While they are only just beginning to enter the residential construction market, PBR panels are very common across the United States and gaining even more popularity and market share each year.
PBR Panels, What Are They?
PBR panels are roof panels most commonly used on metal building systems such as Morton Buildings, Butler Buildings and these days Nucor buildings and many others. PBR panels get their name from the phrase Purlin Bearing Rib. In pre-engineered building systems, the roof decking doubles as also being the roofing, which saves a step and decreases the cost of the roofing assembly. Most structures would have a roof deck, and then the roofing would be applied to the roof deck, however metal and steel buildings are built with a more efficient method whereby the roof panel serves as both the roof deck structure and also the roofing or weatherproofing. PBR Panels are installed right over the pre-engineered buildings rafters which are known as Purlins. Purlins are metal rafters often similar to a truss and they create the structure to which the PBR panels are directly fastened. Each PBR panel laps the previous pbr panel for water tightness and the panels span from gutter to ridge as the metal roofing that is expected to protect the building for 30 to 40 years. Compared to traditional construction and modern principles of roofing and flashing, PBR panels or PBR roofing breaks one important rule of roofing because it has exposed fasteners. In most high quality construction “think tanks”, exposed fasteners or surface fasteners are frowned upon because it is widely understood that fasteners extend through holes and roof holes can leak. PBR panels gain construction speed and efficiency by skipping steps, cutting corners and simply fastening directly through the roofing. Surface fastening saves metal building installation costs by decreasing labor and the time it takes to install the roofing. With higher quality roofing choices, each successive piece of roofing covers all of the fasteners from the prior piece of roofing such that with the finished product there are no fasteners exposed to the weather and therefore there is a much lower chance of roof leakage. PBR panel surface fastening saves time and money but to the downfall of roof quality. Another downfall is that until GutterBrush came to market, there was no pbr panel gutter guard available on the market. Click here to learn about this fast easy gutter protection for metal buildings.
What is so Great about PBR Panels
PBR Panels are very common and growing in popularity. These panels are very strong and metal building builders are able to install a very high amount of square footage of these panels in a very small amount of time. The pre-engineering of the system is designed so that all of the parts of a metal building are durable and they fit together fairly easily like a puzzle. The end result is an extremely strong and durable roof. PBR roof panels can be walked on and the foot traffic will cause no damage. The upward and downward rib configuration of each panel adds to the dimensional strength. The PBR panel doubles as both the roofing and the decking, but even when a person walks across the roof and steps on areas which are between the purlins, the rib structure of each roof panel is intended to spread those foot traffic forces and experience minimal panel deflection. In short, what is good about PBR Panels is that they are strong, durable, long lasting and they install quickly and efficiently saving money on the roof system when compared to traditional construction which consists of installing both a roof deck and quality roofing.
Are there Down Falls To Using PBR Panels.
PBR Panels are strong, durable and long lasting. Typically the steel is very thick and would not even get dented by a hailstorm, however there are some negatives. Of course there are the surface fasteners. The surface screws typically have a self sealing washer encompassed into the design. When installed, the screw is supposed to tighten up and the self sealing washer portion of the screw should tighten down against the flat roof panel such that the pbr screw itself is sealing the hole so that it will not leak. If the installer does a great job, then every screw is properly driven, however any improperly driven screws could back-out later in life causing a leak which will require maintenance or repair. Usually, the PBR roof panel will last many years, however eventually all things do succumb to mother nature. At some point, if or when the pre-engineered metal building owner or landlord needs to replace the PBR panel, the job can be a difficult one because removal of the existing pbr panels really exposes the interior of the building to the elements. It is always a much more involved roofing project when the pbr roof replacement job requires opening up the interior of the building to be completely exposed to the sky. With traditional buildings, re-roofing requires removal of roofing , however the roof decking is typically left in place and the interior of the building is not opened up to be so vulnerable to the elements during the project.
PBR Panel Gutter Guard - Finally
In the past, one of the downfalls of the PBR Panel was that the typical gutter installed in conjunction with these panels, could not be outfit with a gutter guard. These prefabricated structures are built with a metal building gutter which has an extremely strange shape and method of attachment, and due to this weird gutter design, there were no gutter guards on the market to solve gutter clogging in metal buildings. Such was a real problem for metal building owners because the gutter that typically was installed, has a front gutter edge that extends upward inches higher than the roof drip edge and even higher than the back of the gutter. These steel building gutters are also referred to as sculptured gutters or sculpted gutters, With the front edge of the gutter being so many inches higher than the back portion of the gutter, it makes perfect sense that if these PBR Panel gutters clog with gutter leaves, the resulting rain water will overflow back into the building. Therefore, those with metal building gutters really do need a pbr panel gutter guard, because the design from a waterproofing point of view is horrible.
