Absolute Construction of Plano, Texas, was called to a home in Frisco, Texas, to put together an estimate for a customer looking to tear off 20-year-old concrete tiles and replace them with new concrete tiles. The original concrete tile system sustained hail damage and was never an airtight or watertight system. In addition to the problems caused by weather, on more than one occasion, the homeowners had to deal with rodent and reptile issues that were attributed to the concrete tile roof.
Connor Wood, the director of the Specialty Roofing Division at Absolute Construction, walked the homeowners through the daunting insurance claim process, making sure all paperwork was accurately completed and submitted. It turned out to be one of the larger residential roofing insurance claims on which he had worked.
The day Wood drove up to complete the deal, the homeowners had a change of heart. Earlier that morning, they again were greeted by a snake in their primary bathroom that had gained access to the house by getting under the concrete tiles.
“That’s probably the last place you want to find a snake,” Wood recalls. “They decided that morning they were going to go with metal, a 1-inch standing-seam panel, to ensure a definite rodent-tight system. We assured them that would also solve their snake issues.”
The metal roof, Wood told the homeowners, also would be a weathertight system with a higher wind rating than the concrete tile roof. That was exactly what the homeowners wanted to hear, so Wood moved forward with the standing-seam metal roof system, which would be formed onsite with coil from a Garland, Texas, location.
An Expansive and Intricate Metal Roof
Absolute Construction installs a variety of roofing products, including metal. This job became Wood’s largest residential metal install. The complex layout also made it a signature project for Absolute Construction, which, in addition to the Lone Star State, serves Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Oklahoma.
“I knew immediately this was an amazing opportunity for us,” Wood says. “These projects don’t come along every day.”
What stands out in aerial photographs of the roof are the more than 50 planes of roofing, which create dozens of valleys. The Absolute Construction crew would have to execute hundreds of precise cuts onsite for the metal roofing project.
Before the installation, Absolute Construction removed and disposed of the original concrete tiles. Wood estimates removal required 25 dump trucks full of tiles at a cost between $5,000 and $6,000.
Fortunately, the roof deck was in good shape. Absolute Construction’s crew installed synthetic underlayment and a leak barrier around the eaves.
Because the homeowners are in the process of modernizing the look of the home’s exterior and interior, they chose Matte Black for the roof color, a Fluropon PVDF color. Absolute Construction installed 19,000 square feet of 24-gauge Galvalume 1-inch-high standing-seam panels. The panels are 19 1/2-inches wide and were produced on a portable rollformer.
“The biggest challenge was access. It’s one of the things you may not think about right away, but it’s a factor in giving an accurate estimate,” Wood says. “Once you get inside the gate at this home, you’re driving on a 75-yard brick driveway. We’ve got trucks weighing about 15,000 pounds so we had to be very careful.”
Crew members also had to be careful setting up scaffolding in landscaped areas and moving equipment around. Fortunately, everything went according to plan.
“The homeowners are super excited,” Wood says. “We estimated we’d be onsite for eight weeks and we completed the job in six, so they were happy about that.”
And how did Wood feel when the job was completed?
“Relieved,” he admits. “It’s one of those jobs where if something goes wrong, it could end up being a costly mistake. It’s definitely a job we can all look back on and be proud of. A significant key to this job going off without a hitch was amazing teamwork. Kayla Pierce, our CFO, and everyone else in our office made sure everything went smoothly. It is a great feeling to be a part of such a great team.”
PHOTOS: McElroy Metal
Retrofit Team
Roofing Contractor: Absolute Construction
Materials
Metal Roof Coil: McElroy Metal
Synthetic Underlayment: Titanium UDL from Owens Corning
Leak Barrier: StormGuard Film-Surfaced Leak Barrier from GAF
Fluropon PVDF Roof Coating: Sherwin-Williams
Portable Rollformer: Englert Inc.