Archive for June, 2012
Poor Roof Insulation is Costly Mistake for School
In Gaffney South Carolina the Cherokee County School District will spend $1.7 million to repair the high schools roof.
When the high school on Twin Lake Rd. was built 10 years ago the builder only used one inch of insulation instead of the standard two inches. Over the last 10 years heating and air-conditioning costs have reached $63,000.
School superintendent Dr. Quincie Moore said “We want to make sure we spend the taxpayers’ money very wisely. Now we’ve learned about it, and we’re trying to put things in place to make sure we don’t make that same mistake again.”
Consultant to Monitor Job Site
The school will have a consultant on hand to monitor the work and to ensure the roof receives adequate insulation this time. The new roof will have three inches of insulation with a projected savings of over $100,000 in the next 20 years.
The school district is also considering suing the original contractor and construction company to recover its losses.
Historic Mississippi House Roof and Cupola Restoration
Historic Natchez Mississippi house is getting roof repairs and restoration on the home’s onion shaped cupola. Longwood was originally owned by Dr. Haller Nutt when construction on the house stopped in 1861. The contractor refused to work in the area when the civil war broke out.
The Nutts as well as other slave owners at the time, lost their money stored in confederate banks. After Nutt died, his wife and 8 children lived in the basement of the unfinished home for the rest of their lives with little or no money.
The Pilgrimage Garden Club was given the house in 1989 and soon after made a fiberglass replica of the original 23 foot oak finial that had fallen off the house in 1900.
Crews Worked Inside and Out of the Cupola
Crews from Concordia Contracting, Smith Sheet Metal and painter Johnny Franks have been working on the roof and cupola. They pressure washed and painted the dome red, fixed holes in the tin structure and have repaired or replaced the woodwork below the dome and the banisters wooden spindles around the cupola. While some worked from a crane on the outside, others were able to work on the woodwork from inside the house.
Fundraising is an ongoing project for Longwood repairs. The Pilgrimage Garden Club has tried to keep the home in the same condition as it was 150 years ago.
Union Apprentices Install New Roof For Free
In Wheeling West Virginia Apprentices from Roofers Local 188 will install a new roof over a homeowner’s garage. Apprentice coordinator John Dolak said they have a well-established commercial roofing apprentice program and are starting to expand into residential roofing. The 13 students enrolled in the program will serve in a voluntary training session.
David Howard, the homeowner is located across the alley from the union hall. Dolak said “they’ve had a tarp on the garage for the last two years, so we’re trying to help them out. We just want to give a little bit back to the valley. It’s good for us, it’s good for everybody.”
Area Businesses Donated All the Materials
Kaklreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal of Wheeling, ABC Supply of Benwood, 84 Lumber of Bridgeport and McClure-Johnson of Braddock, Pa., have donated all the roofing materials needed.
Roofing the garage will give the apprentices a chance to practice what they are learning and also give instructor Bill Porter a chance to stress the importance of safety.
The roofing apprenticeship program takes 5 to 6 years to complete. Between classroom instruction and hands on learning the apprentices need to have the top skills and professionalism. If you would like more information on the roofing apprenticeship program you can visit www.unionworkers.com.
Union Roofers Strike in Hammond Indiana
United Union of Roofers, Water proofers and Allied Workers Local 26 is picketing Korellis Roofing. It has been a week since the union and local contractors were at a standstill regarding the new contract.
The striking began the next day after the previous contract expired on May 31st. The union contends that contractors are using the right to work law as a reason to offer a lower increase in wage and benefits to the workers. Pete Korellis, president of Korellis Roofing says the economy is driving down the wage level, not the right to work law.
Death Threats Made To Roofing Company Owner
Korellis has delayed negotiations due to feces being left on his doorstep at his home, death threats being called in and his vehicle tires being flattened at his office. Korellis said “There needs to be accountability. Without accountability, nothing gets better. I don’t appreciate the gangster tactics that Local 26 is attempting to intimidate me with.”
An attorney for the union Don Schwartz said he is aware of the allegations and that they shouldn’t be impacting bargaining with the union. He said “The union is 100 percent in favor of only peaceful, non-violent picketing, anything other than that is not sanctioned by the union.”
Korellis said his second generation roofing company has worked with the union since opening in 1960 and believes his job is easier having workers who are union trained.
Korellis Roofing is based in Hammond Indiana with an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and approximately 120 employees operating in Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area.
Texas Storm Rips Off Apartment Roof
The Wayside Plaza Apartments in Fort Worth Texas was ripped apart during Wednesday’s severe storm. The roof over a large portion of the complex was completely torn off the building just before 5 p.m. Residents said the lights flickered and it sounded like a freight train when the storm hit their apartment complex.
Rescue crews arrived at the 700 block of 9th Avenue apartments expecting to rescue tenants trapped inside, but fortunately everyone was able to get out and no one was hurt. The courtyard was littered with smashed wood, fallen air condition units and roof shingles. Crews covered the large hole where the roof was with a giant tarp and worked to remove the thousands of pounds of debris left by the storm.
