For most of us, the rooftops of our restaurants are not a normal part of our preopening or closing walk through. In fact, a trip to the roof often means something is wrong: i.e. a leak in the roof, an A/C unit not working, or the exhaust fan making a funny noise. It isn’t that any of us are neglectful of the condition, it’s just something fresh on our minds. Any of us that have replaced a roof top in the recent past know first-hand, that it can be one of the largest investment we will make, and maintaining a new roof top quickly becomes top priority.
Your kitchen exhaust cleaning provider’s job is to clean your kitchen exhaust system to bare metal. Most of us only see the KEC Company every three months, so it is important to keep grease off of your rooftop in between these cleaning. In fact, if grease is left on your rooftop, it will void the warranty that comes from the roof manufacture.
Most exhaust fans come with a metal box attached to the side often referred to as a “grease box.” The bottom of the fan bowl has a drip spout coming out which flows into the grease box. The grease box is fire, wind, and water resistant and is a good solution for many lower volume applications. Sometimes, however, you will find small puddles of grease underneath the grease box. This happens for several reasons like the spout not dripping directly into the box which is an easy fix. The box is possibly overflowing which means you should look at your cleaning frequency or get a bigger box. A more common issue is that as it rains, the box fills with water. Grease and oil will float, and as the rain fills up the box, it will push the water out and onto the roof.
In the case you find your grease build up is larger than the receptacle, you can look into what is called a “Sidekick.” A good feature with the sidekick is not only the larger capacity, but it comes with grease absorbing filter. This filter is specially designed to absorb only grease and allow water to filter out. This video gives a little idea of how the absorbent materials work (fast forward to 7:30):
Many times we find that the grease absorbent filter reaches its life faster than the scheduled frequency or that grease is seeping out of the fan in more places than just the drip spout. Instead of box or gutter style container, many companies are utilizing an entire roof top protection system. This entire system rests on the roof top itself and surrounds the entire fan with multiple layers of grease absorbing material, grease dispersing material (so the oils do not pool into on place), and fire retardant material in case of combustion to contain the flammable material. Often times, these are significantly higher price points, but are quite cost effective compared to the replacement of the entire roof top.
Whatever your grease containment needs regarding the rooftop, get with your trusted Kitchen exhaust cleaning vendor to discuss an individualized solution.
