Welcome To My Blog

As someone who writes quite regularly as a hobby, it only makes sense to start a blog about another passion of mine, my job. Even now, I am using my lunch breaks to get this blog rolling. This first post is a long general overview, which is meant to give you the background on the topics I will be posting about. Also, make sure to browse the side bar for more content. --->>>

My name is Greg Stark. I am a National Salesman for Rooftop Solutions. We are the manufacturers, patent holders, and primary service providers of the Grease Guard Rooftop Defense System. Much like John Krasinski talking about Dunder Mifflin in certain early episodes of "The Office", not very many people outside of the industry have heard of it. I guess rooftops fall under the adage "Out of sight, out of mind." This blog, in hopes, will not only increase awareness of the dangers of grease in today's "Eat-out" mentality, but also provide you with some insight into the day to day life of someone who is "Working In A Field of Grease". Sorry for the shameless blog name plug there. ;) Let's get started.

Rooftop Containment is not an industry recognized trade. You will not find an NAICS or SIC code to help you define what it all means in a nice orderly fashion. While I agree it may not be large enough for such classification, it would certainly make my life easier. In many a vendor application, architect specification, food court tenant conversation, and more, have I struggled to explain what it is. From my best efforts, I have come up with the following explanation:

"Rooftop Containment is the business of providing rooftop grease, F.O.G., chemical, and other harmful pollutant producing facilities with the means to protect their internal and external, tangible and intangible assets from the dangers of roof damage, rooftop OSHA incidents, EPA violations, NFPA fire code violations, structure fires, voided building warranties, and environmental damage by means of containing these substances at the rooftop level with equipment designed specifically for the protection of said assets from the aforementioned potential consequences."

At this point you are asking yourself, and I have heard it 1000 times, "How does grease get to the rooftop?" In addition, you may be asking "Why do I care if grease is on my roof?" Don't worry, I will get to all of the answers to all of the questions. First, I want you to know some history. Granted there is a lot left out, and I apologize to those I have offended, but I want you to have a basic understanding of where this all comes from.

Rooftop Grease Containment in large part, has been around as long as kitchen exhaust systems. Going all the way back to some of the earliest restaurants, contractors, mostly kitchen exhaust cleaners (companies that specialize in the cleaning of duct work above cook tops to remove smoke from the kitchen amongst other things) , have had to worry about grease on the roof deck. Many attempts were made at washing it away, containing it in buckets, and preventing it from touching the roof with extra layers of roofing material called sacrificial sheets. This is because kitchen exhaust cleaners and contractors alike realized that grease is a rubber roofs worst enemy and fires best friend. Problems like fires and roof leaks created the demand for better solutions.

Love this photo..had to add it somewhere.

 In most cases, kitchen exhaust cleaning was just done more frequently or exhaust fan manufacturers would modify the designs of the fans to include sheet metal boxes called "catch pans" amongst other counter measures. For a long time, this system of pickle buckets, modification, and frequent cleanings worked great. At the time, serving sizes were much smaller, less restaurants existed, and therefore less grease existed. Without needing to say it, in most cases it was less than adequate to say the least and consequences came along with it. 


As far as industrial buildings went, most of the harmful chemicals that may have ended up on the rooftop were contained much of the same way. The rest of it was just washed off the roof by rain and most likely ended up in some water system somewhere. I am crossing my fingers that no one was ever hurt from rooftop chemicals infecting water supplies.


Now, with the choppy history lesson out of the way, I can talk about Fats, Oils, and Greases; the reason I am here. I will definitely have to add in the history of Rooftop Solutions in a different post.

Rooftop Containment covers more than just grease. There are many oil based chemicals and compounds that can cause damage. The most popular is cooking grease in restaurant concepts, so I will focus on those for this explanation.

What is grease? Without scientifically breaking it down for you (which I will in a different post), grease is oil. It is found in cooking oils, fat of animals (including me...I really need to exercise), clothes, fuel, make up, and a ton of other things you may not expect that we make today. Now some of the oils listed are naturally forming, i.e. crude oil we pull from the earth or fat in animals. Others, in today's scientific world are synthetic. Whether it be in industrial or commercial manufacturing of goods, natural or synthetic, it is all over the place these days. In most cases, this is a good thing. Very beneficial things like fuel, plastics, lubricants, and even butter are made from F.O.G.s (Fats, Oils, Greases). So why such the fuss?

