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Roof Condensation in Commercial Buildings

If you’ve ever written a message on a foggy bathroom mirror after a hot shower, you’ve gotten an up-close-and-personal look at condensation in action. When it obscures your bathroom mirror, it’s innocent enough. However, excess condensation within the metal roof of a commercial building can create structural problems that may progress into major problems down the road.

How Does Roof Condensation Form on Industrial, Commercial buildings?

Do you have foil or batt insulation?

Condensation happens when there is more moisture in the air than the air is able to hold. The warmer the air, the more moisture it’s capable of holding. However, as that air cools, it can no longer hold the water vapor, and instead, water droplets form on any available surfaces. If your building is warmer than the outside, it’s easy for this effect to happen against windows. It can also occur very commonly around  thea roof structure.

At first glance, roof condensation might not seem like a huge deal. However, in just a few years moisture can build up around the underside of the roof structure, The roof heats up during the day and then cools off at night. When this cooling occurs the moisture gets absorbed into the wood and any metal in the roof area starts to rust and corrode. This affect Hangers, roof nailing or other metal behind the insulation.

Left unremedied, roof condensation can also harbor mold and mildew growth, and damage to all metal surfaces.

Metal hardware, nails and Moisture Don’t Mix!

While your roof has metal nails and metal hardware holding the roof structure together.. The issue here isn’t the top most part of the roof. The issue when it comes to roof condensation is under the surface of the roofing.

If you suspect that you have roof condensation in your building, one of the best things you can do is contact a contractor that deals specifically with retrofits and structural repairs. They will be able to come in and see if there is a real issue with the roof and what can be done about it.

If you are having issues with roof condensation and want to talk to someone about the next steps to take, contact Saunders Seismic for more information. We specialize in roof condensation restoration and associated risks to the structure of your building.

Posted Under: roof condensation