Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal Inc. awarded NRCA's 2006 Gold Circle Award
Article from Professional Roofing Magazine Gold Circle Award category: Outstanding workmanship—low slope Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal Inc., Racine, Wis., installs
a standing-seam copper roof system on the Johnson Athletic Center,
Racine. One of the buildings, the new Johnson Athletic Center, required a challenging roof system installation. Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal was chosen to install two standing-seam copper barrel roof systems, an SBS-modified bitumen membrane roof system and a fully adhered EPDM roof system. Design Because of the complicated design, Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal was asked to assist with architectural plans and application techniques during the project's design phase. "The architects left the actual design work for the panels and intricate details up to Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal," says Steve Joost, Prairie School business administration manager. The building's roof area is 65,000 square feet (6039 m²), and Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal covered the roof and fascias with more than 38 tons (34 Mg) of 16-ounce copper. The company installed a standing-seam copper metal roof system with a double-hem lock seam on the barrel roofs, which had 12-in-12 (45-degree) slopes at the steepest point and 35-foot- (11-m-) high eaves. "The copper panels were mechanically anchored over NRG 3 1/2-inch (89-mm) nailbase insulation over a 6-mil- (0.006-inch- [0.2-mm-]) thick vapor barrier and 1/2-inch- (13-mm-) thick DensDeck installed on a Type 'B' structural steel deck," says Greg Petersen, owner of Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal. "The sidewall fascia panels consisted of 1 1/2-inch (38-mm) snap-lock 16-ounce standing-seam panels." On the areas between the two barrel roofs, the company installed two additional roof systems. One was a Johns Manville 90-mil- (0.09-inch- [2-mm-]) thick EPDM fully adhered roof system over tapered polyisocyanurate insulation. The other was a Johns Manville modified bitumen roof system with tapered polyisocyanurate insulation; 1/2-inch- (13-mm-) thick retrofit board; two plies of type 6 fiberglass felt; and a DynaKap FR SBS-modified bitumen cap sheet.
Complications Besides an already complicated installation, the project presented other challenges. "The first panels installed were on the link roof between the existing building and new fieldhouse," Petersen says. "These panels had to be run out of a scissors truck raised 18 feet (5 m) in the air, carried over the scaffolding and installed on the roof system. After the low-slope roof was completed, we lifted our panel machine onto it. Many panels were more than 80 feet (24 m) long and difficult to handle on the windy shores of Lake Michigan." But the challenges also added to the project's uniqueness. "Besides the fact that there are two intersecting copper barrel roofs tying into an existing third segmented copper barrel roof, we also had to deal with an inlaid copper gutter system and diverter that encompassed the roof 3 feet (1 m) in from the outside edge around the perimeter," Petersen says. There were many safety issues involved with the project, as well. "With the unprotected edges, slope and height of the building, safety concerns were plentiful," Joost says. "And having an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspector living in the general vicinity didn't make things any easier. We had many unannounced site inspections. The tie-off points had to be moved constantly as work progressed along each roof line at elevations reaching more than 65 feet (20 m). It is a credit to Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal's safety procedures that the entire roofing segment of this project was completed with no safety incidents or OSHA violations." Surrounded by talent Joost was happy with the result. "The finished product exceeded our expectations and was completed on time, even when a majority of the work was performed during harsh winter weather," he says. "We trusted Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal's design involvement and expertise to complete what we believe is one of the most beautiful athletic facilities in the U.S. Trusting and working with some talented, professional people at Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal was rewarding." In addition to participating in such a unique project, the people who worked on the project made it worthwhile, Petersen says. With regard to the Gold Circle Award, "Our peers recognize
the work at Carlson Racine Roofing & Sheet Metal is and always
will be first-class," Petersen says. "We're only as good
as the people we work with, and in this case, those people were
pretty darn good."
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