Commercial Roof Recover

Commercial roof recover refers to the process of leaving an existing roof on a commercial building in place and installing a new one over the top of it. This is also called other things depending on location, such as lay-over. This is typically done to address various issues including age-related deterioration, extensive damage, leaks, or to upgrade to a more durable and/or more energy-efficient roofing system. The major difference between a recover and a replacement is that the existing roof stays in place to some extent, while a replacement will remove the existing roof. Recovers will leave you with a minimum of 2 roofing systems in place, which is the maximum amount allowable by building code.

There are some additional nuances that come with a recover compared to a replacement:

Existing roof acts as your substrate.
Wet insulation or other damage within the existing roofing system.
Fastener lengths and other measurements need to be adjusted to accommodate the existing roofing system profile.
Without a variance, it is not allowable per code when a building already has 2 roofing systems in place.