My 30 year old bitumen flat roof needs replacing.
It about 1000 square feet and is the back half of the house. It's alligatoring and shrinking ie the flashing on the side of the house is starting to point outwards as the roof shrinking pulls it back. An Oak tree lies over about a third of the roof. The front half of the house is shingled with a fairly shallow 2 1/2":12" pitch, which slopes down to the flat roof. I want to replace it with something that will be reflective and obviously long lasting. I also think the flat roof needs a better slope, because now it's pretty flat and ponds. Ideally I like to take both roofs off and put a nicely pitched roof over the whole house, but that would be a budget buster. Looking to spend about 2-3K. Suggestions for Florida flat roof: EPDM, TPO, modified bitumen, anything else?

It is my understanding that EPDM is still the best choice. It's tried and true.

You could use white epdm or PVC for reflectivity.(is that a word) I never liked the adhesives for white rubber. Is the flat roof visible or is aesthetics a concern. You could use black rubber and coat it with a paint formulated for rubber. However when we had our house painted (14 years ago) the painters spilled white house paint on our airing porch black rubber roof and its weathering as well as it is on the siding where its supposed to be.
You may have to periodically clean any light colored flat roof.
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Contact I-B Roof systems.

I heard the white EPDM is not as strong as long lasting as the black.

White latex over black EPDM? No need to be elastomeric?

The squirrels love our roof, lots of acorns drop from the oak. Not sure about pecking birds. Branches from the Oak fall once in a while. The single ply IB would be okay?

I didn't recommend white latex over rubber. Just mentioned that the painters spill still looks fine. I also remember doing gutters on a porch where the roofers (not us!) ran the rubber over the siding rather than under it. The homeowner had the entire house painted and the painters painted the rubber over the siding. Looked fine to me.
Only time I purposely painted rubber was about 15 years ago on a penthouse. We used a hypalon paint. Worked great.
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I recommend TPO. This should give you your reflectivity as well as service life.

PVC is great product but the bigger manufacturer's such as Carlisle and Firestone are steering clear of this product for a couple of reasons. The plasticisers in the product are hazardous and water runoff is stated as such causing it to become enviromentally unfriendly. These same plasticisers, if not formulated correctly, can cause the product to become unstable and crack prematurely.

White epdm is a possibility, however, the product is newer and hasn't been tested long enough to suit me. This past year Firestone recalled the use of their white epdm accessories due problems with glues and primers working with this product. This system will also be most succeptable to punctures with the tree limbs you have hanging over your roof. If one falls, you will most likely have a leak.

Modified is also a choice, but depends too much on the installer to make sure you have a long lasting roof.

But as with all of the products, you can have the best material in the world and if it isn't installed correctly, your end result will be junk. Choose your contractor wisely.

Any roofing system depends on the installer.Mod-bit roofs are time tested.Do your homework on your contractor and you should be fine.

herdofem wrote:

I heard the white EPDM is not as strong as long lasting as the black. White latex over black EPDM? No need to be elastomeric? The squirrels love our roof, lots of acorns drop from the oak. Not sure about pecking birds. Branches from the Oak fall once in a while. The single ply IB would be okay?

The white EPDM does not have as much carbon black content, and that is what keeps EPDM from breaking down in the sun.

The best solution for Florida would be one of three products if you ask me. They are as follow:

1. Derbibrite Mod. Bit. by Performance Roof Systems;
2. TPO by Firestone or equal; or
3. PVC by Sarnafil

The biggest bang for the buck would be the TPO membrane; where as the Derbibrite would be the more durable membrane.
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ib & sarnafil are nice,but not for 2 or 3 thousand, even in fla. pvc & tpo are thru the roof like everything else! plus sarna & ib you have to pay to ship it. i have owned a couple homes in fla. & i have always gone with pitch tar & gravel from koppers. i swear by it, we used it @ homestead airforce base after andrew!

hey herdofem,
im in st. pete and would be glad to come out and take a look.
pm me if you like.

sounds like you have a mop grade instead of a bitumen
torch down roof.

the mop grades have shrunk badly around here for years
they also alligate real bad in ponding areas. i do not and have not use mop grade for years because of this.

just holler at me, ive been roofing here in st pete
my whole life. know everything there is to know about
roofing in tampa bay.



gweedo.

The Derbibrite sounds like a "Cool" product.
Like I said my roof is FLAT, 1/8": 12" if I'm lucky. I've always had ponding under the tree area. Would the modified bitumen or TPO be better with such a shallow pitch?

Pvc, specifically Sarnifil.
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I don't need no freakin' signature, I Am Roofer.

According to their website, there are 3 Sarnafil contractors in Florida. The closest is 60 miles away.

I think he's ignoring U Gweedo
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