Roof-A-Rama

Project:           Art2Part Gallery Roof
Artisan:           Randolph L. Bradley
Location:         2035 Delmar Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO  63103
Description:    Polyiso Insulation and TPO Roof 10,000 s.f.
Dates:              September – November 2007

9MAR02-SAT. In the beginning, there was a windstorm, and it was a malevolent one.  The three ply hot tar roof took wind like a wing, sailing up and over the edge of the roof before being skewered by three cast iron vent pipes.  The old polyisocyanurate insulation was not adequately adhered to the gypsum decking, allowing the wind to get up under the roofing material and loft it skyward.

The damage was severe.  The roofing was adhered to the brick parapet wall.  In a tug of war, the roofing material won and the parapet collapsed in defeat.  Notice the white bubble of the Edward Jones Dome, to the upper right of the photo.  The spherical dome on top the building in the center of the photo is the City Museum.

The entire roof shifted, carrying with it the parapet wall.  That was not the problem.  The problem was that the I-beams encased in the parapet wall, which supported the old window openings, rotated.  That was five (5) I-beams, most of which were over 20? long, needing to be replaced!  The red metal structure, below, is the gymnasium frame for the Saint Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation (SLGCSF), which is under construction.

The section of the roof which survived was replaced in 2000.  It has blown off earlier.  What a disaster!  The building on the left is the Magestic Stove Lofts, center is the Robbins Law Firm, and to the right is the Edge Lofts.

As a temporary measure, blue tarps were spread out and weighted down to secure the roof.  It was to prove a largely futile effort.  The brown bridge building to the upper right is the AT&T building, and the stair stepped building with the white cap is the Edward Jones complex.

5SEP07-WED. Mission:  Install three (3) inches of polyisocyanurate insulation (polyiso) and a Thermo-Plastic Polyolefinin (TPO) membrane to recover a two-ply hot tar temporary roof on the building located at 2035 Delmar Blvd.  Why the temporary roof?  Blame the freak windstorm of 9MAR02.  But that?s the previous story.  The following story is about recovery.  Literally.  This first day of the project leads off with a slow start.  Awaiting the end of rains.  Awaiting delivery of roofing supplies.  Awaiting completion of related activities and prep work.

7SEP07-FRI. Today is the day to put my money where my mouth is.  After discussions and a site visit from my local GAF Roofing Materials Corporation rep, the order for roofing supplies at Crown C Supply is finalized and officially placed.  Bye, bye spiffy new Pontiac Solstice; hello bulk raw materials.

• Roofing Supplies – Finalize at Crown C Supply (RLB) (7SEP07-FRI)

8SEP07-THU. Arrange the Metal-Era gutters and coping, removed from the previous incarnation of the roof and not very old anyway, in an open space where there are readily accessible.

• Gutter Supplies, Existing – Move to an open area of main bldg (RLB) (8SEP07-SAT)

9SEP07-SUN.  Weather now looks good till next Monday, the day on which a 60% chance of rain falls.  The crew’s up prepping the roof to get it crystal clean.  I stopped by the apt. to verify a CAD file containing the latest roofing material layout.  So far, so good.  We are into demolition mode, having pulled off some old coping and previous parapet wall roofing material, and prepping the surface before gluing on Dens-Deck hardboard to the inside walls of the parapet.  We’ve also finished power washing the roof.  Luckily, last night’s rains helped.  The big section of the main roof was mostly clean this morning and only needed spot power washing.  Enough of typing, now back to the building!

The team grills brats for crew dinner this evening!

• Hardhats – Clean (Ted Swink) & label (RLB) hardhats (9SEP07-SUN)
• Painting, Exterior – Power wash top two feet of perimeter (Myron Swink) (9SEP07-SUN)
• Roof – Powerwash (Myron Swink, Ted Swink, Jimmie Parker) (9SEP07-SUN)
• Roof, East & North Walls ? Pull roofing, east wall, high wall parapet (Crew) (9SEP07-SUN)

10SEP07-MON. The TPO roofing membrane will envelop the parapet wall, as will the metal coping which perch atop the parapet and ultimately cover the membrane.  As the exterior of the building will eventually be repainted, Ted Swink makes a circuit around the top 8″ or so with a can of Sherwin-Williams Cranberry Bog paint and a brush.  This will make the subsequent exterior painting job much, much easier.

