# bubbling with GAF TPO Roof install



## dlee1 (Nov 21, 2015)

I live in the mid-atlantic...Northern VA. I had a contractor replace my old EPDM roof with a GAF TPO roof. It is a flat roof above my sunroom. The day they came to install, it started raining in the afternoon. Temperature was around 60 degrees. They said they finished the install before it started raining. Approximately 5 or 6 days after they installed it, I noticed a large amount of bubbles on the roof. They are quite large...some 3 or 4 inches wide and 2-3 feet long. I had the contractor come back to look at it and they said it was "normal". They said the bubbles will disappear within a year or two. Can somebody with experience installing TPO roofs tell me if this is "normal"??? Any thoughts or input would be appreciated.


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

there are a couple flat roof experts that will weigh in sooner or later.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Tried contacting GAF directly to have a rep. come look at this install?
What was it layed over ? Trying to figure out what that honey comb look is all about.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Definitely not "normal" in my opinion. 

Looks like it was a fully adhered set up and I wonder if the glue didn't get wet or not tack up.


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## 1985gt (Jan 8, 2011)

If it is a fully adhered roof, and it looks like it was the bubbles can be caused by a few things. The glue did get wet, the glue did not flash off properly or they did not apply pressure with a broom or a roller after the sheet was laid out. I have noticed that bubbles like this do not form as pronounced as they do with EPDM if the membrane if it was not rolled in with pressure. 

Some of the bubbles may go down after a few warm days, and applying pressure with a weighted roller or heavy pressure with a broom may help. I highly doubt almost positive they all will not go away.


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## 1985gt (Jan 8, 2011)

Oh and a GAF rep will not come out and look at it since it is on a home. The honey comb look I asume is because the picture was taken from a window.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

joecaption said:


> Trying to figure out what that honey comb look is all about.





1985gt said:


> Oh and a GAF rep will not come out and look at it since it is on a home. The honey comb look I asume is because the picture was taken from a window.



+1

Right through a window screen it looks like.


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

1985gt said:


> Some of the bubbles may go down after a few warm days, and applying pressure with a weighted roller or heavy pressure with a broom may help. I highly doubt almost positive they all will not go away.


any thoughts on the long term ramifications? Other than the aesthetics will they cause a premature failure?


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## 1985gt (Jan 8, 2011)

craig11152 said:


> 1985gt said:
> 
> 
> > Some of the bubbles may go down after a few warm days, and applying pressure with a weighted roller or heavy pressure with a broom may help. I highly doubt almost positive they all will not go away.
> ...


There should not be any real performance issues. It just looks bad. 

It happened to me once on a EPDM, it was fairly cold to begin with, tried doing the whole thing in one day the job ran long and the sunlight ran short. some of the glue was put on a bit heavy and never properly flashed off. Ended up with 8-10 or so like that. Rolled down the ones we could with a weighted seam roller the next day and it was fairly warm 60s or so. The owner wanted the other cut out and patched. To me I wouldn't do this as you now have a seam there instead of a little bubble.


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## hotrod351 (Jun 15, 2012)

been doing roofs for 40+ years but havent used TPO, torch down and peel and stick. did a little research on the TPO, it has its place, but id never use it on a roof like yours, either torch or peel and stick would of been a easy job for your application. when i look at TPO i see if you get a hole then you can end up with a leak that might be 10' feet away form the hole. i think its just another easy and fast system. might continue to raise and flatten over the years, and who knows what problem that will cause. They said the bubbles will disappear within a year or two. funny, thats about the end of the warranty on labor, isnt it.looks like they didnt use enough glue to hold it down. you said it rained, well they might of said f*ck it and went ahead and rolled it out anyway. ive done a lot of flat roofs and never that bad.


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## 1985gt (Jan 8, 2011)

hotrod351 said:


> been doing roofs for 40+ years but havent used TPO, torch down and peel and stick. did a little research on the TPO, it has its place, but id never use it on a roof like yours, either torch or peel and stick would of been a easy job for your application. when i look at TPO i see if you get a hole then you can end up with a leak that might be 10' feet away form the hole. i think its just another easy and fast system. might continue to raise and flatten over the years, and who knows what problem that will cause. They said the bubbles will disappear within a year or two. funny, thats about the end of the warranty on labor, isnt it.looks like they didnt use enough glue to hold it down. you said it rained, well they might of said f*ck it and went ahead and rolled it out anyway. ive done a lot of flat roofs and never that bad.


Not enough slope for a peal and stick IMO, TPO/PVC/EPDM IMO are a much easier install on residential then Torch or Peal and stick. It will be interesting to see how long some of these peal and stick roofs last. A hole in any roof system and the leak can show up 10' away, water has a funny way of running along just about anything it can.

Not every roofer can be as perfect as you, sometimes stuff happens I gave an example of one of mine, and there has been a few more. But hey I never claimed to be the best... :icon_rolleyes:


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