Warehousing Roofing: The right way

Expert opinion on types of roofing and how to choose right material for warehousing
 Until a decade ago, warehousing in India was a synonym for basic four-walled structures with inadequate ventilation and lighting and lack of management or technology solutions. Lately, the warehousing industry has gone through radical changes and warehouses too are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
With the warehousing industry advancing, opportunities have been emerging for different segments and one of them is roofing. Roof is one of the most important parts of a warehouse and plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of goods. Experts from the industry give their opinion on types of roofing and how to choose right material for warehousing.
SignificanceGoods are stored in warehouses to protect them from dust, pests and different climatic conditions. A sturdy and safe warehouse is a must in every sector, it helps prevent any kind of damage to goods and ultimately a well-planned roofing system plays a significant role in security and durability of the materials.
According to Kaushalkumar S. Gupta, Managing Director, Bansal Roofing Products Ltd, “Roofing is compulsory for warehousing. As we see, warehouse is a place where material is stored in huge quantity before it is brought in market for trading. If there will be no roof on warehouse then the material stored inside it may get damaged. Thus we can say that roofing has high importance in warehousing sector.”
Dinesh Jaikumar, Director – Projects, SunGreen Ventilation Systems P Ltd says, “Storage spaces are a must for every sector for smooth operations. Covered storage spaces are a must for the government sector as well agricultural warehouses and investments from companies abroad in the super market business, Ecommerce which is gaining popularity in India also requires covered storage spaces.”
Jatin Gandhi, CEO, Colorshine says, “Roofing plays a major role as it protects the goods stored in warehouse from harsh climate and dust, provides an aesthetic look to the premises and also improves work efficiency. Pre-painted galvanised or pre-painted galvalumne sheet panels if used with proper insulation materials as suited like poly urethane, thermocol, etc. (PUF Panels) will definitely give best desired results.”
Roofing solutionsInstallation of suitable roofing solutions is highly critical for any kind of industry including warehouses where the quality of the material is of high importance. Companies have advanced themselves in terms of roofing solutions and coming out with innovative products to meet consumers requirements.
Mr Gandhi says, “COLORSHINE offers wide variety of Pre-painted Galvanised and Pre-painted Galvalumne Coils like  COLORSHINE, COLORSHINE+, COLORSHINE DURA and COLORSHINE DURA~ULTRA which come in popular colors, and which are suitable for roofing of all types pre engineered buildings, climate controlled warehouses to the conventional roofing sector and shall be soon available at selected outlets Pan-India.”
Mr Jaikumar believes, “Self supported roofing is an ideal roofing system for any kind of industry especially the warehousing sector due to its various advantages. He says, “Without any ancillary supports, GreenCurve Roofing Systems provides high enclosed volumes hence better conditions inside the space as well as best in class high storage capacity below the roof.”
He adds, “We also provide precise engineered, sustainable ventilation solutions with the roof, our HVAC systems are custom engineered for each storage application taking into consideration the type of material stored, the condition to be maintained inside the storage warehouse etc.
We pioneered wind driven ventilators in India – Turbovents which is proven for over 20 years and later developed Precise HVAC solutions to suit custom requirements.”
Mr Gupta recommends, “We suggest different type of roofing sheet i.e. simple galvanised sheet, colour coated galvanised and galvalume sheet, aluminium sheet and PVC and FRP sheet etc.”
Right selectionWarehousing is very important as it keep the value of product intact before being offered for sale. Normally it is seen that if roofing is not proper on warehouse, product is affected and the characteristics of the product is changed. Choosing the right roofing material for warehouses can be a challenging task. There are many factors like best suitable material for environment and application, aesthetic look, etc. that has to be taken into consideration before choosing the right product.
Mr Gandhi states, “End customers have a wide variety to choose from fibre or cloth base, aluminium, pre-painted steel plastic, and cement. Firstly, Consideration for customer should be affordability for the right selection of material to be used. Aluminium is the most expensive but gives highest resale values, if one cannot afford such high price, he can opt for others available.
He further adds, “Secondly, best suitable material in view of local climatic conditions should be selected; besides one should be guided by an expert in roofing solutions. In small areas one can use fibre/cloth base or plastic or cement but for big roofing areas one should opt for colorshine pre-painted galvanised or pre-painted galvalumne steel roofs.
The right roofing material is chosen based on the material stored inside the space. The most important criteria for safe and efficient storage of materials lies in the precise conditions maintained inside the space, which could vastly vary for each kind of material.
According to Mr Gupta, “We always suggest our client a suitable roofing material for their requirement. For product like readymade garments we suggest normal roofing i.e. galvanised, colour coated galvanised etc. with or without ventilation as these product does not require ventilation. For product like Grains we suggest colour-coated metal sheet either Hi-rib or Klipon type having long length and width so that chances of leakage can be avoided.
“For perishable product which needs to be kept in air conditioned area (Cold storages), we suggest PUF insulated sheet so that saving in electricity can be done. For chemical storage we suggest either PVC or FRP sheet with good ventilation from top (air ventilators) and sides (louvers),” he further adds.
Mr Jaikumar says, “Galvalume raw materials which is ideally suited for most storage requirements considering the various advantages. The precise storage conditions are maintained with our range of HVAC products and our design team with experience and expertise custom design for each requirement, which contributes immensely to the shelf life of the products thus translating to huge savings for the user.”
Technologies for different climatic conditionsHeat, humidity, wind and snow not only impact the goods in the warehouse but also the roof. Roofing needs are not the same in every climate and region; different materials fare better under different conditions. Modern era provides wide variety of technology which protects the products from climatic conditions.
Mr Gupta says, “Using right technology and innovation roofing design makes different. Fire retardant insulation materials assure safety. After counting or accessing proper lumens required one can use type of skylight sheets and place it at right interval so that consumption of electricity can be reduced it gives proper day light.”
He further adds, “Use of ridge ventilators and eco-ventilators are very useful in increasing air circulation. Proper gradient must be design for smooth exit of water from roof. Also water channel system (gutter) must be designed to exit water and use of water to increase water table.”
Manufacturers wish to provide one stop turnkey solution for all storage and warehousing requirements and maintain the required storage conditions and thus achieving increased profits.
Mr Jaikumar says, “SunGreen precisely designs various warehousing facilities considering various requirements and conditions existing at the geographical location of the storage facility. Our precise HVAC systems along with our roofing include precise temperature control inside the space required for various pharmaceutical industries and food industry.”
“Contaminant control and contaminant level maintenance under the required norms, which are also critical for the pharma and allied industries. We also precisely design storage spaces for vegetables and other perishable products where in the moisture content in the product is of high importance for longer shelf life, reduced weight loss and thus increased product life,”he concludes.

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