Justin interviewed Aron Corral, Director of Field Applications & Technical Support at Instacoat Premium Products. They discuss liquid membrane roofing, types of roofs, needs of the tenants and more.
Listen to the full episode below and subscribe to the podcast on Apple.
Highlights
- Roofing and materials – 3:46
- Membranes that you can put on the roof – 5:16
- Types of roofs – 6:34
- Looking at the needs of the tenants – 9:05
- Having membrane failures – 9:54
- Snow as a real problem – 22:25
- Neoprene and silicone – 26:05
- The most common problem that he sees – 27:50
- Taking service to the next level – 30:33
- The silicone surfaces – 32:50
Episode Resources
- Connect with Aron Corral
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/aron-corral-bba71817b
- acorral@instacoat.com
- Connect with Justin Smith
- https://smithcre.com/
- https://www.lee-associates.com/
- jbsmith@leeirvine.com
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbsmith
Justin Smith
How you doing? Cool. You made it. Thank you for your patience. It’s turned into a wild and crazy day.
Aron Corral
You know what the week brings us some so many unexpected turns all the time.
Justin Smith
I remember talking with you about your background a little bit as it applies to what you’re doing now. It’d be helpful just to understand more about and share with people, so they hear where you’re coming from.
Aron Corral
Of course, of course. So, I started in doing construction in Santa Barbara, California, for a contractor called Santa Barbara Servicing. We specialized a lot in below grade waterproofing, deck waterproofing, air barriers for the exterior of buildings and epoxy floor coatings. So that’s what my background studied there, started working out of the table around 17 years old, finally got fully put on and started running a crew at 18. About six months in working. So bilingual by being bilingual definitely helped me get that position as well because of all the diversity in the in the groups of through construction, trying to you know, run these crews speaking English and Spanish. So that’s where that’s where I pretty much started off my quest there. Then started doing construction for around 13 years until I got brought on to be director of technical support with Instacoat and then also running their warehouse here and making sure everything goes smoothly with shipments. It’s definitely been a wild ride and it’s a lot of hard work that’s been put in to get to where I’m at where I’m at now.
Justin Smith
It’s super cool. They have industrial buildings in Santa Barbara, don’t they? Not a lot, but they have some.
Aron Corral
Yeah, they have it’s mostly dedicated to like a Galena area. I think it’s Castiaic Road, that’s mostly where they have a lot. I think REI has a building there. Deckers has a building there and then there’s a lot of electrical component warehouses there as well.
Justin Smith
Yeah, we sold our first building in that area in Grover beach, just south of San Luis Obispo not too recently. We drove up the Pacific Coast Highway and then 101 driving the coast about three months ago. It was fun to cruise back through the area and just kind of refresh a little bit. It’s such a nice area.
Aron Corral
That is a beautiful area. That coastline can be dangerous but it’s really nice seeing those peaks and large mountains really so close to the coast. It’s really beautiful around that area.
Justin Smith
Now you’re in the land of the industrial building.
Aron Corral
Yes, now we’re here. I’d say here in Temecula. There’s Temecula and Marietta. There’s a large amount of industrial buildings here as well. It’s quite surprising.
Justin Smith
It’s booming. At first, I’m not sure I knew why it should boom. In SoCal, I feel like everywhere it has a pocket that’s growing just like that’s where we’re at in the cycle on the grand scheme of things.
Aron Corral
Definitely. I think it’s probably going to blow up here pretty soon because you guys have a lot of empty lots around here that are for sale just to start building. I would say I’d seen at least 15 or 10 of them here close by in Temecula. A lot of them.
Justin Smith
You’ll notice them driving in the freeways I imagine.
Aron Corral
Yes, and then just passing by the side roads as well. I think Mike Solomon, is one of the guys that is out here. That’s what I’ve seen on the signs.
Justin Smith
Yes. I love it when once you recognize what the signs mean then you’re like, ah, okay, I got it, pay attention to some of these things for sure.
Aron Corral
Yes, definitely because it can be as soon as they do erect any other buildings there’s work to be done there.
Justin Smith
So what we’re talking about today is roofing right and sealing and materials for that. The work I do and the people who listen here are all industrial all the time, but I recognize that industrial isn’t all that you guys do in a roof. Maybe not a roof as a roof but like on a lot of commercial buildings. There’s probably a lot of similarities in the types of jobs that you do and the experience that you have.
