Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ROOF STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME
BACKGROUND
Roof structures have been made for millennia ranging from simple lean-to
thatched arrangements to more modern buildings having multiple layers of
roofing materials,
fire barriers, vapor barriers, air retarders, rigid roof insulations, cover
boards, slipsheets and
waterproofing membranes all designed to work together to keep the elements
away from
occupants of the building. Roof structures continue to be improved because
each of the
systems currently available has drawbacks and improvements are therefore
desirable.
Typical problems with roof structures center around wind uplift resistance and
energy
efficiency with insulations for heat and cold resistance to maintain internal
building
temperature as well as time and effort required to install the roof system.
SUMMARY
Disclosed herein is a roof system including a roof deck, a previously existing
roofing assembly upwardly adjacent to the roof deck, a foam material upwardly
adjacent and
in air sealing contact with the roofing assembly, a layer of reinforcing mesh
embedded in the
foam material, and a waterproof membrane upwardly adjacent of the foam
material.
Also disclosed is a method for creating a roof system comprising:
air sealing a previously existing roofing assembly with a foam material and
embedding a reinforcing mesh within the foam material.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in
the several Figures:
Figure 1 is a cross-sectional elevation view of the subject roof system;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional elevation view of the similar roof system to
that
of Figure 1 however including a reinforcing mesh in a first position;
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional elevation view of another alternate embodiment
roof system with the reinforcing mesh in a second position;
Figure 4 is a cross-sectional elevation view of a roof system intended for a
metal building;
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional elevation view of a roof system similar to that
of
Figure 4 and the reinforcing material applied thereto; and
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional elevation of a roof system built upon an
existing
roof assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to Figure 1 an embodiment of the roof system 10 as disclosed and
claimed herein is supported by an underlying building having joists or purlins
12. The roof
deck 14 which may be a metal corrugated roof decking material is fastened to
the underlying
support structure 12 by conventional means such as fasteners 16. As corrugated
metal
decking 14 or any other modular decking material has a certain size and shape
it is clear that
there will be joints or overlap sections of the material. In Figure 1 there is
an overlap section
identified as an overlap flute area 18. Such overlap flute areas present an
opportunity for
easy entry of air from the building being roofed if such flutes are not
sealed. Abutting edges
of plywood or other material roofs create the same problem and can be resolved
in the same
manner as discussed hereunder.
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In the embodiment of Figure 1, the roof decking material 14 is thinly but
relatively uniformly covered by a foam 20 which may be a polyurethane foam or
polyurea
compound or other material having similar properties and combinations of
materials
including at least one of the foregoing materials and may be a slow curing
foam or a fast
curing foam depending upon functionality desired by the installer. As
illustrated in Figure 1,
foam 20 is a slow rise, slow cure polyurethane type foam which is desirable in
this case
because it allows adherence of the insulation board 24 to the uncured newly
sprayed foam 20.
During application of the foam 20 an installer will, in accordance with this
disclosure, pay
particular attention to covering overlap flutes 18 and any fastener 16 or
other penetrations
through the roof deck 14. The purpose of such concentration is to ensure that
deck 14 is
sealed against air movement therethrough. Following application of the foam
20, a plurality
of insulation boards 24 are applied to the uncured foam 20 to be adhered
thereto without the
use of any mechanical fasteners which might otherwise provide a thermal bridge
through the
insulation layer. Also notable is that this disclosure teaches one of ordinary
skill in the art to
place in the insulation layer 24 spaced from a through roof penetration or
roof perimeter
location creating a space 26 that will subsequently be filled with foam to
create a positive air
seal and the thickness of the foam also acting as insulation. Following the
application of the
insulation layer 24 another layer of foam 28 is applied over the insulation
layer and around
the insulation layer at penetrations or a roof perimeter location. This
material may be fast or
slow rise material but in general fast rise material will be utilized at this
stage of the roof
construction since it cures rapidly and allows workers to walk thereon very
quickly. Since
there is no need to adhere any roof components to this foam material prior to
the curing of
material 28 there is no need to use slow rise foam. In general about an inch
of foam is
applied above the insulation boards 24 to provide a uniform top surface having
a horizontal
or inclined property as desired.
At this point in the creation of the roof system, this roof will be waterproof
and may act as a temporary roofing system prior to insulation of the
waterproofing membrane
which will be the permanent roof waterproofing component. This is beneficial
in that
workers may utilize the roof for walking without damaging the relatively
fragile
waterproofing membrane that will be installed later. One example of a membrane
is EPDM.
