Hail Damage To Built Up Roof With Ballast

Assessing hail damage on gravel ballasted built up roofs in this interview with denise johnson ryan chauncey executive director of operations at nelson forensics explains the difficulty of assessing hail damage on gravel ballasted built up roofs and why hail size isn t enough to evaluate damage.

Hail damage to built up roof with ballast.

Townhome complex roofs with alleged hail damage. Built up roofs or burs also called a tar and gravel roof is a well established and popular style of flat roof that is made up of alternating layers of roofing felt or fiberglass and asphalt that is applied with heat which combine to make a long lasting sturdy roofing system. One of these storm clusters was a beast of a hail storm in colorado. To speak to one of haag s engineer s about your assignment contact us here or call 800 527 0168 or 214 614 6500.

Built up roofing or bur systems have been in use in the u s. These roof systems are commonly referred to as tar and gravel roofs. Built up systems are installed by alternating layers of asphalt or tar and supporting fabrics directly onto the roof. Commercial and industrial roofs built up roofing polymer modified bitumen roofing thermoplastic single ply roofs pvc and tpo thermoset plastic single ply roofs epdm cspe.

Ballasted roofs hail ca n remove some of the loose. According to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration noaa there was a total of 4 611 hail storms in the united states during the year 2018 with 2019 ending on a higher number as of year end more than 5 396 hail events were recorded although most people think that property and roof damage only occur in rare instances with larger than average hailstones even the smallest. With a ballasted system the lower layers are not adhered or fastened to the roof structure and the heavy surface layer keeps the roofing in place. 2 1 2 threshold size for damage to well supported ballasted built up.

However occasional disputes arise in the settlement of insurance claims over the size hail needed to cause damage to a built up roof and what those characteristics are. The hail resistance of built up roofs has been known to be substantial especially when covered with loose and embedded gravel in an asphalt flood coat. Every year multiple hail storms cause billions of dollars of property damage. For over 100 years.

In 2019 the united states experienced 5 396 large hail storms as documented by the noaa severe weather database. In this paper we will define the characteristics of hail damage to built up roofs describe our inspection and testing procedures and.