How Spray Foam Roofing Is Installed
Installing a spray foam roof is a specialized process that creates the continuous foam layer and protects it with a coating. Understanding the installation helps you know what a quality SPF roof involves. Here is how spray foam roofing is installed on a Ligonier commercial building.
Preparing the Roof Surface
SPF installation begins with preparing the roof surface, cleaning it and ensuring it is sound, dry, and ready for the foam to adhere. Because the foam bonds to the surface, proper preparation is essential to a successful application. For a Ligonier building, preparing the roof surface is the critical first step of an SPF installation, since the foam must adhere to a clean, sound, dry surface. The preparation sets up the application. This preparing of the roof surface is the foundation of an SPF installation, since the foam bonds directly to the surface it is sprayed on, making a clean, sound, dry surface essential for proper adhesion and a successful application of the spray foam roof on the commercial building.
Spraying the Foam
The core of an SPF installation is spraying the foam, applying the liquid polyurethane that expands into the foam layer across the roof. The foam is sprayed to the proper thickness, building up the continuous, monolithic layer that insulates and waterproofs. For a Ligonier building, spraying the foam is the central step of an SPF installation, since it creates the roofing layer. The foam is applied across the roof. This spraying of the foam is the central step of an SPF installation, since the liquid polyurethane is applied across the roof and expands into the foam layer, building up the continuous, monolithic surface to the proper thickness to insulate and waterproof the commercial building.
Building the Proper Thickness and Slope
SPF installation involves building the proper thickness and, where helpful, slope, applying the foam to the right depth for insulation and waterproofing and building it up to improve drainage where needed. The foam can be built up in low spots to help water drain. For a Ligonier building, building the proper thickness and slope is part of a quality SPF installation, since the depth and any slope affect performance and drainage. The foam is built to the right depth. This building of the proper thickness and slope is part of an SPF installation, since the foam is applied to the right depth for insulation and waterproofing and can be built up to improve drainage in low spots, an ability that lets SPF address ponding while it insulates and waterproofs the commercial building.
Applying the Coating
After the foam, SPF installation involves applying the coating, the protective layer sprayed or applied over the foam to shield it from UV and the elements. The coating provides the weathering surface and is essential, since the foam needs it to last. For a Ligonier building, applying the coating is a key step of an SPF installation, since it protects the foam. The coating completes the system. This applying of the coating is an essential step of an SPF installation, since the protective coating applied over the foam shields it from the UV and weather it cannot withstand on its own, providing the weathering surface that allows the spray foam roof to last on the commercial building.
Sealing the Details
SPF installation handles the details, with the foam conforming around penetrations and the coating extending over them to seal the detail areas. The self flashing foam and the coating together address the curbs, pipes, and transitions that complicate other roofs. For a Ligonier building, sealing the details is part of a quality SPF installation, since the detail areas must be watertight. The foam and coating seal the details. This sealing of the details is part of an SPF installation, since the foam conforms around penetrations and the coating extends over them to seal the detail areas, with the self flashing foam and the coating together addressing the curbs, pipes, and transitions that often complicate the watertightness of other roofs on the commercial building.
A Continuous Finished Roof
The result of a proper SPF installation is a continuous finished roof, a monolithic foam layer protected by a coating that insulates and waterproofs the building. The continuous coverage, the insulation, and the protective coating combine into a complete system. For a Ligonier building, a continuous finished roof is what a quality SPF installation delivers, since the proper process produces a complete, protected system. The finished roof insulates and protects. This continuous finished roof is the goal of an SPF installation, since the proper preparation, foam application, thickness and slope, coating, and sealed details combine into a monolithic, protected system that insulates and waterproofs the commercial building, delivering the distinctive combination that spray foam roofing provides.
Building an SPF Roof
An SPF installation prepares the surface, sprays the foam, builds the proper thickness and slope, applies the protective coating, and seals the details, producing a continuous finished roof. This specialized process delivers a monolithic, insulated, protected flat roof on a Ligonier commercial building.
One thing worth understanding about spray foam roofing is how its continuous, monolithic nature compares to sheet based systems. Sheet roofing, whether single ply or built up, is installed in pieces that are joined together, and the seams where those pieces meet are common places for leaks to start over time. Spray foam roofing, by contrast, is applied as a liquid that expands into one connected layer with no seams across the field of the roof. For a Ligonier building, this means the foam removes many of the joints where leaks typically begin, since the roof is one continuous surface. Ligonier Commercial Roofing explains this characteristic when discussing roofing options with building owners, since the continuous coverage of SPF is one of the qualities that distinguishes it from sheet systems and contributes to its performance on the commercial building.
Get an SPF Roof Installed
Ready to install a spray foam roof? Call Ligonier Commercial Roofing at (765) 676-3491 for a free inspection of your Ligonier commercial building. We install SPF roofs properly, from surface preparation through the foam, the coating, and the sealed details, delivering a continuous, insulated roof that protects your building.