• Painting, Exterior ? Paint top foot of perimeter (Ted Swink) (10SEP07-MON)

11SEP07-TUE. The roofing project is coming along slowly.   I have cleaned the existing roof, which stays to serve as the base sheet for the new roof.  I’ve also pulled of the coping, which is the metal trim covering the parapet wall (the wall which is above roof line).  I’ve started demolition of the flashing, which runs from the roof up the parapet, and will get replaced.

The insulation and roofing supplies are somewhere between California and Missouri.  To make matters worse, it’s supposed to rain this Friday and then again from next Monday through Thursday.  This is very annoying – ideally I need ten days, sans rain, to get through the bulk of the project.  I have not yet decided on the start date – mostly because I don’t know when my supplies will actually arrive.  The most likely dates are either Wednesday or more likely Thursday.  The roofing supply house had a problem with their supply chain system, in which the ship date from the manufacturer of August 30th was showing on the inventory system, but due to a coding error nothing ever shipped and nothing indicated that there was an error with my roofing supply order either.

Depending on what I find out on the status of the roofing supply shipment, and the weather forecast, I am contemplating coming into the office on the day job next week.  Assuming that next week’s round of rain finally ends, I would store all the roofing materials inside my building and start back on the project once it looks like I’ll have a good stretch of dry weather.

• Roofing Heat Weld Supplies – Finalize at Foam and Materials Corp. (RLB) (11SEP07-TUE)

12SEP07-WED. Acquiring polyiso insulation and TPO roofing is not the end of it.  I must acquire a heat welding robot to weld the seams for the 20 year installation specification.  Discovered yesterday that the equipment supplier isn’?’t set up for credit cards and doesn’?’t take business checks (at least mine, as a new customer).  Return today with a readily accepted cashier?s check.

Get trained in my fancy Swiss-made heat welding equipment too.  In theory, the device will work flawlessly and give the TPO roofing material a perfect weld.  Momentarily, I shall trek to my electrical distributor to get another 50′ of heavy duty three phase extension cord for running the heat welding robot.  I have some details for a roof mount fan to construct, so there is plenty to keep busy with.

• Roofing Heat Weld Supplies – Acquire Varimat S from Foam Materials & Equipment (RLB) (12SEP07-WED)

14SEP07-FRI. The first delivery of material arrives.  The first few rolls of roofing material will be cut into sections for the high wall parapet between the old and new sections of the building, and for test strips to practice with the heat welding equipment.

• Roofing Supplies – Delivery from Crown C Supply (RLB) (14SEP07-FRI)

23SEP07-SUN. A day for prep work.  Complete work adhering geotextile fabric to the underside of the gutters, to keep the tar residue from the reused gutters from touching the new TPO roofing material.  I paid good money for the gutters, and intend for them to have a full and lengthy life directing water off my roof.

• Roof Transition – Patch with plastic roofing cement (RLB) (23SEP07-SUN)
• Gutters – Glue geotextile fabric & straighten (Crew) (23SEP07-SUN & 27SEP07-WED)
• Gutters – Parking lot & alley gutter buildup dimensions (RLB) (23SEP07-SUN)
  • Parking Lot Wall
    • 1 1-/2″ existing nailer + 3″ new nailer ~ 4″ nailer
    • 7″ gutter over hangs existing 3″ drip edge ~ ??
  • Alley Wall
    • 2″ east transitioning to 3″ west existing nailer + 1″ new nailer ~ 4″ nailer
    • 7″ gutter is 1″ above existing 6″ drip edge
• OlyBond Spot Shot ? Estimate coverage (RLB) (23SEP07-SUN)
  • 1.2 Cases per 4′ x 144′ row of 4′ x 4′ PolyIso Sheets
  • 4.6 Tube per 4′ x 144′ row of 4′ x 4′ PolyIso Sheets
  • ~8 Each 4′ x 4′ PolyIso Sheets per Tube
• Roof Mount Fan – Construct wood base (RLB) (23SEP07-SUN)

24SEP07-MON. A day for miscellaneous supplies.  Stop by Harbor Freight Tools after work to stock up on stuff.

