Commercial Roofing at Atlantic Business Center, Pompano Beach, FL

The normal wet season rainfall for Pompano Beach is 33.40 inches, and most of it falls in short, hard bursts rather than gentle all-day rain. A flat roof has to move that water to a drain or a scuppered edge in minutes, then do it again the next afternoon. Anything that slows the exit becomes a pond: a drain sump with a leaf screen packed solid, a sag between purlins, a seam that rode up and made a small dam.

The stormiest weeks run from mid-May into early July, when damaging thunderstorm winds and flooding are most likely. A pond that lingers on a membrane through a second day, with the sun pushing the surface far hotter than the air, wears seams down faster than almost anything else. That is why a drainage check comes before any talk of new material. On many roofs the fix is cleaner drains, a tapered insulation correction or an added drain or scupper, and not a full tear-off.

We start at the edges and work inward. Edge metal and coping tell us a lot about how the building has handled wind, because the perimeter is where uplift pulls first. Then we look at every penetration: pipe boots, exhaust fans, skylights, the curbs under rooftop units. Leaks in a building like this often start at one of these details long before the field of the membrane gives out.

Across the open roof we look for blistering, shrinkage, open laps, surface cracking and the dull, chalky look of a membrane that has taken too much sun. For anything that looks suspect we can follow up with a moisture survey to find wet insulation that has not shown itself on the ceiling yet. The report that comes out of this is written for a person who has to approve a budget, with photos, plain ratings and a short list of what needs doing this season and what can wait a year or two.

A business center building is a place where somebody is shipping, assembling or serving customers under that roof. Where one building holds more than one occupant, a leak on one side is rarely the other tenant's problem until it is. We sort out the work in zones, keep material staging away from truck courts and dock doors, and set the daily start and stop times to match how the building actually runs.

Walmart and Publix serve the retail side of that mix, while FedEx and FedEx Ground represent the distribution activity listed among the city’s top employers. Other industrial areas, including the Powerline industrial park and the South Andrews industrial area, add their own large buildings. For an owner with distribution or retail users, the plan matters as much as the membrane: a tear-off that closes a dock for a day can cost the tenant more than the roofing line item does. On occupied-building reroofing, the roof gets dried in at the end of every shift, whatever the radar looks like at three o'clock.

A 98 mph gust crossed Pompano Beach during Wilma in October 2005, and Irma pushed 80 to 100 mph gusts over most of the county in 2017. Broward falls inside Florida's High Velocity Hurricane Zone, so the wind figure for an ordinary Risk Category II building is 170 mph, and each weather-facing component needs Miami-Dade product approval. A re-roof here is not a catalog order. The assembly carries its approval as a unit, and the attachment has to match what was tested.

Before the season we look at the weak points that wind finds first: loose edge metal, unsecured rooftop equipment, flashing that has lifted, fasteners backing out of a deck. Tie-downs on units, fresh sealant at terminations and cleared drains cost little next to the interior damage that follows an opened corner. If a storm is already in the forecast, call and we will talk about a wind-damage plan before the bands arrive.

Four paths come out of most condition reports, and the roof usually points to one. A repair makes sense when the damage is local and the rest of the membrane still has life. A coating works on a sound roof with surface wear, where the goal is sealing and reflecting heat. A recover puts a new membrane over a dry existing one, which skips the tear-off. Replacement is for roofs where the insulation is wet or the system has simply run its course.

Cost moves with a short list of things: how much of the insulation is wet, whether the deck needs work, the number of penetrations to flash, how long the building can be disturbed, and whether the roof is single-ply, modified bitumen or built-up. For a business center building the usual comparison is TPO against a coating program against a staged replacement, and for buildings that move product, a warehouse roof follows the same logic. We lay out each with the tradeoffs written down, and the owner picks the one that fits the budget year.

Can one building in a business center be roofed without touching the rest?

Yes, as long as the building is a separate roof area with its own drains and walls. We scope each roof as its own job, protect the shared drive lanes and truck courts, and keep debris off neighboring buildings. Tenants next door usually only notice some noise and the occasional lift.

What does the 170 mph design wind mean when I re-roof?

It means the membrane, insulation, fasteners and edge metal all have to be approved as a system for Broward's High Velocity Hurricane Zone, with a Notice of Acceptance behind each part. Substitutions in the field can fail an inspection, so we price the approved assembly the first time.

Is it worth coating a roof that holds water after a storm?

Standing water is a drainage problem first. A coating over a pond only seals the surface and leaves the cause in place. If the ponding is shallow and the membrane is sound, we fix the low spots or add drains, then coat. Where insulation is soaked, replacement is the right answer.

How soon after a big storm should I call?

Call as soon as the squall has passed. We answer day and night, and a dry-in the same day keeps a small tear from turning into wet insulation. Take photos from the ground and inside, and leave rooftop checks to us until a crew can look.

Will new rooftop equipment hurt the roof?

Not if the curbs are flashed correctly and the roofer is involved before the crane arrives. Added units bring new penetrations, foot traffic and condensate lines. We like to walk the roof ahead of time, mark protected paths and tie the new flashing into the existing membrane.