Aron Corral
Yes, I mean all the commercial buildings we come across are either TPO or the granulated mod bit. So those are the ones that we usually come across on these bigger industrial roofs, unless you get into your older buildings that are growler roofs, which are significantly older buildings, I think, more built in the maybe 70s or 80s, when they didn’t have that type of technology. But either way, being a part of that roof coating industry, we’ve over the years found different answers to different types of roofs. So that’s kind of our claim to fame right now is having the solution to deal with all these different oddball roofs and creating a solution from so the building stay leak free.
Justin Smith
Yes, I found in different parts of the country, they also have their different applications that have emerged over time and in different areas. So what I have seen are the TPO roofs that you’re talking about and I’ve seen a lot of people go to these white elastomeric roofs. I’ve seen the membrane that you can put on the roof that’s also like that, but it’s more of like a swim cap that you put on your head to keep your hair dry. That kind of barrier.
Aron Corral
Correct. We call those and it’s pretty much making it the bathtub effect. That’s kind of how we relate to it.
Justin Smith
How would you explain that?
Aron Corral
So, the bathtub effect is pretty much creating a smooth, monolithic surface throughout the entire roof, starting with the base of the roof and then eventually going up to the parapets of the roof creating somewhat of a monolithic effect somewhat like a bathtub effect.
Justin Smith
Got it. I probably should’ve understood that the first time you said it. That makes sense.
Aron Corral
Yes, that’s where we kind of refer so it’s just kind of doing your horizontal surfaces coming up to the parapets and then even going on to the flashing caps to where we can do a smooth monolithic surface to where there’s hardly any visible reason to wear any water intrusion could get into the building.
Justin Smith
Yes, I saw recently on a bid for a landlord that was going to redo the roof for someone, they called it a foam roof and I’m not quite sure I know what foam means when I think of it being applied to the roof as a seal.
Aron Corral
Sure, those types of roofs I’ve seen in the industry, there were SPF roof. I have seen them apply that. Usually where they apply it besides roof is as just for insulation in a high-end home where they go ahead and spray in between the two boards of the two by fours. Then it swells up to about four inches. So, they spray the product on it in about probably one inch and that product reacts with its own catalysts and ends up forming up to depending on how much catalysts of 40 inches to two inches.
Justin Smith
But that’s not the exterior layer, right?
Aron Corral
That would be the insulation part of it. So, let’s say we’re on top of a roof and they wanted to go ahead and just put a brand-new layer of roof without tearing off the roof. They would go ahead and spray this insulation, let the installation cure out and then they still put another elastomeric coating on top because what that insulation acts like is it acts like a sponge if the seals get opened, and water intrusion gets into it acts like a really big sponge and you have delamination issues if that does occur. So that’s where you know there’s SPF, I can’t knock on SPF. I have seen a lot of people do really good jobs with them and they hold up until there’s some hail damage or guys going up working on the AC handler screws and stuff like that. So that’s where I believe with the system that we use, which is a neoprene rubber we kind of avoid that whole situation.
Justin Smith
That’s a great segue of who your typical client is and kind of what your typical job would look like when you think of kind of a bread-and-butter type of project that you work on that people would relate to. When people are calling you or what’s going on that leads them to blow up your phone and what kind of issues they’re dealing with and what kind of solutions usually bring to the table.
Aron Corral
So usually what the problem is that end tenure owners usually call for is that they’ve had intrusions usually during a rainy season, they’re having leaks, we could definitely go into the building, and see it from the inside of the building to identify where the leaks are coming from, whether they’re coming from penetrations, AC units, or any solar panels are up on the roof. So we pretty much just come with the aspect of seeing what the what the what the client needs, as of a waterproofing membrane, as of a price driven sale or if they’re really going to stay as a tenant in the building for longer than 10 years. That’s also another something, it’s just kind of just looking at what the needs of the tenant is and what they’re looking for at that point.
Justin Smith
You know the book I wrote was a tenant specific, but owners probably are who I imagine you’re dealing with most of the time. The landlord, right?
Aron Corral
Yes, owners and landlords. That’s another good point, too. It’s either if you’re going to be dealing with a tenant, and the tenant just wants to patch something here or patch something there. Or if you’re dealing with the building owner, where the building owner is actually going to keep the building for 30 years or more.
