Winter is coming: Prepare your coatings accordingly

By Emma Peterson. 

The winter months are near, and we know what is coming with it – temperatures dipping below 40°F that can affect low-slope roof coatings. 

Winter brings an entire new set of challenges to storing, installing and applying low-slope coatings. Whether it’s a roofing membrane, an adhesive or a sealant, there are a variety of factors to consider. To help professionals in the field access information like ideal temperature ranges for materials, Mule-Hide Products has developed a “Cold-Weather Installation Guide”! This guide covers cold weather basics for a variety of materials, including EPDM, solvent-based adhesives, PVC, TPO and more! 

This information is crucial, especially when working with coating materials, because of the effect of lower temperatures on roofing materials. Products have ideal temperature ranges they should be installed at because lower temperatures can make them stiffer and more difficult to work with. This can result in significant performance issues and even contribute to the failure of the entire system.  

There are a few general guidelines for working in conditions below 40°F. For one, materials should be generally stored at room temperature,  which is 60°F-80°F, and should maintain that temperature throughout the installation process. This means that materials will need to be installed quickly because once the product is cooled down it can take a very long time, sometimes a day or more, to warm back up to a usable temperature.  

In order to keep materials warm through these conditions, you can try a few different strategies. One is rotating through materials as necessary to avoid working with cold products. When materials cool, return them to a warm environment, swapping them for materials that are at a usable temperature. But this does take up a lot of your crew’s time. To avoid this, consider storing materials in a heated warehouse or job site hot box until they are ready to be used, which results in less rotating, thus minimizing downtime and maximizing efficiency.  

Here are a few ways to help keep your materials warm: 

1. Use pallets or insulation boards to prevent contact with cold concrete or metal roof decks. 
2. Place heated blankets around the containers. Note, the use of warming bands is generally not recommended. Heating can be uneven, with some products not warming enough and some warming too much. 
3. Ensuring that materials are at the upper end of the desired temperature range prior to installation gives crews maximum time to work with them before they must be rewarmed. 

For more details on different products, check out the full guide on Mule-Hide's website!