Our Top Five Roofing Design Blog Posts of 2020

Last week we kicked off our top ten roofing design blog posts published in 2020 with numbers ten to six. Here are the top five most read roofing design blog posts this year – is your favourite at the top?

It has been the most unusual year for us, for our customers and for the industry as a whole. Lets see what this did to our top five. Cue Fluff Freeman and scroll down to find out more…

5.         SIG Design & Technology delivering online CPD seminars

Way back in March when the first lockdown began, we took the early decision to offer our four RIBA certified CPD seminars to architects online. This article introduced the idea.

Since then we have delivered over 60 live online webinars to over 1000 architects, architectural staff, surveyors, contractors and students around the world, many of whom would have never been able to host a CPD seminar before.

We are still delivering weekly webinars in Roof Design, Roof Refurbishment, Hard Metal Roofing and Cladding and Natural Slate, and after a short Christmas break will recommence on 5th January with another on Natural Slate. Read the original article from March, and visit our dedicated page outlining the scheme and how you can join us here.

4.         New Liquid Waterproofing Training Videos

In February SIG Design and Technology launched a set of liquid waterproofing training videos for AH+, the next generation of our popular liquid waterproofing system.

Hydrostop AH+ is a wet-on-wet, cold applied liquid water-proofing product that’s fully reinforced with a polyester fabric. An extremely versatile and innovative one-component liquid system it offers many benefits including ease of application, fast curing times and with low VOC content it is fume free and virtually odourless.

These videos provide installers (and interested specifiers) with a practical understanding of how AH15+ and AH25+ are correctly installed and give a useful insight into both the principles and the process of liquid waterproofing, together with an understanding of the expected appearance of the finished roof, joints and details.

SIG Design and Technology also provide a one-day course in AH+ liquid waterproofing for our DATAC accredited contractors. The training sessions take place at the SIG Design and Technology Roofing Academy in Shepshed, near Loughborough.

Watch the videos and read more about AH+ here.

3.        Lady Bee Enterprise Centre Case Study

When we designed and supplied the zinc roofing and cladding to this innovative group of light industrial units on the quayside at Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, we weren’t to know that it would be quite such a success. The project has gone on to win several regional awards, and is in line for more national ones including the Pitched Roofing Awards and the RCi Façade Awards in the Spring.

Inspired by the nautical history of the site and the local fishing industry, the group of buildings have an energy efficient saw-tooth roof design which has been used on industrial buildings since the 1820s, together with cutting edge features that allow it to be certified BREEAM ‘Very Good’.

The scheme incorporates two types of elZinc zinc roofing and cladding – matt grey elZinc Slate Advance was the choice for the standing seam roofing and cladding, and pearl-grey elZinc Crystal provides a unique, almost iridescent effect for the fish-scale shingles to the sides of the units. Elzinc Advance is especially suited to buildings on the coast; it has a protective coating that is both impermeable to salt damage and minimises the adhesion of salt and inorganic substances. Read more about the project here.

Bet you thought Lady Bee would be number 1 this year? So did we! But it wasn’t to be…

2.         Liquid Waterproofing on Refurbishment Projects – Best Practice

Liquid waterproofing systems provide a highly effective method of extending the life of a flat roof – in excess of 25 years depending on the product used – saving money on replacement costs and improving the quality of the existing covering. When should architects use liquid waterproofing, what products are available, and how should the design, specification and installation processes be approached?

This article, originally published in Architecture Today, is an interview with Chris Page, Flat Roofing Product Manager at SIG Design and Technology. It is the second most viewed on our blog this year.

The article features some of our most popular products are Hydrostop AH25+ and AH15+, Vulkem Quick System, and SIGnature PU, together with a number of standard details for liquid waterproofing for abutments, parapets, gutters and penetrations. Read it here.

Without further ado, here’s our number one roofing design post of 2020:

1.        When to use a Hot Melt Roofing System

It is quite rare for a flat roofing blog post to make it to the top of our top ten. In fact you have to go back to 2017 for the last one.

Our most popular post of 2020 was all about hot melt roofing, what it is, how it works and when you should use it on your roofing project. It includes a video of the application of Permatec Hot Melt, details of the benefits of hot melt roofing, and a number of examples where hot melt roofing is often the best choice, for example on concrete and podium decks and green roofs. Hot melt is also useful when speed is important, when hot works are not an issue and where you have a complex roof layout with many penetrations or plant, where the quantity and complexity of detailing would make the use of single ply membranes less cost efficient and reliable.

Hot melt is a very robust material, commonly protected in an inverted roof build up, which is why it is particularly suitable for terraces and green roofing too. Read more about hot melt in our most popular blog post of 2020!

Tell us what you want to read

So we’ve shared our top ten most popular post this year. We love answering architects’ questions about flat roofing, metal roofing and all types of roofing challenges, so why not ask yours? You never know, we might write a blog post about it next year.

Drop us a line using the contact form with your suggestions, or if you’re feeling brave, why not write a comment on this post? We always reply.

And don’t forget to subscribe to get our posts in your inbox two or three times a month. We won’t spam you, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

It only remains for us to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2021 be less eventful than 2020. See you then.