Tenants Relocated
American Red Cross provided support to the families who lost their homes. Eight units were deemed unsafe and condemned by the Fort Worth City code inspectors early Thursday morning. Four families had to be relocated to a hotel and 4 of the units were already vacant. Remaining tenants were given 30 days notice to find another place to live due to the serious roof damage.
Investigators are evaluating the building to see if it will be safe for tenants. A representative for the Wayside Plaza Apartments said if the insurance company deems it beyond repair, they will not put on a new roof and the building will be demolished
Roofer Rebuilds Church Onion Shaped Dome
In New Haven Connecticut the Holy Transfiguration Russian Orthodox Church is getting a much needed roof repair. The 30 foot dome was damaged by last winters Tropical Irene and subsequent storms.
The onion shaped Byzantine Empire style dome is to help worshipers witness God according to Father Michael Westerberg who leads the 150 member church. The church was originally founded in 1915 on Dixwell Avenue and moved to its current location at Alden and Burton in 1967.
The last time the dome was worked on was in the mid 1980’s. Woodbridge Roofing repaired the mansard base for the dome in April, the building was power washed and the dome removed and placed in the parking lot under a tarp to be worked on.
Copper Shingles and Rosettes
A crew of 8 including the roofing company owner Paul Leyertue are removing the rust and replacing the steel skeleton, scoring the plywood so it makes the onion shaped curves and applying thousands of rust resistant stainless steel screws. 400 diamond shaped copper shingles will go over the skeleton and 500 rosettes all of gleaming new copper.
The churches insurance is paying a large portion of the project and Leyertue said he will take care of the difference. “I call it my tithing. It’s between me, my wife, and God” he said.
They are hoping the job will completed in two weeks and a crane will be able hoist the finished dome into place. Leyertue estimates the dome will weigh close to 5 tons. Father Westerberg said his congregation will hold a formal ceremony and a blessing when the work is finished.
Toronto’s Public Square Theater Gets Steel Roof
Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto received a $208,000 open design steel roof over the public theater.
Among the design challenges were cost, meeting the heritage design of the theater, working with steel and keeping the project local. Before deciding on the less expensive pre-engineered design, the initial steel castings space frame design cost $405,100.
Structural engineers Blackwell Bowick reviewed several designs and retained Toronto based sub consultant Cast Connex Corp to collaborate on the new roof. The design was a joint venture by Plant Architect Inc. and Perkins Will. Once they settled on a suitable theater covering that took into account all the design elements, they needed the planning officials Heritage to approve the design.
Difficult to Get Heavy Equipment In the Space
Additional roof problems were figuring out how to erect the roof onto the busy public square that sits on top of a parking garage roof. Large cranes to hoist the steel roof into place were tactically placed off the square.
The project manager for the steel roof was PCL Constructors Canada Inc. Flynn Canada is doing the roof glazing. Ottawa based Triodetic Canada prefabricated the space frame, Quebec based Beauce Atlas supplied the column supports and box beams that form some of the major architectural features of the roof.
Roofing Company Donates Roof to Teen Center
Over Memorial Day in Forsyth County Ga., Tenth Roof was busy installing a new roof at the youth center The Remnant. The roofing company donated $7,500 worth of labor and materials for the nonprofit youth center.
Repair and restoration to the old Gainesville general store included tearing off the old roof, installing new sheathing and putting up new shingles provided by Owens Corning.
Home Depot donated almost $6,000 and 2 days of labor for sheetrock, flooring, landscaping and paint to the nonprofit center. Several other businesses and volunteers also donated time and money.
Christian Youth Center
Officially opening this month, Christian Author Jackie Gaskins operates The Remnant as a Community/youth center located on Keith Bridge Rd. in Gainesville. On Friday and Saturday, focus will be on the youth. With Christian bands, a safe place to congregate services (Saturday) and outreach opportunities regularly.
The Tenth Roof gives one out of every 10 roofs they sell to a needy family or organization. Co-owner Jeff McPhail said their company is committed to putting families before profits.
Tenth Roof is a roofing, siding and gutter company in Cummings Georgia and services the metro Atlanta area. They look like a relatively new roofing company; I couldn’t find anything for them on the Better Business Bureau website.
Theater Roof Cupola Receives Praise
Michigan Historic Preservation Network gives special praise for the restoration work of the cupola of the Jackson, Michigan Theater.
The roof repair and cupola restoration began in August 2011, the cupola was rebuilt and restored by November. Weatherwax Foundation and other cash donations paid for the $71,3000 project.
Hilltop and Lake did the work, John Guidinger served as restoration coordinator and Robert Cole as project architect.
Used Much of Original Materials
The cupola had rotten wood, loose mortar and rusted steel. They disassembled and rebuilt the structure using as much of the original terra cotta, brick, wood, copper and Spanish roof tiles as they could. Areas that needed to be replaced, materials were replicas of the original pieces.
The leaking roof made the theaters third floor, 2 bedroom “managers apartment” uninhabitable. Now that the roof is fixed, Habitat for Humanity will begin restoration on the apartment.
The theater was built in 1930 and closed after 46 years. In 1993 the non profit Michigan Theater of Jackson took the building over and has been restoring it ever since. The theater is active with movies, concerts, stage performance and private rentals.
