Safety During GRP Roofing Installation

Safety

It goes without saying that the installer should ensure maximum safety for not only themselves, but those around them; which could include fellow employees, the customer of the installation and in some situations, the general public. Hand protection, eye protection, ear protection, hard hats and safety footwear should all be used in conjunction with when are where they are appropriate. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are available for all ProGRP products upon request and the installer should make all involved aware of the products and their potentially hazardous nature.

Working in Cold Weather

A ProGRP roof installation can certainly still be done in the cold weather, but there are just a few things you need to keep in mind. Always check the weather forecast from various sources before your installation, you should never open up a roof if rain is forecasted for the day, rain during the process can also cause your boards to become wet and you must not apply resin to a wet board, otherwise the ProGRP will de-laminate. The same applies for frozen boards; you should not apply resin when temperatures are below 5°C.

Working in Hot Weather

A hot day might seem like a perfect opportunity to have your ProGRP roofing installed, but like the cold weather, high temperatures bring up their own set of factors to be mindful of. Firstly, you should keep all of your liquid products; resin, topcoat, acetone, etc. in the shade as much as possible, to prevent them from heating up. The recommended temperature limit of a ProGRP application is 35°C – bear in mind that on a hot sunny day, the roof deck has the potential to reach high temperatures before you begin laminating.

To prevent the temperature of your roof deck from exceeding the temperature limit, you should cover the roof area as decking progresses and remove the covers only when you need to at the last minute. On hot days you should mix in smaller quantities of about 1ltr or 5kg and you should also laminate in short runs.

When applying the topcoat, it is best to wait until the coolest parts of the day, as after laminating the roof surface can become too hot to apply the topcoat. If you apply the topcoat when the roof is too hot, it can negatively affect the curing cycle and leave you with a roof that looks and feels uneven.

Other Important Things to Note

• Never clean your hands with the acetone.
• Always use latex gloves when handling topcoat or resin.
• Use hand cleaner or wipes to clean any topcoat or resin off of yourself.
• Your mixing buckets can and should be re-used.
• Clean your tools with acetone in a re-sealable container.
• Use brushes with unpainted handles; paint will contaminate the resin.
• Never mix more than 10ltrs of topcoat at a time as some of it may be wasted and go ‘off’.