Spray Polyurethane Foam Roofing in Pompano Beach, FL

Foam only goes on well when the surface is clean and dry, the wind is light enough that overspray does not drift onto parked cars and neighboring buildings, and the air and the deck sit inside the temperature range the foam maker allows. Around here, with dewpoints in the 70s all summer and a line of storms building most afternoons, that usually means a morning job. We watch the radar, spray in passes, and stop with enough daylight left to protect what we sprayed, because open foam that gets rained on or baked has to be dealt with before anything goes over it.

The wet season, May 15 to October 15, can still be worked, just in shorter windows. A roof with plenty of schedule flexibility often does better in the drier months, when a full sunny day is easier to count on.

Closed-cell foam carries a high insulating value for its thickness, and it is the insulation, so there is no board layer to wet out and no joints between boards for heat to slip through. Under a summer where warm nights run a degree or so over normal, a roof that holds the cooling load down is not a small thing.

Foam is also the one roof system that can build its own slope. Because we spray it at varying thickness, we can taper a flat roof toward its drains and scuppers. In April 2023, a single Fort Lauderdale day brought roughly 26 inches of rain. That event shows the demands heavy rain can place on drainage; a tapered foam layer can direct water toward outlets when the roof lacks adequate slope. The drains and scuppers still have to be sized and kept clear, but the water finally has somewhere to go.

Foam is also light. An older steel-deck building that cannot carry another heavy layer can often carry a coat of foam.

A fully bonded foam roof has no membrane to flutter, so uplift comes down to two things: how well the foam stuck to the deck, and how well the edges, flashings and curb details were finished. Pompano Beach logged a 98 mph gust in Hurricane Wilma in 2005, and edges are where the load lands. We prep the deck, test adhesion before we commit to a roof, and give the perimeter extra attention.

Broward sits in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, so every exterior component, the foam, the coating and the granules included, needs its own current Miami-Dade County approval, a Notice of Acceptance, and the assembly is designed for 170 mph winds. We confirm that before a permit goes in. The soft spot of foam is impact. Hail is most likely in the mid-May to early-July stretch of the wet season, and a hard strike or a dropped tool can dent the surface and crack the coating. A dent that stays closed is cosmetic; a cracked coating is patched and recoated. After a big storm we check the whole surface, the same way we do on any hurricane-damaged roof.

Sunlight breaks bare foam down, so every SPF roof needs a protective coating the same day or the next dry one. That coating is the weather layer, and it is what the owner is really maintaining. Most are silicone coatings or acrylic coatings, chosen by how well the roof drains, how much foot traffic it sees and how much salt air reaches it. On an oceanfront roof, where salt air and direct wind come with the address, that salt is a factor.

Coatings wear slowly, and the cheap moment to act is before they wear through. A recoat on a schedule costs far less than rebuilding foam that sat bare. Walk paths for HVAC technicians, extra granules where the roof gets traffic, and a look after every major storm keep the coating doing its job.

Foam works well over a sound, dry surface that is crowded with curbs, pipes, conduit and odd shapes, because it flows around all of them without a single cut seam. It is a natural answer for a metal roof with fasteners backing out (the process overlaps with a metal roof retrofit) and for hangar and shop buildings like those at Pompano Beach, where an insulated roof with no fastener lines has an obvious appeal.

It is the wrong move over wet insulation. Foam sprayed on a wet substrate traps moisture against the deck. So a moisture survey comes before any spray date, and large warehouse roofs in places like Gateway Lakes get scanned before we write a number. Roofs that are too far gone come off first.

Spray foam is a chemical process, and that deserves a straight conversation with tenants. During application and for a short cure period afterward, vapors need to stay out of occupied space, so air intakes on the roof are shut down or sealed, and workers on the job wear respirators. We set a protected zone around the roof, cover vehicles and glass downwind, and keep people away from the spray area.

On a working property that takes planning with the property manager: which units can stay open, when intakes can come back on and where the staging goes. The same planning we use on any occupied building reroof applies, with one extra step: we watch the wind before every pass.

How soon can people walk on a new foam roof?

Foam firms up within minutes and takes light foot traffic soon after. Even so, we keep everyone off until the coating is on, and heavy traffic waits for the coating to cure.

Can foam go right over my existing roof?

Often, yes, if what is underneath is dry and well attached. Metal, built-up and modified bitumen roofs are common candidates. A moisture scan tells us whether yours qualifies before we promise anything.

Will foam pass Broward's wind rules?

Only assemblies with a valid Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance can be permitted in this part of the state. We check that the exact foam and coating we plan to use carries one before the permit package goes in.

After a hailstorm, what do you look for?

Dents that broke the coating. A closed dent is cosmetic, but a crack lets water reach the foam. We patch the cracks and recoat the area, then photograph the roof so the record is clear for any insurance claim.

Why do foam quotes talk about recoating?

The coating is the part of the roof that weathers. Recoated on time, it protects foam for a long run; ignored, it lets sun and rain reach the foam underneath.