BY RANDY BOGRAND, COO
Vapor Drive is a serious matter in the cold storage industry, but, as you might have noticed, we try to inject a bit of levity into what can be a profoundly serious, technical, and tedious conversation. But, from time to time, we share information in a more technical manner, and this is one of those times.
As discussed in our last post, our process begins with a free Invasive Forensic Assessment of your facility. That leads us to a solution designed specifically to meet the needs of your installation and none other.
Once the existing contamination is removed, and the roof is prepped as described in Part One of this series, the roof needs to be sealed. The flutes of the deck are filled with our proprietary rubber and resin mastic and flute filler is embedded in the mastic to create an even surface. The Vapor Armour™ membrane barrier is embedded into the mastic over the flute fillers. The barrier then runs flat against the deck up to and over the top of any exterior walls, dropping far enough to cover over the top of the wall panels and roof structure. The membrane is mechanically attached to where it meets the roof deck – it is locked securely in place with a screwed-down plastic trim strip, ensuring the barrier stays put on the roof deck. The membrane is adhered to the sides, and top of any walls.
On exterior walls, the barrier drops down to cover the wall and roof systems. The elastic nature of our patented barrier product allows it to maintain its seal, even as the building shifts. The bottom edge of the barrier is then locked in place with a second trim strip, fastened securely to the outside wall.
In the case of walls that extend above the roof deck, the barrier is locked to the deck with trim strips on both sides, about two feet out. Every layer of our proprietary process is adhered with mastic, first to the roof deck, then to any layer on top. This ensures a roof that is resistant to wind and locked in place for a barrier you can trust.
Once the original layer of Vapor Armour barrier is in place, we apply layers of blue foam board insulation to cover any areas where the roof’s original insulation was removed during the demolition phase. The insulation layers are only installed in the two-foot channel removed along the edges of the roof, and along any dividing walls that rise above the roof deck. Using Dupont XPS board ensures that your roof cannot be saturated by condensation again. The product itself is hydrophobic, repelling water and condensation.
Once the insulation is laid in, the second Vapor Barrier membrane is adhered to the insulation and heat welded to the membrane previously embedded on the roof deck at the wall top. The roof membrane is the placed over the top of the total installation and mechanically adhered to the wall below the Vapor Armour membrane. Coupled with the Vapor Armour barrier and roofing membrane, this creates an impermeable armor coating that will keep your facility dry, ice and condensation free and functional longer than any traditional flat roof systems.
In any instance where mechanical, wiring, or plumbing elements perforate the roof or exterior walls, Vapor Armour is installed to seal the penetrations against vapor drive and moisture. The flexibility of the product allows for movement and wind, ensuring that what gets sealed, stays sealed.
Once the entire perimeter is sealed, all joints along the tops of interior walls are coated in Vapor Armour barrier, sealed in place, and wrapped around all pipes and wiring that penetrate the walls or roof, as an added protection against any Vapor Barrier Discontinuity. The completed system is then warranted against defects in product and workmanship for fifteen years in retrofit installations where the original roof is left in place, or twenty if the Vapor Armour team installs the new roof and insulation.
This is where the real beauty of the Vapor Armour Vapor Barrier comes into place. Once installed, we find that our clients have a typical energy savings of between 17 and 35%, leading to an average ROI on our product and service of three to five years. If you’re counting, that leaves at least a dozen years of cost-free warranty on all products and labor, or seventeen if your facility received a new Vapor Armour roof.
We believe in our system so much we warrant any area covered by the Vapor Armour barrier from Vapor Drive, condensation, and icing. On the off chance that it happens, we will be solely responsible for the repair or replacement of our system. We will only ever send Vapor Armour trained technicians and installation teams to any client facility. They’re the only ones we trust to defend our expert reputation for stopping air.
