Roof System for Columbus commercial properties
Columbus carries one of the largest inventories of aging built-up roofing in the Midwest — industrial buildings along Rickenbacker and SR-104, 1970s office parks in the Dublin and Polaris corridors, and institutional buildings on the OSU campus. We assess existing BUR systems, conduct repair when warranted, and replace them with current single-ply or modified bitumen systems when the assembly has reached end of life.
Built-up roofing was the dominant commercial flat-roof system for most of the 20th century. A BUR assembly consists of multiple layers of bitumen-saturated felt or glass-fiber ply sheets mopped together with hot asphalt or coal tar pitch, topped with a flood coat and aggregate surfacing. Columbus's industrial, institutional, and older commercial building stock is full of BUR assemblies installed between the 1950s and the early 1990s.
Columbus carries one of the largest inventories of aging built-up roofing in the Midwest — industrial buildings along Rickenbacker and SR-104, 1970s office parks in the Dublin and Polaris corridors, and institutional buildings on the OSU campus. We assess existing BUR systems, conduct repair when warranted, and replace them with current single-ply or modified bitumen systems when the assembly has reached end of life.
Built-up roofing was the dominant commercial flat-roof system for most of the 20th century. A BUR assembly consists of multiple layers of bitumen-saturated felt or glass-fiber ply sheets mopped together with hot asphalt or coal tar pitch, topped with a flood coat and aggregate surfacing. Columbus's industrial, institutional, and older commercial building stock is full of BUR assemblies installed between the 1950s and the early 1990s.
System selection is checked against deck capacity, insulation needs, rooftop equipment, ponding patterns, wind exposure, repairability, and warranty requirements.
Owners receive a system-level recommendation that explains what can stay, what should be removed, where risk remains, and how the selected assembly should be maintained.
Questions
In some cases, yes. A BUR recover is viable when the existing assembly is dry (confirmed by core samples and infrared), the deck load capacity allows the added insulation layer, and the BUR surface is stable enough to serve as an appropriate substrate. Aggregate-surfaced BUR typically requires the aggregate to be stripped or swept and a coverboard installed before single-ply membrane application. We evaluate recover viability on every BUR assessment — when it is possible, it saves tear-off and disposal cost while adding insulation R-value.
A core sample and visual inspection by an experienced crew will identify coal tar pitch. The characteristic odor of coal tar is unmistakable once you know it, and the color and consistency differ from asphalt BUR. If you have a Columbus industrial building built before 1975 and are planning any roof work, we recommend identifying the BUR material type before any contractor begins work. Inadvertent disturbance of coal tar BUR without proper containment and worker protection creates a regulatory liability.
BUR tear-off and TPO replacement on a Columbus commercial building typically runs $7 to $12 per square foot installed, depending on the building height, BUR assembly weight, deck condition, insulation specification, and TPO membrane thickness. Coal tar BUR disposal adds to that range. We provide a written scope with a fixed or capped price — not a time-and-materials estimate — so the building owner has a defensible number for capital budget planning before committing to the project.
Share the building address, roof history, current concern, timing, and access constraints. We will give you a practical next step for inspection, repair, maintenance, coating, or replacement planning.
Contact Commercial Roofers of Columbus