Pedro Doors, senior application development engineer for GE silicones, discusses the benefits of silicone coatings and examines how roof restoration can be advantageous over a total replacement for contractors and customers.
It’s been a tough few years for the UK. The pandemic, the conflict in Eastern Europe and the ongoing global supply chain crisis have led to inflation and a significant rise in the cost of living – creating an uncertain economic future.
This is also true for roofing contractors, who have seen the cost of essential materials increase due to a shortage of supplies. The knock-on effect is that roofing contractors are being forced to present higher bills to customers who are already experiencing their own financial strain.
As organisations look to cut back on expenses and reduce capital expenditure wherever they can, they are increasingly seeking alternative solutions. Despite these challenges, this is generating great opportunities for roofing contractors and managers of roofing contractor businesses who can sell the right services and offer more cost-effective options – like roof restoration.
An effective way to cut costs
Roof restoration isn’t cheap – and this has a huge impact on customer spending.
The cost to tear off an existing flat roof and replace it with a new TPO, PVC, Mod-Bit, or metal roof can reach £1,250 per square ft. When building owners begin working to reduced budgets, capital expenditure often becomes restricted, which can make a full roof replacement financially unfeasible.
A roof restoration project, however, can be funded by the maintenance budget, making it the obvious choice for customers looking to make savings. It’s therefore incredibly useful as a contractor to provide alternative solutions to customers and emphasise their financial benefits over a full replacement.
An energy efficient alternative
A combination of rising import costs and increasing demand for energy has led to a hike in energy prices that are affecting domestic and commercial customers. Bills are increasing – forcing people to limit their energy usage or implement more cost-friendly ways to manage the temperature in their buildings.
Roof restoration using a cool roof silicone coating, for example, reduces the need for air conditioning and improves the internal comfort of a building. In fact, studies have revealed that a cool roof can reduce the energy used by air conditioning by 8–48 kWh/m2, and the maximum temperature by 1.2°C to 3.7° C, depending on the climate.
This is a great solution for building owners seeking long-term, alternative solutions to costly air conditioning – especially when taking into consideration the recent UK heatwave. This saw temperatures break records, placing buildings that were not designed to withstand these levels of heat under significant pressure.
As we move towards a future where climate change is likely to increase the frequency of these events, it’s important that buildings are constructed or repaired with the right materials.
A sustainable solution
Roof restoration, rather than replacement, can be a big step in the right direction when it comes to improving sustainability credentials.
Restoration can also help to reduce the carbon footprint of a building, as repairing delays and reduces overtime the contribution of expended roofing materials to landfill.
Encouraging customers to repair a roof, rather than replace it entirely is a great opportunity to encourage sustainability across the entire roofing supply chain and offers customers a chance to demonstrate their own commitment to sustainability.
Looking to the future
With the cost-of-living set to increase even further, and with supply chain issues showing no signs of being resolved quickly – it’s essential that the roofing industry embraces solutions that are beneficial for both them and their customers.
Searching for new opportunities in roof restoration is therefore a sensible strategy for contractors who want to continue business in uncertain times and pushing roof restoration over replacement has great potential.