• Stop Watch, Timer – Acquire three (3) (RLB) (24SEP07-MON)
• Supplies -Acquire from Harbor Freight Tools:  6 Pair Leather Industrial Work Gloves, (1) 36 Pack Industrial Grade Chip Brushes, 6 Pair Red Fabric Black Cap Knee Pads, 3 Rolls 2″ x 50 Yd Cloth Duct Tape, 2 Bench Brush, 4 Each 6″ C-Clamp, 1 Box 100 Pack 2-Ply Nitril/Latex Gloves – Medium, 6 Each 4″ Professional Paintbrush, 4 Hard Hats, Safety Vest for Safety Monitor (24SEP07-MON)
• Strong-Ties – Sixty (60) appx. 2″ x 4″ to secure parapet nailers together from Home Depot (RLB) (24SEP07-MON)

26SEP07-WED. I scheduled a delivery of roofing supplies for tomorrow (Thursday) morning.  The long awaiting roofing project is getting close to commencing!

• 3M Super 77 Adhesive – Acquire from Grainger (RLB) (26SEP07-WED)
• Water Filled Lawn Roller – Rent from Home Depot (RLB) (26SEP07-WED)
• Supplies, Missing – Call Junior at Foam Materials and Equipment Co., 314-231-6713.  Missing green utility knife, green gloves, kneepads. (26SEP07-WED)

27SEP07-THU. Supplies arrive in at 9:40 am!  The weather continues to change.  Since this morning, we have shifted to ten (10) days of clear weather!  The roofing fates are with me now!  Yippee!  Supplies on roof, roof mount fan curb just finished, and preparing for roofing material cuts.

• Roofing Supplies – Delivery from Crown C Supply (RLB) (27SEP07-THU)
• Roof Mount Fan – Construct wood curb (RLB) (27SEP07-THU)
• Roof Mount Fan – Determine location (RLB) (27SEP07-THU)

28SEP07-FRI. Pick up wood nailers from Fehlig Brothers Box and Lumber, our local neighborhood around the corner lumber company.

• Nailers, Wood – Measure & Acquire (RLB) (28SEP07-FRI)
  • High Wall Nailer – Seven (7) Pieces @ 5″ x 8′ and 2″ Thick

I was supposed to be off work all September completing the roofing project, but I’m still barely started.  September’s almost done.  It looked like I was going to get four days of rain last week.  So, I came into work at the day job.  Beautiful weather instead.  Worked this Monday and Tuesday too – and the rain never materialized.  I took off again starting this Wednesday.  Lots of scattered rain, but my window for taking time off was narrowing.  Well, the project is behind schedule already, but the weather still looks great for the next ten days!  Yippee!

Start tearing off the old roofing material at the parapet walls (over the roof line) and make good progress.  Of course, didn’t get close to installing the first row of roofing material, as planned, and may not tomorrow either, but the crew is in full force and things are moving.  So far, so good.

Four tour busses just pulled up on 21st St. with a football team that will be playing in tomorrow’?’s Gateway Classic football game.  Our day?s excitement.  We vow to be extra careful about not placing anything near the edge of the roof.

I got a tractor trailer of roofing supplies delivered to my roof yesterday – very scary, how much material was delivered.  Everyone is excited about the delivery of the supplies, save for the boss, who is panicking at the thought of all that money tied up in insulation, which is just sitting on the roof awaiting installation.  Hours and hours and hours of installation.  Painful, arduous installation.

My roof looks almost artistic, with 4 foot cubes of insulation dotting the surface.  Is this why large art projects are called ?installations??

29SEP07-SAT. Complete still more prep work, removing the old roofing material over the parapet walls.  Now I?m committed to the project, as the interior is exposed to the elements.

• Roof, South & West Walls – Pull parapet roofing from south & west walls (Crew) (29SEP07-SAT)

30SEP07-SUN. Continue with prep work, adhering Dens-Deck backing board to the parapet walls, and building out the depth of the parapet to match that of the wood nailer on top of the parapet wall.

