If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!

Building owners and investors pay the price for mis-understanding thermal expansion of the Total Building Envelope & the associated structure beneath!

The unacceptable fact that at the heart of most Building Envelope failures, whether on the roof, walls or rainwater management systems, is the mis-understanding of thermal expansion which leads to dramatic costs in repairing not just the building envelope but the unseen damaged structure underneath.

In whatever part of the world, the impact of temperature from the sun has a massive impact on how we construct any building. A lack of complete understanding of its impact will render your building 'not fit for purpose,' and with a large rising ongoing repair bill.

Examples of thermal mis-understanding: Metal sheeting & black flat roofing.

The lack of understanding of how any Building Envelope Systems and its associated structure such as metal sheeting, rain screen cladding systems, flat roofing products and rainwater management systems thermally move and by how much will lead to long term waterproofing issues.

MRC's holistic approach to refurbishment & new build Total Building Envelope Solutions means that the integration of all the various systems on the same building is carefully considered, especially around the perimeter and junction points.

The colour & elasticity of the material has an important bearing on system selection and specification, but without understanding the potential movement of the structure below how can the two be successful installed.

A metal roof sheet can thermally expand by over 1mm per 1 metre of roof sheet so therefore 16 metres sheets will expand at least 16mm. Is there any wonder that the fixings for the roof sheet will eventually work themselves loose or in fact actually shear?

A polycarbonate roof sheet will move up to 4 - 5mm per each metre of sheeting, do you really want to install a 11.5 metre sheet, as this will thermally expand up to 57.5mm!

Both of these products are generally installed together lapping each side. Correct pre-drilling of the holes, sealing of the end laps and side laps and fixings at the right centres are key to maintain a water-tight solution, otherwise those details will always leak!

Black bitumen 'torch on' or liquid applied flat roofing products generally expand over 2mm per metre of material, so a 15 metre roll will expand over 30mm.

Consider aluminium or steel gutters and the thermal expansion on these products. I believe we can start to see the issues and the considerations that have to be taken into account in mixing different Building Envelope solutions.

Solutions to the issue of thermal movement.

Construction of the details on all these systems on site, is critical to ensure control over the thermal movement and still maintaining a water tight solution.

Reducing the impact of the suns rays are an important consideration, the control of thermal movement will ensure the longevity of the Building Envelope solution. MRC's 'Cool Roof' thermal coatings can be applied to the roof sheeting, flat roofs or gutters, to dramatically reduce their surface temperature.

In the case of a metal sheet the temperature can reach over 70 degrees Celsius, and yet with the 'cool roof' thermal coating the temperature will never rise over 45 degrees, thus significantly reducing the thermal expansion of any system, ensuring its longevity and its ability to keep water out of the building.

MRC's Total Building Envelope solutions ensure that all the details are designed and constructed correctly on-site to take into account the differing thermal movement as well as providing a high quality water-tight Building Envelope Solution, all backed with a warrantee that includes maintenance for up to 20 years!