Justin Smith
Do we get rain in Southern California still.
Aron Corral
I know, right? this year has been a little bit, a little bit. It’s kind of weird because now that I’ve lived in Temecula, we do see some rain, but anything next to the close coastline, especially up there in Ventura County, for some reason that wind doesn’t let any rain happen towards that coastline. It’s really weird.
Justin Smith
How about the types of jobs like a size wise Is there a big difference for you between the one at 10,000 feet, 100,000 feet or a million feet? Is there a big of change?
Aron Corral
At this point, the difference would just be depending on the on the manpower of your contractor, you know, a 10,000 square foot roof, you could go ahead and get it done with a couple guys. I would say probably like five guys with prep and coding and everything. Then as soon as you start getting into, I would say probably 20,000 square feet, that’s where it starts becoming to where you need to have yourself a really good game plan. Just making sure your contractors are really well informed with the application process and then just making sure all your safety guidelines are followed as well. Because as soon as you start getting into these bigger buildings and more protocol for safety will arise on those areas. So, there’s really no roof too big or too small. We just at the end of it want to make sure we provide a good solution for the client.
Justin Smith
That’s where you guys are making sure you have that. You were alluding to this, like neoprene liquid rubber and then what I’m used to hearing is the elastomeric white coating, which one is your jam, or they both are. These are the different solutions, and they have a different time in place, or when do you choose one over the other.
Aron Corral
So they do have a time and place. Our neoprene rubber is pretty much our base coat, it lets us adhere to the surface, especially to Roofing Services very well. It also has an elasticity of 90%. Then a tensile strength of 1000. I do have a piece here in front of me of what our rubber looks like before it goes down. So this is pretty much our rubber base. We go ahead and spray this, its sprayable or liquid applied with a roller out of a five-gallon bucket.
Justin Smith
Oh man Yeah, it’s like silly putty.
Aron Corral
Then it also has that 98% recovery. So even though it is going to stretch out that big and that that far, you still have your recovery factor to where it’s not going to compromise the system or the roof or the roof surface. It’s going to actually move with the roof surface and not allow it to crack. Now going into the elastomeric usually the elastomeric are more referred to acrylics. They do well on positive slope roofs, but where they lack is in ponding water areas, because those acrylic products they end up into these ponding areas. They end up remultiplying themselves or cracking because it’s pretty much a water-based paint. So in those areas that there is ponding water, they really don’t succeed, because of that reason.
Justin Smith
Because inevitably everybody gets ponding. It seems like that’s such a common issue, maybe not as much here but even still no roof is perfect.
Aron Corral
Even though if we don’t get rain here in California, we still have that dew factor every morning in any part of California, it’s hard to avoid that. If you do have a positive or if you do have a puddling area depending on the amount of dew will create a puddle. So that’s where, especially on these older buildings where you know, the plywood was already starting to age and bend in between the joist and stuff like that. Those were pretty much the areas that we see with acrylics have problems also close to drain areas as well, that’s where you’re going to find a lot of ponding water. Even if you did have a rain, that was probably a week ago or so you’ll still find some ponding water in those areas as well. So that’s where those acrylics work well with anything that’s going to shed water right off, they work really well. So, I can’t knock on the on the acrylics. A lot of people do a lot of good jobs with them, you just got to be really tedious with them. I’ve seen is a lot of people do with polyester mesh as well. It’s a white non-woven fabric that’s applied where you place your coating first, and then you put your polyester mesh to get some more tensile strength on there, and then you place another coat on top. The only issue with that is that you have to make sure that the surface is pretty smooth, or you saturate that cloth very well because any little fiber in that cloth or void will suck in and draw in moisture and eventually go under the system and cause a failure in the system. So moving on from there, the acrylics are fine. We’ve seen them they’ve performed well. But our claim to fame is our is our neoprene rubber and using a silicone high solid silicone product. The thing with this high solid silicone products, they work really well against water because on those silicone products you could go ahead and have the ponding water and not it’s not going to compromise the roof surface. Also, it doesn’t it doesn’t allow for mold or anything else to grow on it. So it really keeps your roof white with proper maintenance, and it holds up to the elements. It also has a lot more of a cool factor as well, a lot more UV inhibitors in it.
Justin Smith
So, when I think of liquid rubber, and I look at a picture of something and it’s black that’s undercoat and then there’s the silicone coat is on top of that. That’s what’s reflecting the light.
