For more information about the commercial roofing services that Four Seasons provides, please contact the Four Seasons offices via phone, fax, or email. 1410 Quant Ave North
Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047
Phone: (651) 433-2443
Fax: (651) 433-2834
Email: info AT fseer DOT com
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Four Seasons is an Elite Master Roofing Contractor with over 40 years of experience in all roofing types. Four Seasons guarantees quality workmanship and friendly customer service. In addition to the Four Seasons guarantee, all Duro-Last roofing materials come with the best warranty in the ndustry—15 Year No Dollar Limit. It covers ponding water and consequential damage (to the building and its contents), which few, if any, other roofing warranties will. Contact us for a copy of the latest Duro-Last warranty appropriate to your project.

This question can be difficult to answer without seeing the specific roof. However, Four Seasons can share a general set of guidelines and is happy to meet with your business to evaluate more specific needs. A general guideline for how long different types of roofs last, in addition to some specific reasons for their deterioration:

• BUR or hot tar lasts about 15-30 years and is very toxic
• EPDM lasts about 10-20 years and shrinks and tears easily
• Metal lasts about 15-50 years and rusts, seams split due to thermal shock, and washers disintegrate
• Shingles last 15-30 years and are toxic and non-recyclable
• Cedar lasts about 20-40 years and requires high maintenance

Repairing a roof works if the problem is minor (only one or two small spots) and temporary (will not occur again once fixed). However, many times, repairs are a regular occurrence, especially in the types of roofs mentioned above. Your business may find itself being ‘nickeled and dimed’ constantly for repair materials and labor because the roof is already failing and will only get worse. Additionally, some repairs may disrupt or require you to close down your business during the repair. Replacing a roof is better if the roof is failing in major ways such as leakage, shrinkage, splitting seams, UV deterioration, bubbles, rusting caps, parapets pulling, ponding water. While this may appear to be a larger cost to your business, Four Seasons often finds that businesses save time and money in the long run by replacing their roof rather than paying for multiple repairs. NOTE: Four Seasons also recommends replacing your roof with the Duro-Last Roofing System. The Duro-last roofing system is a superior roofing system,backed by the strength and quality assurance of a leader in roofing technology. Duro-last is leak proof, durable, long-lasting (30 – 40 years), maintenance free, and entirely recyclable. In some cases, it may be applied over your existing roof.

A Duro-Last roofing system is a strong, reinforced thermoplastic single-ply membrane that is perfect for commercial and industrial buildings with flat or low-sloped roofs. The membrane is “precision fabricated” to your building’s specifications in a controlled factory environment, including all accessories and edge details. Then the majority of your roofing system components are carefully assembled in a Duro-Last factory and shipped to your building site for final installation. A Duro-Last roof is resistant to fire, chemicals, grease, high winds, and punctures, and it easily accommodates wide temperature extremes. Once installed, it is virtually maintenance-free, unlike other roof materials that may require regular patching or other repair. The proof is on the roof: over a billion square feet of Duro-Last roofing have been installed throughout the U.S. since 1978, and the vast majority of those roofs are still in service. Many Duro-Last roofs have outlasted their owners’ expectations by 5 years, 10 years or more.

Photovoltaics, or PV for short, is a technology that converts light directly into electricity. Photovoltaics is best known as a method for generating solar power by using solar cells packaged in photovoltaic modules, often electrically connected in multiples as solar photovoltaic arrays to convert energy from the sun into electricity. To explain the photovoltaic solar panel more simply, photons from sunlight knock electrons into a higher state of energy, creating electricity. Photovoltaics are usually installed as a grid type system where the energy is “sold” to your energy company. A battery system where the energy is stored in a battery also exists, but it is much more costly. With the grid system, the building owner “sells” the energy created by his/her photovoltaics to his/her energy company such as Xcel Energy and then re-purchases energy at a lower price OR the building owner gets a credit for his/her usage. These credits and pricing are state dependent. Check with your particular energy company for your area on the rebates and cost incentives. Example: A 4 ft x 8 ft photovoltaic panel will generate 450 watts or about 51 kWh/month. (3.8 hrs avg peak sun hours in MN/day 450 watts 30 days / 1000 watts = 51.3 kWh/month) Xcel Energy representatives state that a typical household uses about 600 kWh per month so if a house had one 4 ft x 8 ft photovoltaic panel, the household would generate 51 kWh through the panel and would need to purchase 549 kWh from Xcel Energy for a total of 600 kWh for the month. To SOLELY power a three bedroom home through photovoltaics, the house would need approximately eleven 4 ft x 8 ft photovoltaic panels. Benefits/Costs:

