Good day. I'm looking to buy a building to carry out business in that has the above stated problem. The building itself is about 40 years old and built with cinder blocks. I believe the cause to be the long sides of the building not having soffits, in addition to the insulation in the attic being very close to the edge/eave/fascia inside leaving little to no room for air circulation which then leads to heat convection causing the snow on top of the roof to melt, refreeze and force it's way through the tin roof. The roof itself has a fairly low pitch, between 3/12 and 4/12 from what my tape tells me. The building is situated close to at least one of the property lines making it impractical to extend the roof to add them.
Is there another way that anyone knows of to refinish the roof and allow for the needed air circulation? I'm going to have to take on significant debt to do this, so I want to solve the problem once and for all right from the get go.
Buildings move and if its old and completely open ceiling on inside and metal too boot you are going to get air seepage spots if not outright leaks eventually. Commercial buildings do not work like a residential one or vent like one either. If it has a sealed attic you need to add more blown in insulation if it is less than 4" and it needs to be vented on top or gable ends...you also need to look around the perimeter and check for loose flashings etc. that might be letting air in. If its just a big open space inside then foam insulation along edge of roof walls may help with the aforementioned dealt with. You also need air circulation inside and space venting. Most commercial builds have that built into the roof top units so check everything is working right and not plugged (call HVAC service company)..add in some ceiling fans if none. If no venting for interior then a wall vent on a temp. switch or manual are other options. My guess is you got crappy HVAC and bad exterior flashings
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