While standard sloped roofs typically have shingles that are overlapped like.
Why does tpo flat roofs fail.
This is due in part to the fact that the top layer of the material is laminated.
Direct contact with modified bitumen will in short time damage tpo pvc epdm membranes both physically rubbing against granules and chemically asphalt bitumen with damage the single ply material.
There is a cheap way out using slip sheet which is a fabric made to separate asphalt based roof from single ply.
In the late 90 s through early 2001 due to formulation problems material failures and seam welds coming apart most manufacturers pulled their tpo products off the market and had to reformulate them yet again.
Many 1st and 2nd generation tpo roofs have failed long before their warranty expired which was originally only 10 years.
The most preventable failure symptom punctures usually occur because of carelessness on the part of people visiting the roof.
Thermoplastic polyolefin tpo roofs are stronger epdm variants.
However at least 5 out of 10 hailstones during a strong hailstorm will cause immense damage to the roof.
The biggest problem for most flat roofs is the presence of seams and flashing because that is precisely where leaks occur.
But such a low slope holds snow and water much longer than a steeply pitched roof and therefore needs a very different material to stay watertight.
Basically here is what you the roof owner get.
Failed promise of tpo.
Hvac technicians window washers painters maintenance staff smokers and tenants.
They will last better than epdm roofs during a hailstorm.
It has a very low slope between 1 4 to 1 2 inch per foot so that it drains water.
Roofing calculator in the building trades the acronym tpo stands for thermoplastic polyolefin a material originally developed for pond liners and used extensively for roofing since 1989.
Tpo compounds have changed in recent years so it is impossible to say how long current roofs will last but a general estimate puts a tpo roof between 10 and 20 years.
Flat roofing is not actually flat.
An untrained inexperienced roofing contractor installing a roof system tpo roofing which is unproven and there is a good chance it will fail using flashing materials made for a different roofing system epdm rubber roof.
Tpo is a type of membrane roofing suitable for flat and low slope roofs.