Soprema Roofing Systems in Pompano Beach, FL
A produce distribution building in Pompano Beach, FL lives with two climates at once: refrigerated air inside, and outside a summer where surface dewpoints reach the 70s during the warm, humid months. The roof is the line between them. Where warm, wet air meets cold insulation, water forms, and a roof can quietly soak itself from the inside while the membrane on top looks perfect. Publix, Associated Grocers and FreshPoint Produce and Dairy are all among the city's top employers, and a produce or dairy operation is exactly the kind of tenant this problem belongs to.
Soprema makes layered SBS modified bitumen membranes under the Sopralene name, liquid-applied flashing resins such as Alsan, and rigid insulation. We install, repair and maintain Soprema systems on commercial roofs in Pompano Beach, and the work starts with the question of where the moisture is coming from, not just where it is landing.
Cold Inside, Humid Outside: where roof moisture really starts
On a cooler or refrigerated building, vapor pressure pushes upward through the ceiling, and if it meets cold insulation it condenses. A vapor retarder at the right depth keeps that from happening, while a roof without one slowly fills the insulation with water. Some drips in food-storage buildings are not leaks at all but condensation that has found a way down. We check the assembly before we blame the membrane.
Infrared scanning shows wet insulation clearly, and a couple of core samples confirm what the moisture came from. If the problem is condensation, new membrane on top will not fix it. A cold storage roof needs the vapor layer, the insulation and the seals at every penetration to work together, and we plan the roof as one assembly.
Sopralene: layered SBS from base sheet to cap
Sopralene is Soprema's line of SBS-modified bitumen, the rubber-modified asphalt that stretches and recovers instead of cracking. A typical system uses a base sheet and a cap sheet, sometimes more, bonded in layers. The plies can be set with a torch, with cold adhesive or by self-adhesion, depending on what the building and its insurer allow. Multiple layers give the roof some redundancy: if the cap is scratched, the plies under it are still there.
The caps usually carry a granule surface that shields the asphalt from sun, and light-colored granules can reflect heat. Rubber-modified asphalt is the heart of modified bitumen roofing, and the granules do the sun work. For a roof with heavy foot traffic from refrigeration technicians and dock crews, an SBS cap tends to take scuffs better than a thin single-ply, and walk pads protect the paths people use every day.
Alsan Resin: liquid flashing for crowded penetrations
Refrigerated buildings are covered in penetrations: condenser lines, exhaust fans, conduit bundles, vent stacks and curbs with odd shapes. A welded or torched flashing around a tight cluster is hard to make watertight. A liquid-applied resin, such as Soprema's Alsan line, is brushed or troweled on and cures into a reinforced layer that follows every corner. Done on a clean, dry surface, it forms a continuous detail with no joints to open.
Resin flashing needs patience. It has to be dry, primed and applied in the right temperature window, which in Florida means mornings. We stage the work so a section is finished and cured before the afternoon storms arrive, and we protect the cure with covers if the sky is uncertain. For a roof with a dozen equipment curbs, that approach beats chasing leaks one at a time with sealant. Resin is one of the options we weigh for any penetration flashing problem.
Sopra-ISO and the Layers Under It: board, adhesive and moisture control
Soprema also sells polyiso board under the Sopra-ISO name, and insulation is the layer where a roof earns or loses its energy performance. Boards are laid in staggered layers so joints do not line up, then adhered or fastened according to the approved assembly. In Broward the whole stack, including the board, must match an approved Miami-Dade listing for the wind design, which is 170 mph for a Risk Category II building.
Board that gets wet before installation cannot be trusted. A pallet that sits uncovered through one wet-season thunderstorm absorbs moisture, and sealing a wet board under membrane just locks the water in. We stage, cover and install within the day, and we reject damp board. The cheapest insulation to replace is the board that never went down wet. That discipline protects the insulation and cover board assembly for years.
Reading an Aging SBS Roof: blisters, bare spots and open laps
An SBS roof tells you its age on the surface. Granules wash into the gutters and drains, and the black asphalt beneath starts to show. Blisters rise where trapped moisture or air pushes up the cap. Laps open at the ends where the sheet has shrunk or the adhesive has aged. None of these is an emergency by itself, but together they mark a roof that is nearing the point where repair gives way to a coating or a replacement.
We map each defect on a roof plan, probe the blisters, and run an infrared moisture survey to see whether water has already reached the insulation. A small, dry blister is a quick cut and patch. A field of wet board is a different conversation. Wilma put a 98 mph gust through Pompano Beach in 2005, and open laps and tired flashings are still where wind and water get in first.
Distribution Corridors: the port, the interstate and the roofs near them
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades are minutes from Pompano Beach, and the airports and seaports of Miami and Palm Beach are within about an hour. Interstate 95 and the Turnpike both cross the city, with the industrial parks clustered along I-95 and Powerline Road, and FedEx and FedEx Ground, Associated Grocers and FreshPoint are among its top-ten employers. For logistics operators, a roof that leaks over racking can mean spoiled stock and a halted dock.
We work around loading schedules, keep truck lanes clear and flag the areas of the roof that sit over cold rooms or freezers. When a Soprema roof is already up there, we read its layers, check the flashing and tell you how much life is left. If a replacement is coming, we plan the sequence so the dock stays open. The same SBS category includes GAF and its Liberty system and Johns Manville modified bitumen, so the three can be priced side by side.
At the Pompano Beach Air Park, hangars and maintenance shops call for careful reviews of penetrations, equipment curbs and drainage.
Questions We Hear Often
Why does my cooler roof drip when the membrane looks fine?
Condensation inside the assembly is the usual suspect. Warm, wet air meets cold insulation, and water forms. We scan, core and check the vapor layer before replacing anything.
What does Alsan flashing resin do that a boot cannot?
It follows odd shapes and tight clusters without seams. A boot works on a single round pipe, while a resin covers a bundle of lines, a curb corner or a repaired patch.
Can a Sopralene roof be installed without a torch?
Yes. Cold-applied adhesives and self-adhering plies avoid open flame, which suits food buildings and occupied sites. They need a dry, clean surface and good timing.
How is SBS different from single-ply on a busy roof?
It has more layers and a surfaced cap, so scuffs and dropped tools are less likely to reach the waterproofing. Single-ply is lighter and usually quicker to install.
Will a vapor retarder be needed on my roof?
On a refrigerated or humidity-controlled building, almost certainly. On a plain warehouse the interior humidity tells us, and we check it on the first visit.