Eric,

These are all good points.  My roof exam was cursory. It was a big
picture visit.  Tomorrow I get a better chance to look it over.  Your
points are well taken.  The roof may indeed still be under warrantee,
it is only 10+/- years old.  Large trees overhang the roof and pretty
much have it surrounded.  So, ten years of accumulation is what we
probably have.  There is no indication of any roof leaks or flashing
problems... but there are indications that the roof drains and storm
water system are compromised.  The debris clogging the stormwater
system remains the best hypothesis for an event that has not yet
repeated itself.  But, the occupant is new to the building.

I'll look into the roof warrantee, maybe somebody got creative... it
happens.

But, the potential to do damage to the membrane while cleaning the
debris was what was driving me into the public arena for some
advice.  Surely some trade does this work and is sufficiently bonded?

-jc


On Sep 19, 2005, at 10:09 AM, Hammarberg, Eric wrote:

> John,
>
> I have worked on a few flat (low slope) roofs and in my experience
> when you
> have that much organic material on a roof, it is often ready for
> replacement. I have never cleaned roof ballast. If you have not
> already done
> this, I suggest a thorough survey of the roof condition.
>
> I would also caution that doing this much work on a roof is likely
> to damage
> the membrane leading to necessary repairs but worse, leaving
> possible damage
> to the membrane that goes unnoticed until one or more rain storms
> leaving an
> unhappy owner.
>
> Does the roof have a warranty? Better check to see if this would
> void the
> warranty or if the warrantor has a process for doing this!
>
> If you do have a sound roof, I think the only folks who should be
> doing
> something like this are roofers. I suspect they would be reluctant
> to do
> this work based on the above issues. Usually the only time you remove
> (remove, clean, reapply) ballast is to replace or recoat a roof so
> a few
> nicks are not big issues.
>
> Sorry for being so negative...
>
> Eric Hammarberg
> Director of Preservation
> Vice President
> Thornton-Tomasetti Group
> LZA Technology Division
> 641 Avenue of the Americas
> New York, NY 10011
> Telephone: 917.661.8160
> Fax: 917.661.8161
> Mobile: 917.439.3537
> email: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Callan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 11:02 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [BP] Roof maintenance ?
>
> I've recommended that a roof be cleaned. Its a stone ballast membrane
> roof, but the ballast has acquired massive amounts of organic
> material, mud, dirt, etc.  Any idea HOW such work is actually done,
> or what kind of a trade or contractor would do it?
>
> If it were my house, I suppose I'd get up there with a plastic snow
> shovel and screen all the stone, and then hose the debris into the
> gutters.  But, this is not my house.  This is one of them modern
> buildings with the roof drains that go down into the building,
> collecting under the main slab.  If something clogs up in there (and
> it may have already done that on one occasion) its going to be an
> awful mess.
>
> So I suppose one shovels the debris over the side where it can be
> collected, moved by wheel barrow to someplace where it can dry and
> then disposed of.  Does that sound reasonable?
>
> -jc
>
> --
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To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>