• TPO – Determine cuts & precut 10? x 100? roll (RLB) (30SEP07-SUN)
  • Three (3) 8? R.T.S. strips, 10′?’ length each, for 29′ 2″?” section of 21^st St. parapet wall
  • Two (2) 6″ test strips, 10′ length each, for practice welds
  • Two (2) 6″ R.T.S. strips, 100″ length each,  for 21^st St. and Delmar Blvd. parapet walls
  • One (1) 6″ test strip, 50′ length each, for practice welds.
  • Two (2) ~50″ x 10′ stripes, one divided ~5′ x 50′
  • One (1) 20″ x 48′ expansion joint strip (actual 20″ x 46′ 7″)
• Roof, South & West Walls – Glue Dens-Deck to south & west walls (Crew) (30SEP07-SUN)

1OCT07-MON. Had a nice visit with our much overqualified safety monitor, on loan from the University of California, Berkeley, who is in St. Louis for an extended layover.  We tour the warehouse, roof and apartment.  Ted Swink grills up a crew BBQ, including scrumptious vegan burgers to entice our guest safety monitor.  Work late with Myron Swink and Jimmie Parker.  Get the first 50′?’ of insulation and roofing in.  A small strip of the northwest corner of the building starts to fill it.

• Roof, South & West Walls – Check and clean wood nailers (Crew) (1OCT07-MON)

3OCT07-WED. Rains in the morning, but the moisture is not significant and burns off.  Got the first full 10′ row of TPO roofing material down, which is good.  Don?t finish paying the crew and am shutting down the project until 1:30 am!  Yikes!  Hope to do another row today (today is now early Thursday morning) once daylight hits.  Now, to catch some z’s.

5OCT07-FRI. Glue down a 10′ row of polyiso insulation, one 4′ x 4′ sheet at a time.  Rather than having the crew walk down the insulation and then wait for a cure, we walk down the insulation and weight it down with cobblestone.  Works much better, goes faster, and the crew likes the strategy better.

6OCT07-SAT. Adhere the next 10′ row of TPO roofing membrane to the polyiso insulation.  Almost at the halfway point!

7OCT07-SUN. Just wrapped a thirteen hour day with the crew.  I?m sore!  Went fairly smoothly and made good progress.  We indulged in a crew BBQ – an “inner city que” – during lunch.

8OCT07-MON. My roofing project is progressing, although not as quickly as I expected.  The preparation work required to clean off the old parapet walls and get them ready for the new TPO roofing took quite a bit of time.  I am ascending the learning curve, and am now doing a ten foot wide section of roofing per day.  Today, a day worked out to 13 hours for me and my crew.  We just finished the half-way point.  I’m going to heat weld the roofing material seams on Monday, in case it rains in the evening.  It looks like I’ll need to be out of the office all this week completing the project. 

9OCT07-TUE. The crew’s on lunch break and I’m checking weather.  Got off to a slow start mopping up after yesterday’s rain.  No water damage to insulation, just water needing to dry.  Two guys had to leave early, so we’ll be content to do prep work today and hit it hard and early tomorrow for the fifth 10′ wide row of TPO roofing material.

I’ll be working late today to finish locating my roof mount fan, and getting a wood nailer installed.  On Wednesday, we hopefully will not have to work too late.

10NOV07-SAT. I continue to make progress on the manufactory roof here in St. Louis.  I’m about to walk across the street from the apartment to get started for another day of detail work.  I’ve got some minor tuckpointing to do on the chimney, Dens-Deck backing board to install onto a high wall parapet using construction adhesive, TPO roofing material to cover the Dens-Deck, expansion joint material to install, and much more detail work to attend to.

The 4′ x 4′ panels of polyisocyanurate insulation are glued down to the old roofing material using a special two part adhesive.  Cobblestone makes a great weight to hold down the insulation while it cures.  The adhesive sets quickly we discover.  Almost too quickly.

