Spray foam roofing is a different product from spray foam insulation, and the distinction is worth making first. Here the foam is applied on top of the roof deck as the roof itself, built up to a depth that both insulates and creates fall, then covered with a protective coating that becomes the weather surface. Fox Creek has the building type it suits: a commercial strip and a yard full of low-slope and flat-roofed buildings put up quickly to get a business working.
What a flat roof does in a winter like this
Snow arrives early, there is no chinook to take it off partway through, and it stays on the deck for months. That is a long sustained load, and it is also a long period during which any water that gets into the assembly cannot leave. Then at break-up all of it melts over a short period and has to run somewhere. A roof that was built flat, with no real fall, ponds that water at the low spots, and the low spots are wherever the deck has deflected.
Foam can build slope, which no membrane can
This is the main structural argument for the system. A membrane follows the deck: if the deck is dead flat or sags, the membrane is dead flat or sags with it. Sprayed foam is applied in passes and can be built thicker at the low areas and feathered towards the drains, so fall gets created where none was framed in. On a building with ponding history that is not a cosmetic improvement, it is the actual repair, and it is done without removing the existing roof or adding tapered board.
Seamless matters most where the details are
Roof leaks almost never start in the field of the roof. They start at the parapet, the curb under a rooftop unit, the drain, a vent stack, a skylight kerb, or the flashing at a wall. Every one of those is a detail a membrane system has to be cut, fitted and sealed around, and every seam is a future maintenance item. Sprayed foam runs up and over those details as one continuous layer with no joint, which is why the system's value is concentrated precisely where conventional roofs fail.
The coating is the roof, and it has a cycle
The foam is the insulation and the slope. It is not the weather surface and it cannot be left exposed, because ultraviolet degrades it. The coating over it is what takes the sun, the hail, the foot traffic and the ice, and it is renewed on a cycle rather than lasting forever. That is not a drawback, it is the maintenance model: the system is recoated and continues, instead of being torn off and replaced. But it has to be understood and budgeted at the outset, and anyone presenting this as a roof that never needs attention is misdescribing it.
Recovering over an existing roof
On many of these buildings the existing roof can be recovered rather than removed, which avoids the tear-off, the disposal and the risk of having the building open. What governs it is whether the existing assembly is dry and sound and whether the deck can take the additional load. Both get established before anything is quoted, and where moisture is trapped in the old assembly it has to come out, because foaming over wet insulation seals the water in.
The crew on your job
Spray foam roofing Fox Creek is quoted, scheduled and sprayed by us. Our own installers are on the job, and the number you are given is the number we stand behind.
Spray Foam Roofing Fox Creek: Common Questions
How is foam roofing different from foam insulation? It is applied on top of the deck as the roof itself, providing insulation, slope and, with its coating, the weather surface.
Can it fix a roof that ponds? Yes, and that is one of its real advantages. The foam is built up at the low areas to create fall towards the drains.
Does the coating need maintaining? Yes. It protects the foam from ultraviolet and from damage, and it is inspected and recoated on a cycle rather than left alone.
How much does spray foam roofing cost in Fox Creek? It follows the roof area, the depth and the amount of slope being built, plus the coating system, and whether the existing roof is being recovered or removed.
How do I choose a spray foam roofing contractor in Fox Creek? Ask how they will confirm the existing assembly is dry, and what the recoat interval and the coating specification are. A roof presented as maintenance-free is being described inaccurately.
Size the assembly with the R-value calculator, then get a free Fox Creek quote. More on Spray Foam Roofing Alberta province-wide.