Aron Corral
Correct. Then also you do the black coat, which is the rubber and then you’d want to do a bleed blockquote. So we’re going back into the chemistry of acrylics, but we’re not looking for a white roof with that acrylic. We’re just looking for a really good adhesion. Also what that does, it doesn’t allow the asphalt to stain through the material, because what ends up happening with most of these contractors are handyman that go up onto the roof, and do silicone straight to the surface is that you’ll notice after a while that the surface is going to be stained and turning yellow and that’s due to the asphalt that’s in the roof or the asphalt that’s in the product. So that’s where we go ahead and put that bleed blocker in between and it also acts as a as a primer to where you can get the best adhesion that’s out there.
Justin Smith
Before all of this, what kind of prep are we doing?
Aron Corral
So prep, usually, most of the time on all these roofs is a pressure washer, just pressure washing the surface. Especially for your EPDM, your TPOs and your granulated mod bits. Most of the time, it’s just a clean pressure wash. A lot of people and it states in technical data sheets, they only need a pressure washer of like 1000 psi, two gallons per minute but when you realistically looking at it to get the job done, efficiently and faster, you’d want to go with something that’s more of a 4000 psi 3.5 gallons per minute. It sounds like a lot of pressure but you’re not pressure washing the whole roof. It’s mostly just to get the grime off really fast and to be able to push that water that’s getting released from the roof even faster. So you can just finish it more in a timely manner.
Justin Smith
Yeah, and these things are lasting 10 years, 20 years, 30 years because you would think that continuing to layer on and with weight right. There’s a moment when you then need to scrape, peel or remove, but it seems like not so much.
Aron Corral
No, not so much. Especially with the California codes as well, as long as the roof doesn’t have two layers where we do find in those areas. The system that we have is only putting about half a pound per square foot throughout the whole system. So, you’re not really waiting down the roof. And then also another benefit to it would be landfill, you’re not putting anything back into the landfill harming the environment. And price as well, we come in at about at least a third of the price of a tear off and reroof.
Justin Smith
Yeah, it makes you wonder why anyone would do a tear off and reroof these days for industrial buildings.
Aron Corral
Yeah, and then also what I’ve been noticing and hearing on the news and just by talking with my colleagues is I think everybody’s going to start turning into where these coatings and fluid applied roofs are going to be more and more common because of the environmental impact. I’ve seen and heard stuff in Florida that they’re not allowing any roof tear off to be dumped in their landfills. People are having to go out of state to dump all their waste from the roof.
Justin Smith
Wow. It’s funny, because you would think some people will need to do that for whatever reason. Like if you’re tearing the building down and building a new one there, you still have some component of that.
Aron Corral
Yeah, from what I’ve heard from my colleagues is, I guess that’s going to be more and more common there, especially in Florida, and then they’re going to take the trend and that trend is going to hit across the nation.
Justin Smith
I thought we’re setting the trends over here in California, Aaron.
Aron Corral
I know that’s what everybody tells us. But yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s going to hit. This will be the next place for it for it to happen. I see this fluid applied roofing systems starting to take a craze now. Realistically, it is a good product. Instead of having prefabricated seams throughout the whole roof, you’re pretty much creating like the bathtub effect and having a seamless membrane throughout the whole roof, which is pretty much depending on the thickness that you put on the roof, it’s pretty much like a brand-new roof and with that silicone top coat.
Justin Smith
I own an industrial building that has the membrane with the seams on it. I can just tell you right now, you do have seam failures, you can have membrane failures, and ponding water can be a problem. It was a roof that I inherited. So I’m working with it, and it has its own warranty and you can have certain work is warrantied and some certain work is not but I sure have found the limitations. This is one that’s in Texas, where they have some more moisture, they also have hail, they have a little more weather than we do and heat for that matter. It’s been interesting to experience that because that was my very first introduction to when they started rolling those membranes on and with the seams and dealing with that. So for me, I had to learn about it and then unfortunately, all I’ve learned about so far as on the maintenance practices and on like things that can go wrong and when they do go wrong, what happens and it seems like that’s a terrible way where you don’t want moisture in between layers because of a penetration or a tear. So it has not led to a big problem but it just seems like it’s harder to troubleshoot and requires maybe some more maintenance and then when it does fail like and the repercussions of that failure maybe are greater than they would be in this type of system.