• Low maintenance
• Saves energy by generating its own energy
• No roof penetrations
• Easier & cheaper to install than solar panels
• No rack-mounted hardware
• Can be installed on current roofing systems
• Doesn’t cause ponding water
• Lightweight (less than 2 lbs/sq. ft)
• Class “A” Fire Roofing System
• Can collect low light levels
• Repels dirt and water
• High efficiency cells generate more power per sq ft
• No wind uplift issues
• Saves money by generating cheaper energy

A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil, or a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. The term “green roof” may also be used to indicate roofs that utilize some form of “green” technology, such as solar panels or a photovoltaic module.

Green roofs are also referred to as

• eco-roofs
• vegetated
• roofs
• living roofs
• and greenroofs.

Green roofs are used to:

• Provide amenity space for building users — in effect replacing a yard or patio
• Grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers
• Reduce heating (by adding mass and thermal resistance value) and cooling (by evaporative cooling) loads on a building — especially if it is glassed in so as to act as a terrarium and passive solar heat reservoir
• Reduce the urban heat island effect
• Increase roof life span
• Reduce stormwater run off
• Filter pollutants and CO2 out of the air
• Filter pollutants and heavy metals out of rainwater
• Increase wildlife habitat in built-up areas
• Blocks electromagnetic radiation
• Reduces noise pollution
• Diverts waste to landfills

The cost of a green roof varies considerably depending on the type and factors such as the depth of growing medium, selected plants, size of installation, use of irrigation, and whether they are to be accessible on inaccessible – intensive, semi-extensive or extensive. Intensive green roofs typically require greater investment but confer the benefits of accessibility. An installed extensive green roof with root repellant/waterproof membranes may be installed for $10-$24 US per square foot. While green roofs typically require a greater initial investment, it is important to keep in mind that they can extend the life of the roof membrane and reduce the heating and cooling costs of your building. Future: Green roofs will continue to evolve. This field has already seen some major changes in the last few years such as lighter tray systems, innovations in system design and irrigation systems, and improved soil and plant composition. As individuals become more environmentally aware and local and federal governments provide more legislation and incentives, the future will become brighter and brighter concerning the feasibility of these roofing systems.

A sad fact is that a large portion of landfill waste consists of roofing materials which aren’t recyclable. Four Seasons understands the value that many commercial businesses are placing on the environment, and prides itself in being environmentally conscious. When working on a project, Four Seasons creates less waste going into landfills, because the Duro-Last Roofing System can be installed over 90% of all roofs, multi-millions of tons of roofing material waste does not go to landfills (see example below). Four Seasons also takes steps to protect the natural world while completing a project. Moreover, unlike many contractors, Four Seasons recycles all possible materials including cardboard boxes, plastic, pallets, paper, Styrofoam insulation, stones from ballasted roofing, and extra Duro-Last material. The Duro-Last Roofing System is a long-lasting (30+ years), leakproof, recyclable, and can have green roofing systems put on top of it.

If the Duro-Last roof wears out after 30 – 40 years, another layer of Duro-Last material could be installed over that. This process could be done about four times with the roof weight only being about 1 pound per square foot, thereby delaying roofing waste going to the landfill for about 120 – 160 years (30 or 40 years x 4 applications). During that period, humans may discover other alternatives for toxic roof waste. The Duro-Last material is a co-polymer alloy (CPA), which is 100% recyclable at the plant so scraps can be reprocessed and recycled repeatedly. Post-consumer Duro-Last material can be recycled in a variety of ways such as walkway pads on roofs and around ice rinks, liners for land fills, carpeting, flooring, speed bumps, and asphalt road patching material.