The roof on this 170,000 sq. ft. facility for Capital Welding Co. LLC in Dameron, MD, constructed in the early 1970s, was beyond further patching and caulking. There were numerous leaking areas and interior gutters had rusted through.

Thanks to the use of Roof Hugger retrofit framing, Capital Welding benefits from the multiple advantages of a “double-roof” retro-fitting system—with the old roof still in place, and a new weathertight metal roof installed over the top of it. The company’s owners and employees no longer need to dodge the many leaks.

The Trossbach Co., who handled the metal reroofing, had enjoyed a prior relationship with an owner of Capital Welding Co. while constructing a large recreational facility in 2004. Naturally, Trossbach was pleased to have been called on to solve the leak problems on the project shown here.

Adding to the complexity of this reroof solution was the challenge of dealing with two different roof slopes, one of 55,000 sq. ft. on a 2:12 pitch and another of 115,000 sq. ft. at 4:12 pitch—joined by interior gutter.

To avoid interrupting their business and opening the building to possible weather damage, Trossbach suggested retro-fitting a new roof directly over the old one by using the well-known and engineering certified Roof Hugger sub-purlin system by Roof Hugger Inc.

It was noted that the Roof Hugger System saved the owner significant cost and lost time over the old method of “tear everything off and replace”. Trossbach designed, fabricated and installed framing at the interior gutter areas to accommodate the larger gutter and adjust the two different roof slopes.

New roof panels are 24-gauge thru-fastened Galvalume-coated steel panels by Fabral. The “R” panels have ribs spaced at 12” o.c. The old roof, which remains in place beneath the new one, consisted of 26-gauge “R” panels.

The project took nearly five months from start of design through completion, averaging over 10,000 sq. ft. of roofing completed per week, allowing for rain-outs and holidays.