Know These Basic Differences Between Commercial and a Residential Roofing

Although serving the same purpose, there are basic differences between commercial and residential roofing, so that the first thing that an experienced roofing contractor will ask you is whether you are contracting for a commercial or a residential roofing. Be aware that the differences between a commercial and a residential roofing project are very much different, from the design, structural elements, to the materials and costs.

Obviously, the structural needs of a commercial roof is different from that of a residential roof because of the size involved itself. The load requirements, fixtures and materials vary for example in a commercial roof of a mall as compared to that of residential area. Because of the materials necessary in the construction, a commercial roof has to have a larger load-bearing capacity than that of a residential roofing. Consequently, a much larger crew is needed for the installation of a commercial roof because of the size of the job against a residential roof.

With regards to the function of the roof, compared to residential roofs, a commercial roofing has more protrusions in comparison. A residential roof may need to accommodate protrusions like chimneys, skylights and others, a commercial roofing will have to consider others like ventilation systems, smoke stacks, pipes, roof entrances and other mechanical needs. Both commercial and residential roofing could have some specialized construction specifications depending on the needs. One reason is the function of the building, as for instance, if a commercial roofing is for an establishment meant for heavy machinery, then its roofing must be able to withstand heat discharge. In residential roofing, the construction on the other hand would depend on the personal preferences of its homeowners, from the choice of appearance, durability and maintenance.

Whether it is for a commercial or residential project, the specialized knowledge and skills of the potential roofs must be put into consideration too. The function of the commercial building has to be taken into account by the commercial roofers while the residential roofers have to take into account the unique needs of their clients.

Because of the various conditions of the two roofing contractors, they will in turn have different needs to complete their jobs. Generally, of the two roofing contractors, the commercial roofer is considered as a much more involved and more difficult job in terms of finding skilled workers and the number of people to do the job, and because of this, they will be charging you a different cost because of the scope of the job.