Aron Corral
Well yeah definitely, I would agree because I mean if they do fail you got a couple problems you know the water’s going to get into, depending on if it’s a metal deck roof or a plywood roof under that roofing substrate. Rust can happen with metal, oxidization with metal and then also with plywood. Plywood is a sponge in itself, so any water that gets in there and continues to get in there will create mold or have a dry rot issue with your plywood surface and then eventually goes down to the trusses and joists.
Justin Smith
Oh man, I’m going to have nightmares.
Aron Corral
I mean, especially if the building’s is being rented out. There’s another complaint for tenants and it just it escalates. I completely agree with you because it just keeps escalating and a lot of problems.
Justin Smith
How long is this neoprene liquid rubber been on the scene compared to acrylics?
Aron Corral
The neoprene rubber has actually been around for about almost 30 years. The chemistry really started around in Canada because of a lot of Canadian roofs and northern United States roofs, because of the winter and the cold out there. They typically keep the black neoprene because of the snow and the snow melt. So if there’s any sun out there, it helps the snow melt a lot faster.
Justin Smith
You thought rain was a problem. I’m sure snow is a real problem.
Aron Corral
Yes, depending on the weight of the snow or how much snow you have on the roof, it’s causes some damage as well. Also, safety issues for the snow melt and sliding off the roof or you know hazard of any pedestrians walking by. So that’s pretty much where the chemistry started from was a northern Canada, northern parts of the states like Michigan and those areas. The chemistry really came back from doing well below grade waterproofing. So more like basements and stuff like that. But since it is an asphalt product, we they ended up using it on roofs. At first, they were starting to use acrylics, but then acrylics got onto the scene, and they worked for a while. Then after five years or so they started really researching and doing the research on that to see that these acrylics aren’t really performing like how they say they were going to perform. And that’s where they incorporated the silicone. The silicone has been lasting and not degrading with the water or with the sun.
Justin Smith
They had a better marketing department at first right. The proof is in the pudding, right once it performs or doesn’t perform.
Aron Corral
I’m pretty sure yeah, there was a lot of R&D going on.
Justin Smith
No doubt, and then cost wise are very similar between the two.
Aron Corral
Yes, it’s actually taking a flip before the acrylics were a lot more cost effective because you didn’t have to apply a really robust coat. But now the acrylics are, it’s kind of surprising I’m seeing and getting involved with all the veteran salesman’s that have been helping me through this. Just the prices have flipped. I think silicone, some manufacturers you could find them around 30 some dollars, and then now the acrylics are going up to $40 to $50 a gallon. It just really depends on what manufacturer makes them but I’ve seen a flip in the trend right now, of silicones being a lot more readily available and cheaper.
Justin Smith
We’re in a weird position in the economy where some things are in short supply and some things are becoming more expensive. And job pricing is fluctuating. I don’t know if that’s rippling through your world to you.
Aron Corral
Yes, of course. It has to do a lot with freight as well. A lot of the FTL guys are their rates are sky high now. Like and then I believe a lot of people are dealing with a can Canyon bucket issue right now. That’s another thing that’s bumping up the prices too, because they’re not readily available.
Justin Smith
cans and buckets are in short supply now?
Aron Corral
Cans and buckets are really, really taking everybody. Yeah, if you don’t have enough roof, if you don’t have enough room to store 100 pallets of buckets, then, you know, you’re kind of out of luck sometimes.
Justin Smith
And where is this product coming from?
Aron Corral
I believe the buckets, the buckets end up coming from Georgia, some of the plastic buckets come from Georgia WAnd then all depending on where you get your metal cans, a lot of them are coming from Canada. So that’s I believe that’s what’s going on with that.
Justin Smith
how about the neoprene in the silicone?
Aron Corral
The silicone or are the new premium is I believe that we mine it it’s asphalt that’s mined out of Iowa or Ohio around those areas. Then that’s where we take it back to our distribution center and do our formulations with that silicone. Also, our raw material. I believe those come from overseas, more and more overseas, raw materials come in. And then we go ahead and do our own formulations.
Justin Smith
That puts you on the spot and sets up when people ask you questions where you’re like, gosh, where does that come from? Well, that’s on my day-to-day work. I don’t have to know where that comes from because it’s here and I’m doing my thing.