Let's zoom on a prime cut steak in a fancy restaurant.

mmmmmmm....

 This New York Strip is mostly meat, however, about 9% is made up of fats, oils, and greases. Thrown on the grill after marination and oiling the grill, that could be even more. As the meat is heated, it vaporizes, and some of the animal fat is infused with oxygen and carried away by the heats updraft. If you want to feel the effect of this, work in a restaurant kitchen for a full day then look at the layer of grease on your skin, not to mention the smell. This airborne grease has another downside. Due to the infusing of oxygen, it has oxidized.


Now let us go back to high school chemistry. In that class, which I got a C in thanks to a random explosion (not my fault ;) ), we learned about acids and bases. We learned about the pH Scale and how to measure the acidity of things. We used soda pop in our class experiment. I am sure it is because the teacher wanted to lobby for us not drinking it, but I digress. To avoid the long explanation, acids breakdown certain molecules, but grease is naturally a base. There is no acidic value. When grease is oxidized, it moves slightly into the acidic pH range. This makes this heated grease dangerous to certain acid sensitive structures (Hydrofluoric Acid being the worst of the worst).

 As we follow the floating grease molecules up the kitchen's exhaust system, we see it sticking to the side of the duct work designed to carry smoke and smells out of the restaurant. The longer you go without cleaning, the thicker the layer of grease gets. Even worse, as the grease cools back down, it re-solidifies and hardens. This is where kitchen exhaust cleaners need to come in (on a monthly basis according to the NFPA 96 guidelines) and clean that duct work. If they didn't clean it, the fire hazard would only grow for as you may already know, grease is fuel to a fire, which no one wants.

Some of that same grease gets all the way up to the rooftop exhaust fan that is sucking the air from below. As the grease gets into the fan, it will either drip out of a special spout on the fan or find another way out of the duct work and onto your roof. Rubber is the most used roofing material in the world. It is used for its strength, durability, and importantly, flexibility. As the roof heats due to the sun, rubber has the ability to expand, and as it cools, contract. This allows for the roof membranes to endure the elements without fear of cracking, breaking, and damaging the roof system. Unfortunately, it is prone to grease damage. The acids in the grease breakdown the flexible rubber molecules and then bake into those cracks with prolonged sun exposure. Grease can damage a roofing system in as little as two weeks. Repairs for this damage can reach thousands of dollars. Certain roofing systems are F.O.G. resistant, but the key word is resistant, not proof.

Fire damage on rooftop with grease present.

A damaged roofing system and a leaky roof are just a few of the troubles of grease on the roof though. Check out this list of other harmful side effects:

-OSHA Violations
-Fire/Heatlh Inspection violations
-Municipality fines from storm drain clogging
-Potential lawsuits
-Voided roof warranties
-FIRE (90% of restaurant fires start in the exhaust system)
-Polluted water sources
-Killed plant life and animal life





That is a lot of consequences for just cooking a steak! Something else should be noted here as well. Different hood systems, grill types, food types, cooking temperatures, hood filters, and various other factors can change the level of grease accessing your rooftop. It is important to work closely with your contractors to determine the best method of preventing grease from reaching the rooftop in the first place.

But, for grease that does reach the roof, Rooftop Containment comes to save the day. There are many products and solutions available. I will discuss them all in a future post. For now, I will talk about my product, the Grease Guard Rooftop Defense System.

G2 Grease Guard - Standard Four Sided Containment

The G2 Grease Guard has been in a constant development process for almost 20 years. This low profile, multilayer filter system is designed to collect F.O.G.s as well as many other harmful chemicals and keep them there. This isn't a sales pitch so I won't brag too much, but let me say, that no other system accommodates so well for grease absorption, rain water management, UV protection, fire protection, wind protection, and a host of other things, as well as this product. It is UL listed and tested for all of our claims, and prevents the consequences of grease from happening on your rooftop. I no doubt will dive into this in future posts.


As I have said, I am quite passionate about this industry. It seems slightly uneventful and down right dirty, but it is the one industry where I can really help promote awareness and help facilities protect their investments.

So there you have it! You are up to date and most of the background needed to read more of this blog. I encourage you to comment and help me keep my information straight. If there is something you would like to be added or said please let me know. If you have any ideas for a different post feel free to ask. Thank you if I used one of your images. If you want me to take down, just say the word. I hope you enjoyed reading. Thanks!