Help with age of EPDM roof

Hello everyone.
Just wondering if anyone can assist with age of this EPDM roof. I’m sorry the details are worn . I’m thinking top number is width 45mil.
Not sure of age.
Any suggestions would be helpful

Looks like a 45 mil thick Carlisle EPDM, Ballasted 45mil may last up to 20 years. Recomend contacting the owner for info on the roof, with ballasted EPDM it’s a pass or fail, since you’re limited on what you can see.

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Carlisle EPDM roof. Here’s how Carlisle breaks it down:

First 2 digits are the month: “12” = December
3rd digit is the plant: “4”
4th and 5th digit is the calendar day: “02”
6th and 7th is the product: “FR” for fire rated
8th and 9th is the year: “AF” which is 2016 (A=1, B=2, …J=10)
060 = 60 mil thick
045 = 45

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Thank you Marcel. You’re the man!!

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Just remember that is a way to find out when it was manufactured, some EPDM has a 5-10 year shelf life depending on how it was stored. Shelf life and service life are different.

I doubt very much Daniel, that any contractor would keep a product for that long to affect its service life, which is in the 20-30 year range and warrantied anyway, from the installation date and not from the manufactured date.

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Great information. Thanks.

A home owner might, and finally got around to it right before your inspection.

The roof may appear to be 10-15 years old based on the manufacturer date but in reality may be only 5. I worked for a roofing company that usually only did TPO roofing, but we had an inventory of EPDM just in case. Always good to check with the owner.

I had Roofing Subs for forty years as a Superintendant and never new there was a storage time limit on EPDM.

According to some data on Firestone and Carlisle might be the same, there is no storage limit on EPDM membrane storage.

Storage : Store away from sources of punctures and physical damage. Store away from ignition sources and open flame. Shelf Life : Unlimited. The Firestone RubberGard EPDM FR Fire Retardant membrane is a 100% cured roofing membrane made of a synthetic rubber Ethylene-Propylene-Diene Terpolymer.

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Well if it’s unlimited shelf life, then you probably shouldn’t base how old the roof system is by just the manufacturing date. I was always told 5-10 year shelf life. I’ll do more research.

Looks like there is a lot of sand, soot, sediment and broken rock just in this one photo. It already has issues.

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Daniel, are you telling us that this product will last only 5-10 years on a shelf in a dark cool warehouse, but will perform for 20 years in the Summer heat and Sun’s UV rays? I can’t understand how that can possibly be true.

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That’s the problem. This career is about documentation and source of information not locker room chatter.

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I know that you are not an “old wife” with a tale.

Guys, I said I would do more research. I knew that other materials involved with an EPDM roof had a limited shelf life. It didn’t seem far fetched to me for the membrane itself. I admitted I needed to do more research.

Thanks, I needed all of you to tell me I was wrong about EPDM shelf life. It was super helpful.

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