Both factors can extend the life of your flat roof.
Why do you put rocks on a flat roof.
While tar and gravel roofing or built up roofing systems have many positive aspects if you live in an area or the roof is in a location where it will receive strong sun exposure hot tar roofs will likely damage the roof s membrane if it is left uncovered or unevenly covered by the gravel.
So all you need to be able to say to your roof contractor is you want an epdm rubber roof.
Rocks are placed on commercial flat roofs for many different reasons if the roof is what is called a ballast roof it is not fastened or adhered down throughout the whole roof.
The weight provided by the gravel is used to anchor down the roof materials therefore using far fewer fasteners to hold the materials to the decking.
The rolls are cut to fit then unrolled across the roof and smoothed out to avoid air bubbles.
Specifically there are two main reasons to use a ballasted roof system.
The membrane is.
The gravel can be applied in far less time than using a specially.
The purpose of gravel on a flat roof.
I assume you re not talking about rocks meaning boulders but rather the layer of small stones you see not just on gas stations but on many flat roofs.
When you should not choose a tar gravel roof.
These roofs are installed as thin sheet materials 0 030 30 mils to 0 060 inches 60 mils thick and are applied to the roof in a single layer.
Why do they put gravel on flat roofs.
On many flat roof low slope commercial buildings it s common to see gravel on top of the roof.
This is costly and guaranteed to fail unless surface has been filled and smoothed.
The rolls are applied to a completely cleaned stripped roof deck that has been coated in adhesive.
Avoid applying coating to roofs that need repairs fix these first.
Gravel is used on flat roofs for two reasons.
For many years the only way you could cover a flat roof was with rolled rubber roofing.
Do not apply fabric membrane to a gravel roof.
Have you ever wondered why contractors install gravel on flat roofs.