Ocean Jewels Takes Hurricane Matthew by STORM!
On October 7th, 2016, Hurricane Matthew cruised up the southeastern seaboard for up to 24 hours. Matthew never made landfall in Florida; however, it still hurled the Atlantic ocean with wind and flooding in it’s wake. As of Friday at 11 p.m., the storm was downgraded to Category 2 and sustained maximum winds dropped to 105 mph. Hurricane Mathew was a challenging event for many Floridians. Integrated Roofing Systems, Inc. (IRSI) has been visiting coastal buildings on the east coast of Florida in Volusia County. Ralph Jewell, Vice President of IRSI reported he has seen a lot of roof failure, structural damage and water damage, especially ocean front. IRSI has focused on discovering and recording the type of roofs that did well and the type that failed. Although there are many factors that contribute to roof performance in strong winds and rains, we have narrowed down the common shared traits of the roofs that successfully performed.
While inspecting fully adhered failed roofs, we discovered 3 common reasons for the failure. Either the bonding adhesive (glue) failed, the adhesion to the insulation failed or the insulation adhesion to the deck failed. Some failures could be attributed to poor installation workmanship, poor design, corrosion and aging, and some was due to older designs that don't meet current wind code.
We also inspected many mechanically attached roofs that failed. Failures here came from fasteners that pulled out of the deck or rotted wood nailer, fastener s that ripped through the base membrane, fasteners that were corroded and lost their structural holding capacity, and poor workmanship that did not follow current code.
All of the failed roofs had one thing in common. The failed roofs were designed to work against Mother Nature’s damaging high winds.
There is a different and much better approach. One that works with Mother Nature and uses the wind pressure to keep the roof tight to the structure during high winds. That system is the “Wind Vented Roof” design. Building owners with “Wind Vented Roof” systems up and down the coast reported zero wind- related failures. I personally inspected numerous “Wind Vented Roof” installations and found zero failures.
ERC Wind Vent System over an existing modified bitumen roof.
System still performing after hit by Hurricane Matthew.
Ocean Jewels Condominium in Daytona Beach is a beautiful ocean front resort that recently sustained roof, structural and severe water damage during Hurricane Mathew. Since this resort has multiple types of roof systems on their buildings in the same complex, we are offered a unique window to analyze differences between roofs that performed and roofs that failed when subjected to the same damaging wind speeds.
The Ocean Jewels complex has 7 buildings. 2 of those buildings have roofs that were installed using “Wind-Vented Roof” technology. 5 of those buildings have roofs that were fully adhered and one roof that was mechanically attached.
Storm debris punctured the roof membrane.
Despite the penetration the ERC Wind Vent System sustained no uplift damage.
PVC pipe snapped by wind debris.
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Wind damaged modified bitumen roof.
The roofs of 2 buildings not only blew off, but took some of the structural roof decking with it. Two of the roofs that were retrofitted with the wind-vented technology survived. It was the same type of deck on all buildings, same location , same wind speeds and the wind-vented proved again that this method of installation offers the building owner superior performance in high wind events.
Failed Roofs - 4 of the 5 buildings with traditionally installed roofing either completely or mostly blew off causing leaks in almost all top floor units. Some areas just lost the roof, and some areas lost the roof and the insulation.
2 units in one building lost the structural wood deck after becoming exposed and vulnerable when the roof blew off. Unfortunately, these units suffered total catastrophic loss.
Torn off roof & roof deck.
Wind-Resistant Roofs - Two of the traditional designs (that failed) had been roofed over in 2013 using the “Wind Vented Roof” technology. The “Wind Vented Roofs” experienced zero wind damage. Keep in mind the “Wind Vented Roofs” which were installed in 2013 went over the exact same type and age of deck, same building height, same traditional type of roof at the same location, and experienced no blow off. The “wind Vented Roof” did experience some punctures and holes in the membrane due to flying debris from the adjacent failed roofing and decking.
The improved technology involves the interaction of 3 ingredients, an air barrier, an air seal, one way Votex vents placed in the high wind vortex area of the roof.
Tradition Roof Systems
The Air Barrier is created by sealing the deck at penetrations so it becomes air tight. They make air seals (also acts as an additional water seal) around all penetrations in the deck to prevent internal building air from blowing up into the roof assembly.
ERC Wind Vent Systems
The Air Seal is created using butyl tape and a mechanically attached double compression aluminum termination bar that attaches the new waterproofing membrane to the air barrier structural deck. The new tapered insulation and fire barrier is laid over the existing prepared roof and secured at the same time the membrane is attached at the air seals at roof edge and penetrations through the structural deck.
If the structural deck does not have adequate strength to support the wind loads, like wood decks, then we attach through the deck and into the structural support members such as a bar joist, rafters or concrete wall. The field waterproofing membrane is air seal attached completely separate from the edge metal flashing attachment.
We've learned that if you lose your edge metal, you lose your roof. This way, in the worst wind event scenario, the metal flashing may blow loose, but the roof always stays on.
ERC one-way vortex valves installed corner layout.
The Vortex Valves transfer wind from lifting trying to lift the roof to sucking the roof down during high winds. These one way valves are placed around the perimeter of the roof to protect the roof at it's most vulnerable location. The valves also dry roofs out so the new roof can be installed over the old roof.
The manufacturers of “Wind Vented Roof” systems offer the only warranty that will cover hurricanes up to 200 mph wind speeds.
“Wind Vented Roof” technology has thousands of roof references, is completely code compliant, laboratory testing and time testing for 30 years now. Even though this technology is growing, the many building owners and roofing contractors are still unfamiliar and unaware of the wind vented systems benefits and proven performance.