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The membrane may be installed over the foam 28 in any of a number of
conventional
methods. -The membrane is identified in Figure 1 as numeral 30.
Referring now to Figure 2, it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in
the
art that the roof of Figure 2 very similar to that of Figure 1; the
distinction between the two
figures is that an additional reinforcing layer 32 is embedded about half-way
between
insulation layer 24 and the ultimate top surface of material 28. In one
embodiment the
reinforcing material 32 is installed in this location by applying less foam 28
over the
insulation board 24 such as for example about a half inch of spray foam
locating
reinforcement material 32 openly adjacent to a half inch sprayed foam and then
spraying an
additional half inch of foam thereover. It will be understood that the
thicknesses of foam
indicated herein are only intended for relative purposes and are not intended
to be limiting
with respect to how thick or how thin the foam is ultimately applied.
The reinforcing material 32 is in one embodiment a mesh material which may
comprise fiberglass, nylon, polyester, or other material having similar
properties with respect
to the purpose for which the reinforcing material 32 is added to the roof
system of Figure 2.
That is that the material will add tensile strength, rigidity, transverse
strength, etc. to the roof
system. The reinforcement, if fiberglass, adds fire protection for polystyrene
rigid roof
insulations from exterior fire sources. Referring now to Figure 3 one of
ordinary skill in the
art will again recognize that much of the figure is similar to the foregoing
figures with places
the reinforcing material 32 very near or at the top surface of foam 28. The
reinforcing
material may be installed in this position by locating material 32 at the top
surface of foam 28
prior to curing thereof and may then be sprayed over or urged into foam 28. It
is noted that in
some applications it may be desirable to utilize slow rising foam in place of
faster rising foam
28 for purposes of increasing adherence between the foam layer and the
reinforcing material
32. With respect to both Figures 2 and 3 the waterproofing membrane 30 is
installed as was
indicated with respect to Figure 1.
Referring now to Figure 4 this roofing system could be applied to an existing
metal building that did not employ an insulated type roofing system when
originally
manufactured or built but rather simply utilized the metal deck 14 as the roof
system. This
disclosed roofing system could also be utilized on a new metal building the
builder of which
CA 02627111 2008-03-27
desires a better roofing system initially. It is worth pointing out that metal
decking which is
utilized for metal buildings is generally configured with the high flute 40
being narrow and
the low flute 42 being relatively wide which in the industry tends to be 12 to
16 inches in
width. Because of the wide low flute it is desirable when installing a roof
system thereon to
5 utilize expanded polystyrene flute fillers 44 to effectively level the
roof surface prior to
installing upwardly adjacent layers. In this embodiment fillers 44 are
effectively glued in
place by slow rise foam 46 which has been sprayed over the deck 14 relatively
uniformly in
all locations but, of course, in accordance with the former teachings of this
application, with
particular attention paid to penetrations of the roof deck in order to prevent
air leakage
therethrough. Slow rise foam 46 is utilized in this regard in order to provide
time for roof
installers to position flute filler 44 prior to curing of material 46.
Subsequent to the
installation of the flute filler 44 a relatively uniform coating of slow rise
material 48 is
sprayed over the entirety of the roof and insulation 50, generally in board
form, is set into
slow rise material 48 prior to curing thereof in order to adhere the
insulation 50 to the
underlying roof component removing the need for metal fasteners for insulation
50 which
would otherwise create thermal bridges through that insulation as has been
evident in prior art
roof structures.
Since it is well known in the art that insulation 50, particularly if it is
polystyrene or polyisocyanurate insulation cannot be left open to the elements
therefore spray
foam layer 52 is applied to the top surface 54 of insulation 50 to seal and
protect the same. In
one embodiment foam 52 would be about an inch thick. As in the foregoing
embodiments
the temporary roof structure is created without membrane 30 but membrane 30
will be
desirably be installed upwardly adjacent the foam layer 52 when work on the
building is
completed.
Referring now to Figure 5, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize
some
of the components of this figure are similar to those of Figure 4 and
therefore are numbered
similarly in this embodiment. No insulation layer 50 is utilized but rather
thicker sections of
foam are utilized instead. In addition, a reinforcing layer 32 is installed.
