Hail damage costs U.S. automobile dealers millions of dollars in inventory damage each year. But cars aren’t the only things that can be damaged. In Oklahoma City, OK a severe hail storm also caused extensive damage to the metal cladding of the Chesapeake Energy building. The big news though is not that the metal panel system was damaged, but rather how it was repaired. Rather than tearing the old cladding off and replacing it, the old panel system was left in place and a new cladding installed right over the top. Comprising the new cladding ALPOLIC aluminum composite material from Mitsubishi Plastics Composites America Inc.

It was the fabricator of the new metal panel system, Metal Design Systems Inc. (MDSI) of Cedar Rapids, IA, that came up with the clever repair approach. The firm was hired to repair the structure without causing additional damage in the process. To do that, it needed t get creative because there was no way to extract the sealed cladding without compromising the integrity of the existing system. Additionally, due to the panels’ integration within the window system, removing the cladding without the glass did not seem feasible.

To avoid the time-consuming and costly task of attempting to install new panels into the existing system, MDSI came up with the over-cladding solution. This meant that ALPOLIC ACM panels would be attached over top of the existing metal panels, which would then act as an air/moisture barrier for the building. With this plan, should the building sustain future damage, each panel would be able to be individually removed and replaced. Furthermore, thanks to ALPOLIC’s color finishing capabilities, two unique finishes were created to flawlessly match the original colors of the building.

Wray Bend Architectural Metal Co. of Hutchinson, KS was contracted to install the 28,000 sq. ft. of 4mm ALPOLIC ACM—in Custom Brown and Custom Gray colors. It completed the project in March 2012. Silver Cliff Construction of Edmond, OK was the general contractor.