A roof mount electric exhaust fan will be mounted to draft the building on hot summer days.  We insert a wooden frame of pressure treated 2″ x 6″ lumber into the insulation.  A wooden curb to support the fan will be strategically located atop the frame at a later date.

11NOV07-SUN. The day begins with great fanfare as local news crews arrive to cover this momentous event of urban renew, team spirit, and civic progress.

The crew gathers rooftop for a team photo op.

The “bad” section of the roof blew off in a 2000 windstorm and was replaced.  The “good” section of the roof waited until 2002 to blow off.  Thus, the current roofing project involves splicing the repaired 2000 section of the roof, which has 1-1/2″ of insulation, with the temporary roof over the 2002 section, which has no insulation.  The bridging operation goes flawlessly.

Installing the TPO roofing material is like placing contact paper on the shelf.  You peal off the backer and stick down the contact paper.  Of course, if you don’t get things aligned just right, you have a disaster on your hands.  First, we align the TPO.  Next, we pull off the backer, exposing the adhesive.

Finally, we line up, raise the TPO, and do the Art2Part® shimmy shuffle as we slowly roll out the material over the insulation.

Once the material is adhered, the corners at the parapet walls are rolled in by hand with a 2″ seam roller.

The material is also rolled over the walls and will ultimately sit underneath the gutters.

The newly placed TPO roofing material is rolled out with a water filled lawn roller to settle down to the insulation and achieve a good bond.

Finally, the Leister Varimat V heat welding robot is used to create a perfect heat weld between the upper and lower plys of TPO roofing material.

Rolling out the roofing material progressed late, late into the night.

12OCT07-FRI. Closing in on the end of the project!  Remove the parking lot gutter, a fairly easy task as the gutter was simply slipped under metal flashing.  The flashing stays.  Also prepare extension cords to enable the new heat welding robot to be powered up.

• Extension Cord – Wire plug and receptacle on 30A extension cord (RLB) (12OCT07-FRI)
• Plug – Wire on Leister Varimat V (RLB) (12OCT07-FRI)
• Roof, East & North Walls – Pull gutter, east wall, parking lot (Crew) (12OCT07-FRI)

13OCT07-SAT. Got rained out at 12:45 pm.  So far just light rain.  Didn?t get to the insulation yet, so it appears more nuisance than disaster.

• Roof, South & West Walls – Install wood nailers on north wall (Crew) (13OCT07-SAT)
• Roof, East & North Walls – Install wood nailer, east wall, parking lot (Crew) (13OCT07-SAT)

15OCT07-MON. Wrapped laying down TPO at 3:30 am!  All crew and I are well and safe after the adventure.  Myron and I worked until 6:00 am; then hit it again at 8:00 am.  Got a good weld in my last TPO seam this morning.  Yeah!  I remain on the roof preparing unwelded spots for rain.  Note the beautiful roof, sporting a uniformly white TPO roof!  The objects around the edge of the roof are safety barricades, which we lay over at night so they won?t blow down in case of high wind.

18OCT07-THU. Land in St. Louis after a business trip to San Antonio on the KC-135 Stratotanker Program.  Lots of lighting in the air and rain on the tarmac.  A good test of the roof!

20OCT07-SAT. Working on parapet wall with crew.  Great weather.  All’s well.  Moving slowly but surely on the rooftop.  I’m going to do some manual heat welding.  Then will attempt to install the parking lot gutter.  Run crew payroll at 7:30 pm.  Will work late on the Delmar Blvd. parapet wall with Jimmie Parker.

Cut the last metal termination bar at 12:16 am.  I’ll be done soon, but then must shut down operation for the night.  Wrap up Delmar Blvd. parapet work at 12:45 am.  Yikes!   It’s 2:00 am by the time all is shut down and I am fed for the night. 

21OCT07-SUN. At 9:30 am ascend the roof for more heat welding.    By 11:00 am, am only at half strength with the crew.  Expect stragglers through noon.  We fervently clean seams before heat welding.  Nice weather, albeit windy.  By 2:30 pm, get the heat welder onto the roof.  Ted whips up a BBQ feast of brats, chips, and ice cream cones.  Note the uniform edges along the roof, a result of having the metal termination bars installed.  This also greatly improves the wind uplift resistance of the roof.

