"do you think moisture levels during installation might play into those stress cracks down the line?"
Yeah, humidity can definitely be a sneaky culprit. When we had our TPO roof done, the installers waited out a rainy week to avoid moisture issues. Installer said moisture trapped during welding could cause weak seams or cracks later... better safe than sorry, I guess.
Interesting point about moisture—I hadn't considered that much. When we did ours, the installer was super careful about temperature control, kept checking the welds with a probe. Makes me wonder, is there a specific temp range that's ideal to avoid overheating issues?
That's a really good question about the ideal temperature range. When we did our TPO roof last summer, I remember our installer mentioning something similar. He was pretty meticulous too—kept using an infrared thermometer to check the welds. If I recall correctly, he aimed for a range around 500°F to 600°F, but emphasized it depended a lot on ambient conditions, material thickness, and even the welding speed. He also mentioned that overheating can cause brittleness or premature failure down the road, so it's definitely something worth paying attention to.
Sounds like your installer was on top of things with that probe technique. It's always reassuring when you see someone taking those extra steps to ensure quality work. Roofing isn't exactly forgiving if you overlook small details... Glad you brought this up—it's an important factor that's often overlooked in DIY discussions.
We had our TPO roof done about two years ago, and honestly, I kinda wish our installer had been a bit more like yours. He seemed confident enough, but I never saw him use any thermometer or anything...just eyeballing stuff mostly. At the time I didn't know much about it, figured he knew what he was doing—now I'm wondering if that's why we've seen some lifting around the edges lately. Not major, but definitely noticeable.
I guess it makes sense that overheating could cause brittleness later on. Our roof does seem kinda stiff in certain spots now that you mention it. I'll probably have someone else take a look soon just to be safe. Really goes to show how important it is to pay attention to those small details when you're dealing with something like roofing.
"At the time I didn't know much about it, figured he knew what he was doing—now I'm wondering if that's why we've seen some lifting around the edges lately."
Yeah, I feel you on this one. When we first moved into our house, the previous owner had just had a TPO roof installed. Seemed like good timing, right? Well, turns out the installer rushed through the welding process—no thermometers or anything either—and within a year we had similar lifting issues, especially around corners and seams. Had to get someone else out to fix it properly. Definitely learned my lesson about how critical temperature control is with this stuff...
