Who knew the coating industry was so complicated? At DFW Urethane, we have been installing several types of coatings since 1981. Even now, there are so many hybrid coating systems on the market that it’s hard to keep track of them all. These coatings all have their strong points when it comes to construction, so it takes an expert to choose the right one. It takes almost an entire career to become a coatings expert! Contractors often are only approved to install one type (acrylic, silicone, urethane) of elastomeric coating and approved by only one manufacturer with their chemistry, but that do ..read more

It’s amazing how a shortage of a single roofing product can disrupt business across an industry — and that’s exactly what’s happening in the spray polyurethane (SPF) roofing business. For the past year or two, both board insulation and the screws that hold those boards down were scarce, and roofing companies were paying 5 times the normal price for these products. The price was almost the least of the problems: if you wanted these materials, you had to pay in advance and get on a 6-month waiting list. It’s rumored that most of the material was sold to the massive big-box warehouses going up ar ..read more

Who’s really the expert? That’s a very good question. You need to know who you’re dealing with when it comes to things like: Coating your roof with silicone Spraying foam on your roof Repairing an existing spray foam roof You don’t want a company with workers who have been mopping tar or asphalt roof coating all of their lives. How can they be experts if they were introduced to silicone roof coating a year ago? Someone who’s been mopping tar their whole life can’t become an expert in silicone roof coating that fast. A company that’s been installing TPO and modified bitumen roofing for years ..read more

There is a popular low-maintenance metal panel called an R-Panel. Although it may not be discussed as much as other panels, it’s used on many buildings. R-Panel roofing is made up of 36” metal panels. You can recognize them by their raised ribs with flat areas in between them.  Both residential and commercial buildings use it for roofing. Sometimes it’s used as siding. We’ve been talking to our customers who have tenants lately about how many tens of thousands of dollars they’ve spent to stop leaks in their aged R-Panel roof. That’s a lot of money to throw at roofing leaks!  It turns ..read more

For the roofing industry, just like in many industries, hiring is hard right now. At first this seemed to be very negative, but it has turned out to be something rather beneficial. We’ve learned that smaller crews have got production on track more than anticipated. The quality of work has also gone up. Why is this? Well, it’s simple; there aren’t as many inexperienced workers. Everyone on the team is an expert!  Robotics have also helped these smaller crews quite a bit. Automatic foaming machines are the future. Many think that machines aren’t useful because a human can do the job better ..read more

The roofing industry, like many industries, continues to face new challenges. For the roofing industry. We are seeing shortages of materials such as PVC pipes and steel. As these shortages continue, prices are going up and deliveries are getting delayed. Materials that are seeing an increase in price include: Drywall Electrical equipment Adhesives PVC pipes Steel Concrete Roofing, steel, and insulation materials are difficult to come by right now. For example, bar joists for frame roofs have lead times up to 14 months. Commercial roofing bids used to be good for 45 to 60 days. Right now 14 t ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on many industries. The roofing industry is one of them. At the onset of the pandemic, many roofing projects had to actually be stopped until the industry received an official essential service classification. Many items became scarce in the worldwide supply chain, including roofing materials. Requests for roof installations and repairs started to pile up. This turned into a huge problem as the lack of materials couldn’t keep up with the number of jobs that needed to be done. As a result of the pandemic, many manufacturing plants that made these ..read more

As we were about to venture into 2020 just as any new year that came before, we couldn’t have possibly been ready for the challenges that were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our nation came to a halt and this had a negative impact on businesses everywhere. With so many businesses being deemed non-essential, many roofing projects were put on hold. As a result of these delayed projects, many of our employees rightfully became concerned about their financial well-being and how it would affect their families. Naturally many of them would seek work elsewhere in the meantime. However, there ..read more

The roofing project of the Dallas Scottish Rite Museum and Library required a very well-thought-out plan. Due to the location of the museum, a specific safety strategy was put in place that required the use of a 290-ton crane in the middle of the night to avoid downtown Dallas traffic, as well as the installation of a safety guard rail system around the perimeter. John Ewell, CEO of DFW Urethane, joins us to share his experience throughout the roofing project. When the roof was damaged by hail, it actually broke the elastomeric rubber coating on the top of the polyurethane foam. We scarfed o ..read more

In May of 2014, the historical Lipscomb Elementary School constructed in the 1920s was hit with large, oversized hail. The building’s tar and gravel roof system could not hold up to the severity of the impact. In addition, the building was very difficult to heat and cool. In March of 2016, DISD chose to install an SPF roofing system. Once DFW Urethane began the process of installing the roofing system, all materials used were kept in a temperature-controlled environment. Also, DFW Urethane worked diligently with DISD’s roofing consultant to ensure all requirements and procedures were met. Dur ..read more