A roof install adds your building height to the balloon and keeps the tether away from the public. It also puts a job on a roof, which needs thinking about.
Why the roof wins
Two reasons. The balloon starts higher, because your building height is added before the tether even begins. And the tether point is somewhere the public cannot walk into, which removes the most common nuisance in a busy car park.
On a single-storey retail unit that is maybe fifteen extra feet. On a three-storey building it is meaningful.
Anchor points
Net lift on a 13-foot blimp is about three pounds. That is the whole load, so a ballast block or a tie-off to existing rooftop steel is plenty.
What matters more is **what you tie to**. Use existing structural steel, plant frames or a purpose-placed ballast block. Do not tie to anything that penetrates the roof membrane, and do not create a new penetration for this.
Mind the membrane
A single-ply roof membrane does not like point loads dragging across it, and a tether under wind load moves.
Put a mat or board under any ballast, and route the line so it cannot saw across the surface. A roofing contractor will tell you the same thing in ten seconds and it is worth the call if the roof is under warranty.
Access is the real constraint
Ask honestly: who is going up there, how often, and in what weather?
A top-off every three to seven days means somebody on the roof that often. If access is a ladder in a service yard, that will stop happening by week three. If there is a proper stair and hatch, it is fine.
This decides more rooftop installs than the anchoring does.
Ask for a quote. Call 1-800-791-1445 or email sales@arizonaballoon.com and tell us the size and whether you want it printed.
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