Commercial roofing contractors toolkit

Dave & Wally provide an overview of the series and what you will learn as they tackle some of the typical project challenges along the way. GAF's Roofing It Right series "Reroof Project from Start to Finish" features Dave & Wally walking us through the stages of a commercial reroofing project.

Dave & Wally show how to get started with an initial roof walk. They share the typical things they will look for in assessing the condition of a roof to help determine whether it can be repaired or should be replaced.

Dave & Wally talk about the purpose of taking core cuts to properly assess the underlying structure and condition of the existing roof. They perform and analyze the core cut and show you how to properly patch the cuts you've made in the process.

Dave & Wally walk you through the details of taking accurate measurements of the length and width of the roof deck, as well as the location of drains. These measurements become the basis for tapered insulation plans and calculating the insulation, TPO membranes and other materials that will be needed for the project.

Dave & Wally discuss the tapered design plan the GAF Tapered Design Group has prepared for the project. They walk through the details of the plan and show you how to apply these plans to the roof deck and installation.

Dave & Wally walk through the steps of tearing off the existing roof on our project building. It can be a dirty process but there are tips and techniques for helping the tear off go more smoothly.

Dave & Wally will inspect the newly exposed original deck of the building to identify any areas which may need to be addressed prior to the new roof being installed.

Dave & Wally highlight one of the many unexpected issues that encountered in a reroof project. This example includes finding that an HVAC unit has been installed directly on top of the previous roof insulation, without the proper supports. Dave and Wally work with the roofing contractor to remedy the proper support for this rooftop unit, prior to the new roof being installed.

Dave & Wally talk through the tapered plan created by GAF's Tapered Design Group, and show the considerations and steps for how the tapered plan gets installed across the roof deck of our project building.

Dave & Wally show us how to plan and install the right tapered panels to ensure an even transition and proper slope toward one of our project building's two roof drains.

Dave & Wally talk through the final stage of the process to install TPO membrane on our project building. They discuss planning the options for sheet layout, specific to the design, scale and orientation of the deck. As an alternative to traditional half sheets, they show how an installation technique called" fingers" provides the most effective and efficient approach for this job.

Dave talks through the importance of sheet layout on a building, emphasizing that because each building is often unique from the next, there is no "one solution fits all" option. In this illustrative example, Dave shows several options for the TPO sheet layout on our project building.