Why Are Rooftop Pipe Supports Even Necessary?

By Author: Rwbecca.Franks
Total Articles: 2
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If you have ever been up on a commercial roof (shopping center, school, office building, etc) you surely have seen that there is a large amount of piping that runs on top of a roof. Gas lines, chill water lines, electrical conduit, and condensate drain lines are just some of what you may see running across the flat roof surface. But have you ever noticed the rooftop pipe supports?

What many people don't know, or don't understand, is that these lines need to be supported up off of the roof's surface to prevent damage to the roof me membrane. Here is why: In a 24-hour period temperatures can vary as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This change in temperature causes the material in any type of piping to expand in the heat of the day and contract in the cooler temperatures of the night.. A 100 foot span of pipe can move as much as 1" in 12 hours when heated up by the sun during the day, then to only be cooled off by the nighttime air. This constant expansion and contraction of the piping can cause severe damage to a roof; significantly shortening its life span. This is why rooftop pipe supports are a necessity.

A proper ...
... rooftop pipe support holds the pipe up off of the roofs surface while still allowing for the expansion and contraction of the pipe itself. Some rooftop pipe supports allow for this by setting the pipe on a roller type support, while others allow for the pipe to be suspended from a pipe hanger support and the vertical arm that holds the pipe swings back and forth with the pipe movement.

Without the proper type of rooftop pipe support, the expansion and contraction of the piping will eventually push the roof membrane around resulting in a leak in the roof. This can happen in a time period as short as a year! Now imagine that, a building owner pays as much as one million dollars for a new roof, only to try and save a few thousand dollars on the pipe supports. Inevitably, within 12 months his new roof is already leaking because he failed to have his contractor purchase the proper rooftop pipe supports, and it costs him tens of thousands of dollars to repair. From this example (true story), you can now see why purchasing the proper rooftop pipe supports is a key element to properly protecting the roof of your commercial building.

To learn more about this topic, and to view a full line of rooftop pipe supports, visit: www.RoofStuffinc.com

Eric Hassfurther is the President and Founder of Dallas based RoofStuff, Inc(www.RoofStuffinc.com) a manufacturer of pipe supports, duct supports, and other rooftop accessories. RoofStuff, Inc was founded in 2002.