Commercial buildings typically have flat or low-slope roofs that have to endure seasons of punishing weather, and what begins as a harmless puddle after a storm often ends up being a cascade of problems: mold, structural damage, and serious damage to your whole investment. There’s an array of proven solutions that can whisk water away from Arkansas commercial roofing and ensure you get the full lifespan out of your roof.

Arkansas Commercial Roofing Drainage Solutions

Flat roofs are more cost-effective to build, allow more flexibility for interior layouts, and even provide usable rooftop space, making them great for a business. Unlike their pitched residential counterparts, though, they don’t shed water nearly so easily, so you need an engineered intervention. Additionally, roofing manufacturers will often specify in their warranties that you must have “positive drainage” so that surfaces dry within 48 hours after a storm, and if you don’t have this, your warranty might not stay valid.

Internal Roof Drains

Among the simplest and most reliable solutions, internal roof drains are just fixtures installed directly through the roof deck, typically at low points engineered into the design, and fitted with domed strainers that catch leaves and debris before they can clog up the works.

Water funnels into the drain, then down the insulated leader pipes to ground-level outlets, and finally joins the municipal system. These drains are discrete and typically very effective for high volume; their downside is that they cost more than other solutions.

Scuppers

Scuppers can be used alone or added as a secondary protection to complement your internal drains. Positioned along parapet walls, these rectangular or hooded openings are a bit like an emergency spillway. They channel excess water over the edge into downspouts or conductor heads.

They’re usually made from copper or cast iron, and they resist corrosion pretty well and can integrate seamlessly with the metal edge flashings when installed by quality, experienced roofers. That ensures you have a watertight seal that will really last.

The benefits of scuppers are that they are less likely to freeze up, and their hooded design can keep wind gusts from forcing water back onto the roof. However, they’re also more expensive to install than gutters (though more effective, too).

Gutters

Gutters are familiar because they’re the typical solution for residential properties, but they do scale up impressively for commercial use. You just put aluminum or seamless copper channels along the roof edges to capture runoff and direct it to corner downspouts.

These systems are usually best for roofs with gentle perimeter slopes where the water already naturally migrates to the edges. To make the most of them, you’ll need some accessories, though, like leaf guards to keep them from getting clogged and expansion joints to account for thermal shifts that can buckle the seams. They are the cheapest option, but they do need regular maintenance, and they aren’t appropriate if your roof is so flat that water won’t go to the edges.

To find out more about the best choice for your commercial roof, contact us at Platinum Roofing in Sheridan, AR today.