Rock Ballast Roof

When the concept first came to the u s plenty of roofers scratched their heads and wondered how the roof stayed on without being anchored especially during high winds or storms.

Rock ballast roof.

Contact hydrotech for specific installation guidelines. White ballast can range in size from 2 1 2 3 4 inches and can be made to meet various astm standards. The gravel top coat is also extremely resilient to heavy foot traffic and high wind scenarios. Conventional gravel ballasted roofs have been built for many years and are suitable on most flat roofs and structures.

Over time the stones move around creating bald spots where the system isn t held down at all. Stone ballast is no longer allowed by many building codes. In the field of the roof a minimum of 10 lbs s f. Despite the positive qualities associated with a ballasted roof system there are some challenges.

Single ply roofing materials aren t self adhered nor are they sealed together in any way. Gravel in form of round smooth river washed aggregate without broken pieces nominal 16 to 32 mm. In windy areas ballast stone can actually blow off the roof creating projectiles below. Request a sample for the most accurate color representation.

Roof perimeters and penetrations are flashed in accordance with firestone specifications pdf. A1 grit ballast is a natural smooth water worn and screened large gravel used for many applications. Our roofing ballast is commonly installed over membrane and single ply systems at 1000 1500 pounds per square. It is however ballasted generally with gravel.

Needed at perimeters and at large penetrations. The ballast is used to keep the roofing system cool and of out of the sun s harmful rays thus keeping energy costs down. Ballast is commonly used with roofs made of tar and gravel roof alternatives including ethylene propylene diene monomer epdm polyvinyl chloride pvc and thermoplastic polyolefin tpo single ply flat roofs. Ballast is required with 20 lbs s f.

Stone ballast typically requires crushed graded stone placed over a stone filter sheet rolled out over the insulation. A ballasted roof means that the roof membrane is not anchored or adhered in any way to the decking material. Once completed the epdm membrane is held in place using one of the following materials as ballast with a minimum weight of 50 kg m. The shingle ply membrane is printed with a shingle design in sandstone tan or slate gray.

Ballast stone can crush the underlying insulation creating weak spots in the roof membrane.