Among all the varieties of roofing materials that the market offers us today, the membrane roof appeared relatively recently and did not have time to gain great popularity in our country. What you can not say about the European experience, where such roofing is used in most cases. Nevertheless, it is the membrane roof that has great development prospects in our country, which is what the growth in demand for her every year is. What is membrane roof?

The concept of membrane roofing and its dignity

The membrane represents a modern roofing coating consisting of polymer waterproofing (PVC, EPDM) membrane. It is most often used for flat roofs and is distinguished by reliability and durability. Its life is 25-50 years. In addition, the membrane roof has such advantages as:

• elasticity;
• resistance to the negative impact of external factors (snow, rain, ultraviolet rays, chemicals, etc.);
• environmental friendliness and possibility of recycling;
• ease of installation, which reduces labor and time costs;
• unpretentious care;
• fire safety;
• crossing strength due to the reinforcement of a polyester mesh;
• wide color gamut and the possibility of use on the roofs of any form;
• the possibility of repair by means of installing patches.

In addition, membranes allows installation at any time of the year, regardless of weather conditions. It is light enough by weight, which means that it reduces the cost of designing the supporting structures of the building.

Types of membrane roofs

Currently, there are several types of membrane roofs, which differ between themselves with the material used for the base. In accordance with this feature, it is customary to allocate:

• Membrane PVC (polyvinyl chloride) roof;
• Membrane EPDM (synthetic rubber) roof;
• Membrane TPOs (thermoplastic polyolefin) roof.

Consider each kind of more detail.

Membrane PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) Roof

This type of roofing membrane is produced based on polyvinyl chloride or plasticized polymer. To give the material of greater strength, it is reinforced by ether fiber, and plasticizers are added to the aim of increasing elasticity and resistance to large temperature differences.

• The advantages of PVC membranes are in simplicity and high speed of installation work.
• In addition, it does not fade in the sun, it is not afraid of fire, has a wide selection of colors and, most importantly, the joints of her cloth firmly adjacent to each other.

• Among the disadvantages of PVC, the membranes can be called, first of all, the release of substances harmful to humans for humans, as well as sensitivity to various solvents, oils, bitumen.

Membrane EPDM Roofing

Available based on synthetic rubber. For reinforcement, a polyester grid is used.

• The main advantages of such a membrane are high elasticity, excellent resistance to bitumen, oils, solvents.

• The disadvantage of this material consists in the need to use glue in the process of assembly work.
• In addition, there is a high probability that soon the joints between the canvases will rather begin to flow and therefore will have to carry out repair work ahead of time.

Membrane TPO roofing

This type of coating is made on the basis of thermoplastic polyolefin and can be both reinforced (to have fiberglass or polyester in its composition) and not unarmed. The TPO-roofs can be connected between them with hot air welding, resulting in a fairly strong seam.

• Therefore, the main advantage of such a roof is a long service life, high strength, low temperatures resistance (up to 60 degrees Celsius).

• The main disadvantage is a small elasticity compared to the above-mentioned types of membranes and high cost.

Installation of membrane roofing

Depending on the chosen type of membrane roof, there are three ways to install this material.

Ballast fixing

With a small slope of the roof to 15 degrees, a ballast method of installation is used.

• He involves laying the canvas on the base.
• After that, it is smoothed over the entire surface and fixed around the perimeter of the roof, including in areas that are adjacent to vertical surfaces.
• The mount is made by welding or glue.
• Ballast stacked over the membrane. It can be a river pebble, crushed stone, gravel or broken stone. In the latter case, the nonwoven canvas either are stacked on top of the ballast.

Mechanical assignment

This membrane roofing technology is applied only if the carrying design is not able to withstand the entire weight of the ballast.

• The basis for mounting is a tree, profiled sheets, reinforced concrete, etc.
• The membrane is fixed throughout the perimeter of the roof and the protruding parts, using special rails with a sealing layer for this.
• Directly to the roof, the roofing material is attached in two ways: disk holders or telescopic fasteners.

Sticking

With this method of installation, it is very important to choose high-quality glue mixtures that are highlighted by high strength. The membrane is glued not throughout the area, but only around the perimeter, in the places of the adolescence or in particularly problematic areas, for example, on ribs, undershones, in zones of adjoining to chimneys, etc.

Welding hot air

This method is applied to most membranes.

• To do this, it is necessary to use a special welding machine that is able to produce air of a very high temperature, approximately 600c.
• The welded layer, at the same time, can be 20-100 mm.

Repair of membrane roofing

Anyway, the membrane roof in the process of its operation may require repair, on the timeliness of which depends on how long this roofing material will last. The repair process itself can assume either a complete replacement of the roof or its individual sites in the field of leakage. At the same time, special equipment should be used, for example, a welding machine. Therefore, such work is desirable to entrust specialists.
It is very important during the repair to ensure reliable waterproofing of roofing. More detailed about the repair of the membrane roof can be found on the video.