When you are building a building for your new business, you have to make many decisions. One of the things you have to make a lot of decisions about is your roof. You should be working with a commercial roofing contractor because there are differences between residential and commercial roofs. You want to know that the person working on your roof knows how to roof commercial buildings. You should know some of the differences between residential and commercial roofs to understand what your contractor is talking about.

Angle

Probably the most significant difference, at least visually, is the angle of the roof. A residential roof tends to be peaked or steeply angled. Depending on the house's location, that angle may be more or less acute. Part of that reason is that a peaked roof sheds snow and ice better than a flat roof. The sharper the angle, the easier it is to shed the snow and ice, lessening the weight the roof holds. Commercial buildings, however, tend to have flat roofs. This is especially true for extensive facilities like factories and warehouses. Trying to put a peaked roof on a building with a lot of square footage is incredibly difficult. From an engineering standpoint, putting a flat roof on that building is much easier.

Materials

While there are some similarities in materials in both residential and commercial roof settings, for the most part, they are different. One of the materials residential and Commercial groups have in common is metal. A metal roof can work well in both settings. But, in general, they have different materials. Commercial roofs tend to have membranes that are applied to the roofs.

Weight

Another difference between the two kinds of roofs is how much weight they can bear. A commercial roof will need to handle more weight than a residential roof because a lot of machinery gets installed on top of the roof. Things like air conditioning units, heating units, and other necessary machinery are very heavy. The commercial roof has to be built to support all that weight, plus the weight of any water or snow that falls on the roof.

When building a new building for your business, talk to a commercial roofer about all the options for your roof. Your new building is a major investment for your business, and you want to make sure that it will be around for a while. For more information on commercial roofing services, contact a company near you.