owner.

They were paid 90% of the project with 10% due upon issuance of 20 yr NDL warranty.

One more pic of the 300 Square Roof, this condition is consistent throughout the whole roof!

Sure Mike,

Why, thank you, I was hoping to hear from you.

The job was started in December in New York. Aprox. 300 Squares

Original roof was 3 inch iso with a .060 mech fastened EPDM. Moisture surveys were taken and the existing insulation was found to be dry

New roof was a mechanically fastened flees back .060.

Specs called for the slicing of the existing mech fastened EPDM roof. The existing EPDM and 3 inch iso board where left in place, New fleece back TPO was installed over everything. Specs called for fastening every 12 inch.

It will be inspected by the manufacturer next week

Manufacturer is supposed to supply a 20 year NDL warranty.

The contractor who was awarded the job,subbed it out to another crew. What do you think happened here?

By the way, it was not me who did the install, I'm just trying to help out the building owner.

Thanks for your opinion, please fire at will!

As I sit here, painfully chewing my tongue, drinking my own blood, resisting the urge to say what I want to say.... may I make a small request?

Can we have a little more detail about the installation before I answer your initial question?

Here is another pic of the same roof. It was a fleeceback installed this winter over an EPDM.