We want to thank the builders, the contractors, and their customers for the continued trust and support they have shown in DRIPSTOP®.
As a builder or building owner, have you thought or received a call stating, “It’s raining inside my building!”
It is probably condensation. Once the building is up, the remedies are fewer, less effective, and more expensive. THE KEY IS to install panels with a condensation control membrane like DRIPSTOP® during construction.
The reason your customers might not think about condensation until it’s too late is … They cannot see it, touch it, or feel it, until it is already a problem. Understanding what causes condensation and the solution for it can be confusing. However, builders who educate their customers about condensation at the beginning of the construction process can avoid those angry phone calls or concerns.
What is Condensation and where does it come from?
Moisture is in the air all around us almost always. Under the right conditions, that moist air can change its physical form from a gas to a liquid. Just like a glass of ice water sweats and leaves a ring on the table in the summer, bare Metal Roofing sweats under similar conditions. This is a simple fact of science, and it happens when warm, wet air meets a cold solid surface, then water droplets form, or condensate appears. It is almost unavoidable in most parts of the country due to seasonal climate and temperature changes.
Can it be stopped or prevented?
Traditionally a layer of insulation has been used to prevent the warm moist air from reaching the cold metal panels. More recently builders have found a new and different way to “control” the condensation; using a felt membrane to “catch” the moisture as it forms overnight, and then “release it” as the sun and air moves across the metal roofing panels during the day.
While insulation can be an effective solution, especially when installed to specifications; a condensation control membrane, like DRIPSTOP®, offers numerous advantages for both the builders and building owners. As the building is erected, DRIPSTOP® arrives already installed on the metal panels, there is no time spent installing insulation. This increases job-site safety for the builder by eliminating blind steps to purlins covered with insulation. It also saves the time typically spent tacking that insulation down to the purlins. Since no insulation is being used, windy days become much less of a challenge. Once the building is complete and properly vented, birds will not peck holes, the DRIPSTOP® will not sag or come down, and it will not require cleaning or maintenance; it is virtually worry-free. DRIPSTOP® can help protect the steel from corrosion with its specially designed adhesive barrier. There is no reason why a properly installed and vented metal roof with DRIPSTOP® will not look and act the same 20+ years down the road! RB
