Hot-air Welding and Thermoplastic Roofing

Hot air welding has long been recognized as the strongest, most reliable seaming method for single ply roof membranes. Literally fusing the top and bottom sheets together, hot air welding creates one homogeneous bond that can be made as strong as the membrane itself. Hot-air welded seams can be:

  • Up to 8 times stronger than butyl adhesive seams.
  • Up to 3 times stronger than butyl tape seams.
  • Significantly faster and less expensive to install than adhesive or taped seams. More of your roofing investment goes into materials that stay on the roof, rather than into the labor to install the system.

Adhesive seams are subject to contamination and degradation from a variety of rooftop conditions including water. Therefore the weatherability benefit in EPDM membranes is often offset by exposure-related seam failures. In contrast, hot air weldable membrane weathers as well as EPDM and have the seam strength advantages of hot-air-welding. Hot air weldable membranes have the advantage of year round installation capability compared to liquid adhesive-seamed systems, which cannot be installed in cold weather.

Added Strength and Durability

All hot-air weldable membrane roofing systems are reinforced with a high-strength, polyester reinforcing scrim for added strength and durability. This gives hot air weldable membranes:

  • 5 times the tear strength of reinforced EPDM.
  • 2.5 times the breakage strength of reinforced EPDM (225 lbs. Vs. 90 lbs.)
  • Equal or superior ASTM physical property test results when compared to reinforced black rubber membranes.
  • 45 mil (1.14mm) hot air weldable membrane provides the same puncture resistance as some 48 and 60 mil (1.22 and 1.52mm) PVCs.
  • 60 mil (1.52mm) hot air weldable membrane provides nearly twice the puncture resistance as some 60 and 90 mil (1.52 and 2.44mm) PVCs.
  • 45 mil (1.14mm) hot air weldable membrane has twice the tear strength of some 48 mil (1.22mm) PVCs.

If you are looking for roofing contractors, Fort Lauderdale has a number to choose from but few who can match our service and expertise when it comes to thermoplastic roofing systems and hot air weldable membranes. Call us todayfor an estimate.