Commercial Roofing Options: Built-Up

Built-up roofs have become a very common option in the roofing industry. They are a relatively inexpensive roofing option compared to other systems that are available today, which is one reason why building owners love these roofs so much.

Built-up roofs can have several different types of layers, but there are usually a couple layers of insulation, maybe a gravel layer at the top, and there is often tar involved in building up the system.

As mentioned above, built-up roofs have a low price tag compared to most other systems, which is a major benefit to those in charge of roofing systems. The chance to save a little bit of money in their budget is a great motivator for them to choose this system. A low-cost roofing system shouldn’t always be your first choice simply because of cost, but if the system meets your needs and is cheap, now you’ve got a real winner.

Thanks to it’s multiple layers (built-up), BUR systems provide better insulation properties than a lot of other commercial roofing systems. They are not the best insulator on the market, but they are better than most.

Built-up roofs are extremely heavy, again thanks to all their layers, which means if you install a BUR on your existing building, you need to make sure before you make that decision that the building and roof deck are both strong enough to support a very heavy roof.

Repairing a built-up roof can also be a pain, since you have to work with so many different layers to make the repair. It’s not as simple as other systems might be, especially if the insulation in the middle layer gets wet.

Built-up roofs have some very clear advantages that have spurred on their rapid growth. Above are some pros and cons of the system that you should keep in mind if you’re considering installing this system on your building.