Aron Corral
I mean, as well to try not to give too much information out. It’s all raw products that that come in from different places and you know, we just do our own formulations on them and we make the product that way. It could be from automated or to, you know if we get a couple of different components of the product and we you know, mix it.
Justin Smith
do you get into the mix with warranties and the work and labor and materials? And how that all works? Are there different choices? Or is that something you’re knowledgeable about?
Aron Corral
Yes, of course. So that’s pretty much what my position is, what they hired me on for is to oversee these applications and to also to make sure that they’re playing the right amount of product and reviewing their warranty request forms. That’s definitely that’s definitely something I get involved with. There’s two types of different warranties, there’s a material warranty that just covers the material that there is no, there’s no manufacturer defect in the material and then we go into our material and labor warranty, which covers that that aspect of the material and then also the craftsmanship of the of the system being applied. And those and those warranties could be could vary from 10 years, all the way up to 30 years.
Justin Smith
What’s the most common problem that people call them warranty on?
Aron Corral
So most common problem I see is usually something that you know, somebody has been up on the roof, really, and they got neglected the roof, screws, hammers, , people up there, depending on the roof, or where their locations that graffiti, cigarette butts.
Justin Smith
Beer bottles, glass.
Aron Corral
Yeah, glass. The AC/HVAC unit guys going up, they’re dropping screws, people stepping on them.
Justin Smith
I did have a cigarette button burn hole in my membrane. That was a real problem, one that you and the manufacturer doesn’t think of the installer doesn’t think of, and HVAC guy is just doing his thing. And little did we now.
Aron Corral
Yeah, so those are most of the common problems. Also, you know, another thing would be constantly just being up on the roof checking to see if you know your drains are cleared, the roof is performing well, it still has its reflectivity, there’s no branches or, or leaves clogging up, the clogging up, the drains are damaging the system. A lot of of these roofing manufacturers, they end up coming out, they come out to because the attendant has a leak, or the client has a leak. Now they get up on the roof, they see that the roof has is riddled with branches and leaves drains are clogged. So the end of a lot of these guys, they end up voiding their warranties. And these weren’t and these roofs have only been down for about two, two years a year. I’ve heard a lot of stories about that.
Justin Smith
They are saying hey, you’re not pulling your end of the bargain and properly maintaining the system. And we’re not going to warranty something if you’re not going to maintain it.
Aron Corral
Exactly, exactly. So they end up just losing the warranty and then that’s where you lose your warranty. You have to end up fixing it yourself.
Justin Smith
When I had that they said, we’ll honor the work but there’s more work to do as a result of our inspection. A, do some more of the cleanup, B- we will do the warranty work, C- if you want to keep it you got to do this work and we’ll do it now. Good on them for finding it. Right, good to get that work done. And then get back in their good graces and have a properly sealed membrane? For sure. Yes,
Aron Corral
Yes, I’ve heard a lot of stories to where they just cut them out of their warranty and that’s really unfortunate. The way that we like to take our services, we take it to the next level. If we do go up on the roof, and see that our system is you know, everything is completely intact, there’s maybe some branches or leaves, as long as we get with the client, and let them know that they get these gutters or you know, get the branches off the roof and just maintain the roof properly, we definitely can reinstate the warranty. We try to take our service, you know, to the next level and that aspect.
Justin Smith
Yeah, and you do that annually is that how that works? For you annually or part of the warranty can include an annual inspection or something along those is what I’m recalling.
Aron Corral
Yes. So what we usually do is if the client would like an annual inspection, they usually the contractor will go out there and then inspect it and then for a manufacturing inspection, what we’re doing with the government right now is we’re doing a try and try annual inspection. So every three years we’ll go out and check the surf the roof surface and the integrity of the roof to make sure everything is going fine and that they’re following all the warranty procedures as well.
Justin Smith
Interesting and that’s like maybe not an insurance policy for them but they just figured that’s good practice.
Aron Corral
It’s good practice good service coming from our company. I haven’t heard of any other company that does that at the moment but there probably is someone out there that does it but that’s what we like to practice especially with our I mean it with every client but especially with our clients that have a lot of square feet and more and more high end our government projects because what These government projects are doing as well as that they’re hiring people just to come out to maintain the roofs maintain the gutters. So these people have contracts with the government. So now they’re coming up and maintaining the roofs. So we want to make sure if somebody else’s on the roof or even a HVAC guys, we want to make sure that you know, there’s they’re not compromising the system.
