Photos of Common Problems
The pans, or the base, of the panels are too far apart. This creates improper mating between the male and female legs of the roof panel. In an attempt to keep the panels from moving, self-drilling screws were used. A roof seamer will NOT produce a satisfactory seam when panels are installed in this manner.
D.I.'s Modulation Clamps would have solved this problem if used during the installation process. This is also a great example of why you should always "seam as you go" instead of attempting to seam the roof after installation.
This is another example of roof panels that were installed out of modulation. In the photo to the right you will notice that they actually attempted to seam this panel.
This roof had to be removed and reinstalled AT THE BUILDER'S EXPENSE! Modulation problems effect the weather tightness and sustainability of any standing seam roof system.
Thick insulation caused these roof panels in the left photo to separate after they had been nested together and installed. Each panel had to be forced back down before the roof seamer was introduced. Even though one side of the panel was secured by the clip, a strong gust of wind would have had a terrible effect on this jobsite.
"Oil Canning" is when the roof panels have been placed in a bind and a "wave" appears in the pan of the roof panel such as in the photo on the right. This usually occurs when you are working with an uneven substrate or have an issue with incorrect clip installation. Although this is an acceptable seam and project, the cosmetic appearance is severely affected due to poor installation practices.
Incorrect clip installation is made evident after the roof seamer has seamed the panel. These clips had a hook on them that needed to be engaged on the male leg of the panel; obviously, this did not get done.
You can expect a minimal amount of "clip bleed-thru", but too much may be considered unacceptable. Always ensure that correct clip installation has been done before installing the next roof panel. To learn more about this, visit our Resource Center.
This panel was rolled from a portable roll former at the jobsite. The portable roll former had not been checked, calibrated or certified for months! To the untrained eye, the panels were acceptable. When this crew attempted to seam the roof, they ran into problems. After multiple attempts to reach the owner of the portable roll former without success, they called D.I.
D.I.'s Technical Service Rep. was able to design a custom roof seamer in the field, call in the design over the phone and have it built and overnighted to the jobsite. Our TSR and his team stayed through the completion of the project to ensure that no more issues came up even though the new roof seamer arrived the very next morning.
Any kind of surface contaminants can cause may types of problems when you begin seaming. If there are obstructions in the pan of the panel (left photo) where the wheels ride beside the seam, it can cause the roof seamer to lean to one side. This will commonly not cause any problems with the seam itself, but if left uncorrected, would eventually begin to alter the finished seam profile.
If there are contaminants on the seam itself (right photo), when the tooling of the roof seamer passes over it, can cause actual small penetrations in the panel material. This would give the panel opportunity to leak in the future.
Be sure to read the Owner's/Field Manual BEFORE operating the Roof Seamer -- not AS you operate the Roof Seamer. This panel was disfigured when the installer did not understand how to apply the Roof Seamer to the panel. If you are unsure how to use the machine, contact D.I. Technical Support at 1-888-343-0456 for assistance or click here to watch a video about the use and operation of your particular roof seamer.
Never install a roof penetration before you complete seaming. In this case, the roof panel was seamed to a 90° profile before the penetration was installed. However, the architect had called for the roof to have a 180° finished seam profile. Since the roof vent had already been completed, a special set of hand crimpers had to be used to finish this job.
Click here to submit a photo of a problem that you have experienced. Please let us know how the problem was resolved so that others can learn how to avoid the same problem on their project. DO NOT include any information about the contractor, installer, job specifics or panel manufacturer.