Switched to spray foam for commercial roofs after 15 years of torch-down

I used to swear by torch-down modified bitumen on flat roofs. Did a big strip mall job in Nashville back in 2019 where the crew nearly caught the building on fire from a stray flame. After that scare I tested spray polyurethane foam on a 10,000 square foot warehouse roof last summer. The application is way faster and the seamless insulation makes future leaks almost impossible. Has anyone else made the jump from hot work to foam on commercial projects?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wyatt7d ago

Stray flame" is why I'll never go back to torch down.

jamie7946d ago

Yeah that "stray flame" thing is no joke. I had a buddy who tried torch down once and the wind caught a spark wrong and it jumped six feet into some dry brush. He spent the next hour stomping it out with his boots. I stick to a drip torch with a shutoff valve now, you can pinch the fuel line if it starts acting up. Also helps to keep a water backpack handy, just in case. Way less stressful.

spencer_perry776d ago

About 3 years ago I would have brushed off the "stray flame" warning as paranoid overkill. Then I had a drip torch misfire on me during a controlled burn and watched a line of fire creep about 15 feet sideways before I could kill it. Switched to a shutoff valve setup the next week and haven't looked back since.