Justin Smith
Yeah, I feel like that’s the fifth time you’ve said people on the roof compromise the system. I’ve seen mats on the roof, right on one side. I’ve seen the cigarette burn holes on the other side. And you were talking about the blocker that you guys put in. How do you go about maintaining it in a way where you can have people on there regularly and doing work for solar or HVAC or replacing skylights or, you know, cleaning all the downspouts but do so in a way helps with the longevity and the quality of what’s other than just being real careful and clean shoes and neat and tidy. What else can you do? Are you putting on booties?
Aron Corral
Well, for the most part, the silicone surface as long as it’s applied at least 30 mils, which I believe I forget them the actual centimeters, that thicknesses but as long as the silicones applied, really add a good, a good thickness. That’s really not it doesn’t compromise anything. But what we can do it up to avoid anything like that is put these walking pads, the walking paths that we that we usually use are, some of them are TPO. Some of them are we use a silicone to map out our pads. And then we go ahead and broadcast an EPDM granule into it to make sure that the areas that the are stepping or putting down bags are not affecting the system. So walking pads, walking pads, and any other type of maintenance pads around the AC units or areas where people are going to be traveling is definitely ideal.
Justin Smith
That’s what we need to do with the old TPO roofs instead of the landfill turning them into walking pads to put on these roofs.
Aron Corral
There you go. Yeah. As long as they’re not too aged by the sun. Yeah, go ahead and try to reuse.
Yeah, because what ends up happening with those walking pads is it ends up getting too stressed out with the sun and then end up getting cracked and brittle. And that’s where some of the some of the areas on with the TPO roofs that’s where you get your water intrusion would be when that TPO is aged and cracked.
Justin Smith
Yeah, and I can only imagine like doing rooms in Phoenix or in Houston or you know, other areas where you think of like temperature wise and dealing with that.
Aron Corral
Yeah, we’ve done a couple in Texas. I think for everybody who does fluid apply roof is a big scene out there. That’s where a lot of people have a lot of success. Besides also they don’t need a you don’t need a contractor’s license to start up a company out there. So a lot of people go to ply roofs out there. But yeah, I’ve been out there when it’s about especially in I want to say is it Houston? I think Houston Yeah. Where they you know, it’s just humid, hot, 90 degrees, but 70% humidity. I feel so I feel bad for the guys out there who have to work in the sun. It’s really hot.
Justin Smith
Yeah, so fluid applied roofing. That’s the future and we’ve been doing it for a while, but now it’s kind of become maybe the more than most optimum roof they you can have for some of these big industrial buildings or for any of them.
Aron Corral
I would imagine so because you know, instead of tearing stuff off, and that could be you know, pricey, especially if you have so you have a 160,000 plus square foot roof. It’s going to get pretty pricey after a while with all the tariffs and, and all the labor to put everything back together. That’s where we could come into, you know, half the time just putting the product seal up to seal up the surface.
Justin Smith
Yeah, I mean, for me, I know enough to be dangerous and now I know enough to be very dangerous just because I will help advise clients and I’ll help connect them with people like you that can then provide them with the bids, but it does constantly change and evolve. So it’s always helpful to know what’s going on out there and people who listen to this own and lease industrial buildings right and they’ll have their own issues.
Aron Corral
If you did want to get more information on any of this fluid applied roofs not only talk to myself, but surround yourself with. It’s a movie that I saw when I was a younger kid called “The Secret of Life” It’s not really an action-packed movie or anything like that. It just kind of talks about, if you want to be the best roofer, the best gangster, if you want it to be the best
Justin Smith
Industrial broker,
Aron Corral
if you want to be the best industrial broker then you surround yourself with people that are the best in that in that region. So that they could teach you and you could just gain more knowledge on a more professional level or even just to get more knowledge.
Justin Smith
Well, thank you for being our teaching today. Aaron, we appreciate your help. What’s best place for people to reach you LinkedIn is good or your website.
Aron Corral
Yeah, LinkedIn is good website as well. Website has a has a chat box in there. If you wanted to go ahead and ask for me there. I get the messages from Francisco Serrano. He sends them straight to me but LinkedIn would be the best way to contact me or through email.
Justin Smith
Awesome. Cool. Well, Aaron, I appreciate you making yourself available and spending the time that’s super helpful.