Won?t get gutters in this year, but will get heat welding in and termination bar installed.  Pay Myron Swink and Charles Wilson by 7:20 pm; Jimmie Parker and Travis Fulton stay late (very later) installing the alley termination bar.  I work on smoothing wrinkles in the TPO roofing material.  We wrap at midnight.

22OCT07-MON. At 8:30 am I find myself at the warehouse enjoying the rain outside and the dry and warmth inside.

23OCT07-TUE. The building is still dry this morning as I leave for the day job.  It’s chilly out.  Good thing I worked hard when the weather was good!  Lost of water runs down the walls, so gutters are needed soonish.

4NOV07-SUN. This is “fall back” day, when the time changes.  The crew and I set up for the day’s work at 10:50 am.  Don?t shut down for the night and pay the crew until 10:45 pm.

12NOV07-MON. Right now, the “manufactory” is in the midst of roofing construction.  The 10,000 s.f. main building sports 3″ of brand new polyisocyanurate insulation and a 60 mil TPO roof.  That all occurred in September and October.  I was at it this weekend tuckpointing the chimney, heat welding little round circles called T-joints over the joints in the roofing material, and wishing I had just a few more temperate days in get the gutters in.  Life would be much more convenient if I didn’t have to work during the week!

16NOV07-FRI. Continue with prep work before adhering Dens-Deck backing board and TPO roofing material to the high wall parapet.  Call AmerenUE to get the alley lights repaired.  The electric company is great, and within hours a truck is onsite getting the lights back on!  I?m impressed.

• Alley Lights – Repair alley streetlights north of Delmar Blvd., in alley between Delmar Blvd. and Dr. MLK and between 20^th St. and 21^st St. (RLB) (16NOV07-FRI)  Called in to AmerenUE and fixed same day!)

17NOV07-SAT. Cut and glue sections of Dens-Deck backing board to the high wall parapet.  The glue is probably past its expiration date, as it is extremely difficult to squeeze out of the tubes.  We celebrate success with a crew BBQ.

• High Wall Parapet, East & North Walls – Glue Dens-Deck, east wall (RLB) (17NOV07-SAT)

18NOV07-SUN. Cut TPO roofing material to size and trial fit over the high wall parapet.

19NOV07-MON. Got TPO roofing material on the high wall parapet, as wall as around the chimney.  Work on the expansion joint, which will allow the old and new sections of the building to move independently of each other.

• High Wall Parapet, East & North Walls – Install TPO, east wall (RLB)  (19NOV07-MON)

20NOV07-TUE. Roofing progresses slowly.  Will jump on the expansion joint, then heat weld the expansion joint end seam which later gets covered by a gutter, then complete heat welding the expansion joint, then assess the time and where I am!

• Gutters, East & North Walls – Remove & patch tow outer drains, parking lot side (RLB)  (20NOV07-TUE)
• Chimney, East & North Walls – Install TPO, termination bar, & caulk (RLB)  (20NOV07-TUE)
• Expansion Joint, install  (20NOV07-TUE)
• Expansion Joint, heat weld TPO   (20NOV07-TUE)

The project begins to turn into a marathon as nightfall descends upon our hard working crew.  Pangs of hunger threaten progress.  But this is not any ordinary day, for this is the day which the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation (SLGCSF) holds their annual Thanksgiving banquet for the homeless.  We are invited to partake, duly noting that we well fit the profile of the intended banquet audience.  The crew takes their dinners wrapped to go, plates heaping full with turkey, dressing, mashed potato and gravy, rolls, and greens.  There is enough for several meals in each hearty serving!  Fortified, we press on late, late into the night.  For the boss, the press runs extraordinarily late as night gradually dawns into day.

21NOV07-WED. Done!  At least, done for the year.  Enshroud the one corner of the chimney I didn’t get to in a blue tarp, collect the tools, push the scaffolding around and into the building for safe keeping, and hurriedly clean up.  Take the MetroLink light rail to the airport to catch a 9:05 am flight to Philadelphia for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Sleep?  That’s what airplane flights are for?