Thirteen acres is quite a bit of land
but when thirteen acres is the size
of a roof, it makes for a very big
re-roofing project. Madsen Roofing & Waterproofing
proposed and won the bid to re-roof
all thirteen acres, which is one of
Sacramento's largest roofs. Once owned
by Lucent Technologies for storage
of their contractor services equipment
and products, the building was just
recently re-named The Placer Sierra
Business Park and is now managed by
CB Richard Ellis.
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With
over 22 years of roofing
experience, Madsen leads
the Sacramento roofing
industry in quality and
safety for all types of
roofing systems. After
a preliminary roof walk
of the 5,742 square roof,
Madsen won the contract
to re-roof the building.
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Hewlett Packard currently leases 241,675
square feet of the 13-acre building,
which is located just outside of Sacramento.
The other half is partially leased
by Ace Hardware with a considerable
amount of still open warehouse space.
Yet, when Lucent Technologies moved
out, it became clear to ownership
that a new roofing system was needed.
Rusty staples had backed out of the
old roofing system causing several
leaks. The building also experienced
a series of problems with blow-off.
"The building had a reputation
for leaks," stated Melissa Tate,
Real Estate Manager for CB Richard
Ellis. "In fact, brokers would
joke about the huge lakes on the warehouse
floor. We knew that the roofing system
had to be done right to fix the problem
and make it desirable for companies
to lease."
For the 574,200 square feet of roofing
to be laid, a GS Commercial Roofing
System, now part of Certainteed, was
specified. Doug Hollander, the Certainteed
Regional Manager for Northern California,
contacted Madsen Roofing & Waterproofing for
the roof walk and bidding process.
With over 22 years of roofing experience,
Madsen leads the Sacramento roofing
industry in quality and safety for
all types of roofing systems. After
a preliminary roof walk of the 5,742
square roof, Madsen won the contract
to re-roof the building.
"The importance of the job and
the need for quality was one of many
reasons we went with Madsen Roofing & Waterproofing,"
stated Tate. "I have personally
worked with them on several of our
buildings and knew that they would
deliver the highest quality with the
least amount of hassle."
"From the outset the hardest
part of this job was the coordination," continued Tate." When we started
the roofing project the building was
empty. Half way through we leased
portions of the building to Hewlett
Packard and to Skyway Freight. We
knew that this was a project that
would work better on an empty building
but there was very little choice.
Madsen was great to work with. I let
them handle the coordination with
the Tenants, which I seldom do with
vendors."
Madsen approached the job very methodically,
putting considerable time into preplanning
the project. "Our pre-planning
paid off," stated Christian
Madsen of Madsen Roofing & Waterproofing. "We
did not have any preproduction problems.
With a 16-20 man crew working on the
job everyday, we knew it would be
critical to have each step of the
process planned out perfectly."
"The coordination included tearing
off a 20-year-old Conglass roof that
consisted of a stapled felt pre-base,
3 plys of Conglass felt and flood
gravel. One of the first challenges
was the shear mass of tear-off that
had to be removed from the roof," noted Madsen. "We had to coordinate
dumping an average of six dumpsters
a day. The total weight of tear-off
for the roof was over 4,019,400 lbs."
They also handled all the coordination
with the tenants. "We kept detailed
maps of the roof that were updated
daily for the building tenants. That
way they always knew where we were
roofing in case they needed to move
personnel or equipment," stated
Glenn Dietrich, estimator for Madsen Roofing & Waterproofing. "This method worked perfectly
for all involved. It was crucial considering
the amount of security, clean space
and safety that Hewlett Packard needed."
"Madsen went out of their way to
accommodate our tenants," agreed Tate. "Hewlett Packard works with system boards at this
facility so noise, dust or any leaks
could cause extensive damage. The
tear-off and roof replacement had to be coordinated
daily."
"The new GS/Certainteed roofing
system consisted of an inverted Flintglas
72 lbs. cap sheet over lightweight
concrete. It was specified using four
inch Zonalite fasteners to fasten
down the inverted cap sheet through
the concrete, bending above the light
gauge corrugated steel decking,"
said Dietrich. "It made for a
very strong base in which to lay the
built-up system. "
"Madsen then mopped three layers
of Flintglas type four felt and a
final fifth layer of 72 lbs. Flintglas
cap sheet. We are very confident of
this system," stated Hollander.
"We worked closely with Madsen
to ensure that the product and delivery
fit their tight time tables and tenant
coordination needs."
They structured the job to tear-off
and re-roof a certain amount of the
roof every day. A tear-off crew would
lead the way clearing off the four
layers of old roofing and gravel from
the roof. Once cleaned off, the roofing
crew would start with the inverted
cap sheet base layer. With a substantial
amount of the base laid, the hot crew
dropped back and began laying the
ply and cap sheet while also finishing
off all the flashings.
"Vents went in last, through
the membranes all the way down to
steel. Insulation was replaced where
the concrete was cutout for the installation
of the vents. We installed 465 vents
for the project. They were all one
way vents, to provide ventilation
for the building." stated Dietrich.
Due to the size of the project, Madsen
was very careful to maintain a high
level of quality and safety. Roof
cuts and samples were taken daily;
while intricate daily reports were
generated for kettles, test cuts and
maps of the roof. "We have boxes
of reports, photos and samples from
the roof," noted Madsen. "With
a project of this magnitude you cannot
be too careful. "
In order to keep all the roof cuts
within acceptable standards, Madsen
pumped asphalt from three kettles
onto the roof. "By using three
kettles, one 850 kettle and two 695
kettles, we were able to maintain
the proper EVT," noted Madsen.
"High Boys on trailers would
run asphalt from each kettle in sequence,
giving the kettles time to reheat
to the proper temperature without
slowing production."
With thirteen acres of roof, transportation
on the roof was an issue. Madsen purchased
two 4-wheelers to get across the roof
quickly. "We put 800 miles on
each of those four wheelers,"
smiled Madsen. "They were invaluable
for hauling asphalt, product and personnel."
Another important detail was the
numerous expansion joints that ran
the length of the roof. "The
building is so big, it would tear
itself apart without expansion joints
and moisture vents, " stated
Dietrich. "The original specification
called for fiberglass in the joint
as an air block and then SBS modified
cap sheet up each side with a dry
top. It also called for flashings
on the gravity vent." Madsen
was concerned that they would have
to add metal and slide flashings behind
the joint, limiting the movement needed
in the expansion joints.
"We recommended that we re-design
the expansion joints using a PVC in
hundred foot lengths," continued
Dietrich. "It cut the amount
of joints by half. We heat welded
the flashings and attached them with
a term bar. That way the expansion
did not rely on the asphalt as bonding
for thermal joints. "
"Our final phase was to add
gravel to the low spots in the roof.
The size of the roof created some
bird ponding during the pour of the
lightweight concrete deck,"
said Madsen. "With thirteen acres
of roofing, all of us involved wanted
it to be a roof that would last. Both
Certainteed and CB Richard Ellis wanted
to make sure that it was completed
properly. "
"There are no leaks,"
smiled Tate. "No longer do we
worry about lakes in the warehouse
and the tenants are happy which makes
us happy. "
" By the time we were done with
the roof, we figured that each guy
walked an average of six miles per
day laying roofing," smiled Dietrich.
"It was well worth it, when you
look out across an expanse of roofing
that looks this great. " |
