This month, in “It Pays to Maintain,” we will be discussing The Polygram Facility’s aggressive roof maintenance program, and how it saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You rotate your car’s tires, change its oil, and take it in for tune-ups, all to prevent an incident and a massive repair bill somewhere down the road. So why aren’t you doing the same with your roof? It’s important to maintain your roof with good, proactive maintenance programs. Similar to your car, investing in proper checkups and preventative maintenance is essential in extending your roof’s life by nearly 30 percent, and for avoiding costly, full roof replacements.

In July of 1996, the Polygram Facility in New Jersey did just this. Approaching its 20th birthday, their roof had never had more than a couple of minor leaks. The vast majority of the time, the facility was leak-free during rain storms, due to an aggressive roof maintenance program. The program took place over a seven-year period. Every year, the roof was surveyed, scanned with infrared radiation, wet insulation was replaced, and new roofing was installed. It averaged out to be about $0.03 per square foot per year. Keep in mind, this program was started after the roof was 10 years old. Earlier years are much less costly and would make this average lower.

This decision to employ an aggressive maintenance program to their 220,000 square foot roof saved them between $0.10 and $0.15 per square foot per year, over a five-year period — $6,600 annually. This was the outcome as opposed to an estimated $54,700 annually for not having a maintenance program — not to mention the thousands of dollars in energy savings and return on capital. If you give me $6,600 and I give you $54,700, would you take that deal? If a roof maintenance program costs you money, don’t do it. If it saves you money, the answer is simple. Remember, this can’t be considered a cost — it’s an investment.

At Castro Roofing, we devote ourselves to extending your roof’s life and to saving you money. Our LOOKOUT Roof Monitoring Program does just that. Give us a call to learn more about the program, preventative roof maintenance, and what we can do for you.

Make sure to keep an eye out for “It Pays to Maintain” in our next newsletter, where we will continue discussing the advantages of preventative roof maintenance.