Look at any warehouse or factory in Melbourne, and you’ll notice one thing that most of them share: almost all of them use metal roofing!
And it isn’t hard to see why metal is the roofing material of choice for many industrial applications:
- Lightweight
- Low-maintenance and durable
- Requires less support, increasing ceiling height and warehouse volume
- More affordable and quicker to install
These are just a couple of reasons why metal dominates in industrial settings – if you want a more comprehensive list, click here.
Of course, just like domestic metal roofing, it’s incredibly important that you keep your metal roof well-maintained, and that you book metal roof repairs with a qualified roof plumber the moment problems start arising.
Roof leaks: the bane of your property’s existence
What comes to mind when you think of metal roofing problems at your business? Is it your roof collapsing? Rust?
While each of these are important, there’s another problem that often gets overlooked completely: roof leaks.
Metal roofs in factories aren’t immune from leaks. While metal roofing installation is low-maintenance and durable, that doesn’t mean that it’s no-maintenance!
A lot of factory and warehouse managers think a small roof leak isn’t such a big deal.
As a result, leaks get ignored. And even when they aren’t ignored, they often get treated like a minor issue (something that a lot of homeowners do as well).
In many cases “fixing” the issue comes down to “she’ll be right, just pop a bucket underneath”.
If you ask us, that’s the wrong way of going about it completely!
Roof leaks need to be treated like a big deal – if they’re not, you could find yourself facing a whole host of disruptive (and expensive) problems and issues.
What’s the big deal?
Damage to equipment and machinery
Water + electrical equipment and stock = bad news.
Need we say any more?
Roof leaks can be bad for your equipment, causing electrical faults and other problems. If water gets into the wrong places, even a handful of drops can be disastrous!
Factory machinery is expensive – in many cases, machinery and production lines have to be built-to-order, and the original manufacturers are the only ones that can offer service and repairs.
Naturally, you’ll want to make sure that it’s maintained in a good condition for as long as possible – and that includes protecting sensitive and important machinery and equipment from water-related damage!
When it comes to roof leaks, it’s important to detect and fix them immediately – the longer you leave them, the worse the problems can be.
Damage to stock and inventory
It isn’t just your machinery and equipment that can suffer if you don’t organise metal roof repairs for a leaky roof – for warehouses, leaks can also damage stock and inventory.
Over time, leaks can lead to water building up – something that in turn leads to:
- Mould and mildew growth
- Water damage to stock
- Needing to write off stock or inventory
All of this can negatively affect your operations, delaying orders and putting a dent in your cash flow.
Worse, a lot of the time these leaks can build up without you realising, especially if your warehouse uses a lot of tall racks or piles pallets high.
While you do your best to waterproof stock and inventory, you can’t exactly see what’s happening up there from the ground, can you?
Don’t let this affect your warehouse – get your metal roof inspected by a qualified roof plumber as soon as you can!
Hazchem storage
Do you store or work with hazardous chemicals? If so, you’re probably already familiar with hazchem.
If not, we’ve got you covered.
Here’s what you need to know: there are 9 different hazchem classes, each covering a different risk or hazard.
Most of these classes are pretty “standard”, covering reasonable concerns risks like flammability, toxicity and corrosiveness… hang on, what’s this one? “Dangerous when wet?”
Water and moisture trigger chemical reactions in certain chemicals – something that can make storing them tough (air contains moisture, so you’ll need a special storage set-up to safely hold onto these substances).
That’s bad enough – now imagine a roof leak, right above where you store these volatile substances!
Do you work with or store these chemicals? If so, roof leaks are a major fire hazard – one that needs to be fixed by a qualified roof plumber, ASAP.
Slipping hazards
Slipping hazards are an omnipresent concern at warehouses and factories alike – something that’s made even worse by roof leaks.
Let’s face it, a lot of warehouse and factory floors don’t exactly offer much traction, even on the best of days. Now combine that with water from a roof leak, and you have a workplace accident just waiting to happen.
And that in turn can lead to legal action, as well as potential penalties if it’s discovered that you didn’t uphold your duty of care as an employer.
Really, there isn’t much more that needs to be said for this!
It isn’t just leaks that get overlooked – so too do other roof plumbing problems
When people talk about roofs, do you know what they often (and when we say “often”, we really mean “usually”) ignore? Their roof plumbing.
Roof plumbing is a crucial part of any roofing system – unfortunately, just like metal roof leaks, roof plumbing often doesn’t get the attention it deserves!
Guttering and roof plumbing serves a bunch of different roles in your home:
- It directs rainwater that hits your roof into a stormwater drain
- It stops your roof from turning into a mini Niagara Falls
- It stops water from pooling around the base of your commercial property
If your gutters aren’t doing their job, that means problems like water pooling around your building.
Luckily, our roof plumbers in Melbourne are here to help.
We’re specialists in guttering and roof plumbing, offering a range of different services ranging from gutter repairs, to roof plumbing upgrades, to replacing worn downspouts and flashing.
Call our roof plumbers in Melbourne for help with your factory roof
Whether it’s new metal roof installation, metal roof repair or roof plumbing, our team can help
Thom and our team of roof plumbers have worked on just about every type of property you can imagine.
Whether you own a commercial property or want to give your home a facelift, our metal roofing experts are the team to call.
Combining experience with quality materials and unbeatable workmanship, our roof plumbers in Melbourne ensure that your roof is keeping you dry, safe and comfortable.
Get in touch today – give us a ring on 1300 576 075, or click here to touch base online.
You can also visit us for a metal roofing in Melbourne: pop into our headquarters at 9/22 George St Sandringham, VIC 3191, if you prefer a more hands-on approach.