5V Metal Roofing Maintenance
Owning a home or commercial building with 5V metal roofing is a common occurrence in Southwest Florida. Metal Roofing is not without periodic maintenance. After about 10 years in the Southwest Florida sun, the metal roofing panels will need to be gone over. The expansion and contraction over time causes the system to loosen up. The screws or fasteners will have backed out or even become loose. We can go in and touch every screw. If it tightens, we pass. If it does not tighten, we install a new oversized screw in its place. We can also add a dab of sealant to any suspect screws.
The photos show a painted 5V metal roof system. The color is Forest Green, which is the darker green. The roof is approximately 17 years old, at this time. We were cleaning out the gutters and alerted the customer about the loose screws. Loose screws in a 5V metal roofing system can cause roof leaks, if left alone long enough. We went over this entire roof in less than a days time and now it is good to go for another couple of years.
This process should be performed periodically and can be done without physically seeing screws that have backed out. This is one of the benefits of having Sunshine Roofing clean the gutters, as it gets eyes on the roof to see things that need to be done. This periodic maintenance could be the difference between a 15 year roof and a 30 year roof.
The wind resistance of a metal roof is severly diminished when the screws are loose. Once the wind penetrates one area, the whole system becomes vulnerable. General periodic maintenance will reduce the chance of any wind uplift issues.
Another item that needs to be checked is the plumbing stack boots. We got away from using lead boots on metal roofs, due to the corrosion that would happen on dissimilar metals. Now we use plastic and neoprene boots. The plastic boots will only last so long and will start to deteriorate. If it is caught early, caulking can be applied to seal the pipe. Once it goes so far, replacement is the only option. Most of the time, a roof leak is how a crack in the plastic metal roofing boot is discovered.
The neoprene metal roofing boot is installed on top of the panels, instead of creating a seam. There are seals underneath that work together with sealant and screwed directly to the metal panels. Then there is a tight fit around the pipe with the neoprene itself. These boots get loose over time and have been known to split.
This photo shows an example on a standing seam metal roofing system, but is installed in much the same way on 5V metal roofing.
Again, the metal roofing boots are an item of concern when maintaining your metal roofing system.
Cleaning the gutters, maintaining the fasteners, and checking all penetrations will keep your metal roofing system in great shape. Let Sunshine Roofing of SW FL, Inc. handle this task. We have many regular customers we take care of on a regular basis.
