Information and pictures from a TPO commercial roofing cleaning project commercial-roof-cleaning-tamparoof-cleaning-tampa-commercial

TPO roofing is Thermoplastic Polyolefin single ply roofing coating that is used on flat structures.

The coating is very durable and will reflect the sun.

PEERLESS Commercial Roof Cleaning Tampa was contracted to clean the TPO coating and prepare for a new coating to be applied. This was not your normal cleaning project. As you can see in the pictures the coating was in very bad shape. The entire area had to be cleaned of algae & molds before we could really see how much of the coating had failed and needed to be removed.

Always be sure to check with your manufacturer before applying any sealers or cleaners on any part of your roof. Using the wrong

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material  could result in voiding your warranty. A non-approved sealer was applied to the areas of the roof where rainwater would puddle and be directed to the downspout. The chemicals in the sealer were not compatible with the thermoplastic coating and caused it to fail.  You can see where the coating started to flake and chip.  In some areas of the coating, it split right in half.

Commercial Roof Cleaning Tampa – TPO Roofing

First task of the job was to remove the years of dirt, grime and mold.  Our crew applied a industry standard detergent to lift, kill and remove the mold stains.  After the detergent was allowed to dwell, we used our pressure washing rig to wash the flakes and chipped paint away. Many of the areas needed to be hand scraped as the water from the washer would get under the coating that was still intact.

After spending a solid day scraping and brushing the TPO roofing coating, we again fired up the pressure washer and provided the roof with another good rinse down. Now the coating is prepared for the new materials to have a smooth clean surface to adhere to.  The areas that had to be scraped and cut out will be repaired and built up for coating.

Sealing the Cleaned Tampa Commercial Rooftpo-after-8

Finally, after all the prep-work is completed, a TPO compatible sealer is applied. This sealer requires a very expensive machine to spray the thermoplastic coating. These machines can cost over ten thousand dollars as they spray fine measurable coats of the coating. Conventional airless sprayers will not get this kind of job done.

TPO roof coating is usually cleaned once every three to five years and requires a fresh water rinse. Roofing contractors advise to seal the TPO coating at six years, approximately half life. This will help prevent costly repairs resulting from leaks. Roof cleaning will allow the coating to reflect the suns harmful rays, and keep temperatures down resulting in a longer lasting coating.

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