Planet Laundry Dec 2020

COVER STORY

material is similar to a pool liner. It can be rolled out and has very few seams, which makes leaks much less likely. Also, some of the newer roofing materials are white and reflective, which help battle the sun’s heat, increase longevity and reduce cooling costs during the summer.” Dave Menz of Queen City Laundry in Amelia, Ohio, agreed that flat, commercial-grade, rubber roofs are the best for laundromats. “These types of roofs enable easy access for any necessary maintenance or repairs, and often aid in heating your facilities during the colder months,”he said. “Additionally, such roofs allow for fairly easy cleanup of the constant lint that we all must deal with.” Maes suggested that metal roofs might offer some advantages with regard to fire safety, as well as simply being more durable and secure for those laundromats located in high-wind locations. MaintainingYour Roof Considering all that’s included on most laundromat roofs, preventive maintenance is perhaps more important than for any other type of small business. “First and foremost, remove anything from the roof that isn’t supposed to be there,”Hinrichs said. “This includes old roof buckets, nails, screws, hardware, old antennas and discarded

going to have a pay a pretty penny to the contractor who holds the warranty for that roof for any additional work.” Although laundry owners will commonly place their dryer makeup air ducts on their roofs, Maes is not a fan of this practice. “If you do that and your dryers also vent onto the roof, you’ve created, in essence, a closed loop to where the lint comes out of the dryer and gets sucked right back into the makeup air hole,”he explained.“Also, when you put themakeup air on the roof, you could have potential vandal issues, because you’ve likely got some decent-sized holes on your roof.” What’s Best for Your Laundromat? Given the unique challenges a laundromat roof faces, let’s take a look at some of themost common roofing styles andmaterials. Of course, if you’re purchasing an existing laundromat or retrofitting an existing storefront or retail space, those decisions likely have already been made for you. “Most roof styles are determined by architects and town review boards, because the roof is an integral component of ‘the look and characteristic’ of a building,”Hinrichs noted. “The architect is always concerned with the street appearance of the building, and the roof design is a huge component of the overall look. So, the roof design is often already predetermined. In most cases, the dryer exhaust ducts are hidden from the street, so the dryer vents are either in the back of the building or hidden with a parapet wall. There are flat roofs and pitched roofs, and both have their advantages and challenges.” Here are some popular roofing types, according to Hinrichs: • Rolled roofing that gets nailed down to be secured in place. • Rolled roofing that gets heated with a torch and bonded to the roof’s substrate below. • Membrane roofing (rubber, EPDM, PVC or neoprene), which features thin membranes glued to each other and held in place on a smooth, prepared roof surface. • Built-up roofing, where consecutive layers of membrane and hot asphalt are built up, layer upon layer, until the roof is two inches to four inches thick. Then, a thin layer of small pebbles or smooth stones typically are placed on top to protect the surface. • Pitched roofs can feature metal or asphalt shingles. “Over the years, I’ve had stores with a variety of roof types,” said Paul Hansen, owner of Su Nueva Lavanderia in Chicago.“I’ve had flat, barrel and shingled roofs. The easiest and most popular style is the flat roof. Also, as I’ve replaced older roof systems with newer ones, the best ones utilize an EPDM material, which is an extremely durable synthetic rubber roofing membrane that’s widely used in low-slope buildings. The

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December 2020

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