What to do if you have a commercial roof leak

If you have a commercial roof leak, the best thing to do is contact a commercial roofing contractor as soon as possible. The sooner a problem is identified and repaired, the less long-term damage is caused and the cheaper it is to fix.

If you’re having problems with your commercial roof but aren’t quite sure what the problem is, we can conduct a commercial roof survey to identify the issue. One of our specially trained consultants will survey your business’ roof quickly (without disruption) and give you a free and transparent quote on any commercial roof repair you’ll need.

Types of roof surveys we carry out

There are various roof surveys and diagnostic tools we can use to find the location and cause of your commercial roof leak. These include:

Visual Roof Survey

Visual roof surveys conducted by our team of experienced industrial roofing contractors offer you the swift and straightforward answers you need about the current state of your roof.

Electronic Leak Detection (ELD)

Electronic Leak Detection (ELD) is a fast and accurate method of locating leaks in most types of waterproofing membranes.

Moisture Probe Survey

During a moisture probe survey, defective roof areas will be marked on the roof’s surface with survey paint and plotted on a CAD drawing in preparation for repairs. The main benefit of getting a moisture probe survey carried out is that you could potentially avoid a complete roof replacement, saving you money.

Moisture Scanning

If you suspect your roof is retaining water our roof leak detection procedure will enable us to locate trapped moisture within your roofing system.

View our full range of commercial roof surveys & diagnostics tools.

Common causes of commercial roof leaks

Having been in the roofing business for many years now, we’ve seen our fair share of commercial roof leaks. In our experience, these are the most common causes:

Ponding wate

If your flat roofing system doesn’t have effective drainage then it can end up with standing or ponding water. If ponding water is left for too long it can cause the roof to degrade much more quickly than normal, resulting in sagging and roof leaks.

Damaged perimeter flashing

A lot of commercial roof leaks occur around the perimeter where the flashing is. This is because roofing systems expand and contract as temperature changes throughout the seasons, and so the flashings can often tear or break and can fail.

Old roofing systems

As with most things, age can be a big factor in the performance of a roof. Many commercial roof repairs are needed because the roof is simply old, worn and in need of some TLC.

Roof membrane damage

As the roof membrane’s job is to stop water getting into the building’s interior, when there’s damage to the roof membrane, it usually causes a leak.

Open roof penetrations

All roof penetrations, such as pipes, ducts and vents, are prone to leaks. If they are not properly secured then the roofing system won’t be fully protected from water damage.

If you think you’ve got a commercial roof leak, contact us at NWIR.