Coal Tar Pitch Roofing

2 9 coal tar pitch built up roofing.

Coal tar pitch roofing.

Both coal tar and coal tar pitch contain many chemical compounds including carcinogens such as benzene. Application tools such as melting kettles mops and mop carts needed to be dedicated to either pitch or asphalt. Bituminous roofing hits the market back in the pre world war ii years there were two bituminous substances bitumens that dominated the roofing industry. Coal tar is considered the product of choice for roofs which have ponding water due to its superior ability to withstand extended exposure to water.

It is used as a base for coatings and paint in roofing and paving and as a binder in asphalt products. These systems perform very well historically but are limited to very low slope applications and must be gravel surfaced because of the low viscosity of coal tar pitch at normal rooftop temperatures. Poisonous gases are produced in fire reasons for citation. Coal tar pitch volatiles ctpvs are composed of various chemical vapors that become airborne during the heating of coal tar pitch.

The unprecedented and time tested performance of coal tar pitch coupled with the redundancy of up to 5 plies of organic or fiberglass reinforcements makes a coal tar built up roofing assembly the system of choice where long term performance and low maintenance costs are important. Coal tar pitch is melted on site in an industrial kettle and applied to the roof as a hot liquid. It is solid for all practical purposes at room temperature. A waterproofing material used since the beginning of time coal tar pitch is a superior and sustainable raw material that is ideal for use within a roofing membrane system.

The traditional coal tar built up roof is one of the most reliable and longest lasting low slope commercial flat roofing systems available. Coal tar pitch membranes using coal tar saturated organic felts is one of the oldest systems listed in table 2. Historically coal tar pitch was used as a component on the first sealed roads has served as a heating element and was used to manufacture paints synthetic dyes and. Coal tar pitch is a black or dark brown amorphous residue produced by the distillation or heat treatment of coal tar.

It is used as a base for coatings and paint in roofing and paving and as a binder in asphalt products. Coal tar pitch is produced by distilling or heat treating coal tar which is a by product of the production of coke or coal gas. Coal tar pitch is a dark brown to black thick liquid with a strong odor that remains after the distillation of coal tar. New coal tar pitch roof installations however are extremely rare.

Because of the different properties of asphalt and coal tar pitch roofers were careful not to mix the two materials on the same project.