Hung Gutter Guard, PBR Gutter Guard
There sculptured gutter or metal building gutter or PBR gutter, is typically hung from the roof ribs. The outer front edge of the gutter is attached to the PBR roof ribs by way of a gutter strap. These PBR panel to gutter straps make the gutter very strong, but they impede anyone’s ability to install a gutter protection device such as a gutter screen or a gutter cover. When you combine the fact that the outer edge of the gutter is directly fastened to to roof with straps, with the fact that the outer gutter edge is much higher than the lower roof edge, you realize that it would be impossible to install a common gutter screen or gutter protection device.
Best PBR Panel Gutter Guard
To keep metal building gutters from clogging, simply install the GutterBrush Brush Gutter Guard System. Installation of GutterBrush is very fast and easy and it requires no fastening. If you can access the roof or gutters you can install GutterBrush. Its not only a unique metal building gutter guard and PBR Panel gutter guard, but it is also a very easy gutter guard. Simply slide 3 foot lengths of Gutterbrush into the gutter one after the other filling the entire gutter, and leave it in place for year round gutter clog protection. The GutterBrushes keep debris from clogging the gutter while the rain and storm water flows between the bristles. While Gutterbrush is filling the gutter, any gutter leaves and debris can not flow to create a gutter clog,.. Or downspout clog, so the gutter continues to flow. Click here to see the home page of Gutterbrush to see the concept, or click here to see different sizes ( 5 diameters) of Gutterbrush. Gutterbrush is a PBR Panel Leaf Guard.
Metal Roof Panel Fast Storm Water Guard
One of the other downfalls of PBR Panel roofs, is the fact that the surface is very smooth so the rain water comes off of the metal roof panels faster than rain water flowing off of other types of roofing. The panels are so smooth, often the fast storm water will flow right past the gutter. In such cases, with a standard traditional gutter, Gutterbrush can be over-sized to solve the rain water overflow problem. By installing Gutterbrush and allowing the Gutterbrush bristles to extend out the top of the gutter, the fast rain water that would otherwise have missed the gutter, hits the bristles and is drawn into the gutter. No other gutter guard accepts water as well as Gutterbrush and metal building builders and metal roofers use the Gutterbrush oversize bristles to intercept the rain flow and assure that it follows the bristles into the gutter solving the overflow problem.
Why is the PBR Panel gaining popularity
Metal building construction is gaining popularity. People have figured out that pre-engineered buildings provide large spans of wide open, durable space at a lower cost than traditional construction. Any time you find people getting more for less money, you will see growth and expansion in that market. The pre-engineered metal building market is no exception to the rule and thus has grown to include more different types of building usage and even residences. Yes, steel buildings are being constructed more and more as residences, often referred to by the modern term “barndominiums”. What better way to disrupt the high cost of complicated building, than with a cookie cutter approach that can save money. Extremely competent residential metal building builders can be found all over the USA. You will find companies referred to as Post Frame Metal Building Companies as well as Steel Frame Metal Building Companies; many of them even sell DIY metal building kits referred to as Pole Barn Kits. They are starting to include all of the normal accessories when selling their engineered buildings such as interesting colors, unique doors and windows, residential features that add beauty, and also many PEB builders are also offering a metal building gutter guard or pbr panel gutter guard to help them sell more buildings. In modern society, people who build an expensive building expect to have a gutter guard installed, so the metal building builders who furnish such an accessory are a leg up on their competition.
Usage of these pre-engineered building systems with pbr panels was initially agricultural and commercial, however now that more and more are being built as residences, they are being erected closer and closer to Trees. Of course people love trees, so occupants of these buildings will even be planting new trees up close to the building for shade and aesthetics, therefore the need for a PBR Panel Gutter Guard is growing. Click here to watch a video about metal building gutters. Click here to go to the Gutterbrush home page or call 1-888-397-9433 or email questions to them at info@gutterbrush.com