One method of
installing this roof system starts as does the Figure 4 embodiment with slow
rise foam 46
adhering flute fillers 44 to low flutes 42 of the deck 14. Immediately
upwardly adjacent flute
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fillers 44, a layer of foam 60 is applied which is, in one embodiment, about a
half inch thick
or thicker. It is again to be understood that this measurement is for
exemplary and -
comparative purposes rather than for limiting purposes. More or less spray
foam could be
used at will. Reinforcing material 32, which may be a mesh material such as a
fiberglass,
nylon, polyester or other similar property mesh as was the case in the
foregoing
embodiments, is positioned upwardly adjacent foam layer 60. In the event that
foam layer 60
utilizes slow rise foam, reinforcing material 32 is likely to be adhered to
that foam. In the
event that a fast rising/fast curing foam layer 60 is utilized it is possible
that the reinforcing
layer 32 may not adhere to layer 60. Reinforcing layer 32 is mechanically
fastened by
fastener 62 through foam layer 60, through flute filler 44 and through deck 14
to
mechanically attach the roof system to the deck. While a mechanical fastener
is utilized
herein which raises concern about thermal bridging effects, it is noted that
the fastener does
not bridge all the way to the top surface of the roofing system and therefore
the thermal
bridging effects of the prior art are lessened or nullified in this
embodiment. Subsequent to
mechanically attaching the reinforcing material 32 to the roof deck an
additional layer of
foam material 64 is applied to a top surface of the mesh 32. This may be of
any thickness but
in one embodiment will be about a half inch. As in the foregoing embodiments,
once cured
layer 64 the roof is temporarily water sealed and building construction
activity across and
thereon is permissible. Once work is done with respect to the building, the
roofing
membrane 30 is installed upwardly adjacent the top surface of foam layer 64 in
a
conventional way such as loose laid, fully adhered, mechanically attached,
etc.
In the embodiment of Figure 6, a foam material 70 is applied to air seal a
previously existing roofing assembly 71. The roofing assembly 71 is upwardly
adjacent a
roof deck 72, which may be a metal corrugated roof decking material that is
fastened to an
underlying support structure 74 by conventional means such as fasteners 76 or
welding. The
previously existing roofing assembly 71 may be a built up roof, which includes
an insulation
layer 78, such as fiberboard, fiberglass, or gypsum board.
The roofing assembly 71 is uniformly (relatively) covered by the foam 70,
which may be a polyurethane foam, polyurea compound, or other material having
similar
properties and also including combinations of materials, including at least
one of the
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foregoing materials. The foam 70 may be a slow curing foam or a fast curing
foam,
depending upon functionality desired by the installer, and may be applied to
the roofing
assembly 71 in multiple layers or a polyurea polymeric adhesion. If, as
illustrated in Figure
6, reinforcing mesh 78 (which may comprise fiberglass, nylon, or polyester or
other material
having similar properties with respect to the purpose for which the
reinforcing mesh 78 is
added) is to be embedded in the foam 70, the foam 70 may be applied in a first
layer 80 and
an additional layer 82, with the first layer 80 being slow cure polyurethane
type foam. Slow
cure foam is desirable in this case because it allows adherence of the
reinforcing mesh 78 to
the uncured newly sprayed foam 70. The additional layer 82 would likely be
fast rise foam
material, which will be utilized at this stage of the roof construction since
it cures rapidly and
allows workers to walk thereon very quickly.
It should be appreciated that the reinforcing mesh 78 discussed above may
embedded at any level within the foam 70. It should also be appreciated that
at least one
fastener 86, extending at least partially through the foam material 70 and
into the roof deck
72, may also be used in conjunction with the foam material 70 and previously
existing
roofing assembly 71. These fasteners 86 more securely fix the foam 70 with the
roofing
assembly 71. As shown in the Figure, a waterproofing membrane 84 is also
disposed
upwardly of and adjacent to the foam 70.
Each of the embodiments described hereinabove have substantial benefit with
respect to the roofing industry. The first benefit is that the foam material
utilized
substantially enhances structural integrity of the roofing system. The second
benefit is that
for the metal-deck type systems the dew point on the building side surface of
the metal deck
has substantially changed such that condensation does not form and rust is
substantially
reduced. The third benefit is that a temporary roof is created which is rapid
and relatively
easy to install, prevents damage to underlying roof components and allows work
to continue
on the building without risk of damaging a roof waterproofing membrane. The
fourth benefit
is a substantially increased R-value of the roof system due to enhanced
insulated properties of
the foam material and due to the lack of thermal bridges existing within the
structure.
