As most of us know, buildings in Florida are subject to much higher than normal wind speeds, especially its coastal areas due to the inherent hurricanes that strike both coastlines.

If you haven't had the pleasure to visit Tampa yet, then when you do you will be surprised to find that metal roofing may be the roofing material of choice there. This is largely due to its capability to withstand extreme wind loads upwards and beyond 150 mph. Because of this, there is a new term that has come to the surface that defines the strengthening of a building's envelope (roof and walls). The term "hardening" is associated now with upgrading the structural integrity of the building to withstand these extreme Mother Nature imposed conditions.

Take one building for example: Dow Electronics located in Tampa recently went through a hardening of its roof and walls. For the roof, Roof Hugger, Inc. of Lutz, FL was used because of its product's capability to strengthen the existing roof purlins and to increase the new roof's wind speed exposure.

The 60,000 square foot building received 13,750 lineal feet of special 14 gauge x 4" tall factory-notched Hugger sub-purlins to be installed over an existing trapezoidal standing seam roof. Atop the Huggers, a new MBCI 18" wide Double-Lok in bare Galvalume was installed as the new roof. Because of the wind speeds required by the Florida Building Code, S-5! wind clamps were used enable the new Double-Lok roof to meet a 130 mph wind speed, which actually exceeds the current code’s 120 mph. The building’s roof included parapets at the high and low roofs, which were re-cladded with ribbed metal panels.

6-inches of fiberglass insulation was installed between the old and new metal roofs to increase the energy efficiency of the building and to provide a more productive work environment for this warehousing and manufacturing operation. The balance of the building required some 60 tons of new steel needed to beef up the structural framework in the walls and existing roof system.

In addition, seven air-handling roof-top units (RTU) were raised to new roof curbs furnished by LM Curbs, Inc. of Longview, Texas and air-conditioning condensing units were elevated using Dektites and extended stanchions.

R.W. Williams of Tampa was the general contractor and Vulcan Steel Structures of Adel, GA was the structural material supplier.

For more information on MBCI products, visit www.mbci.com.

For more information on S-5! products, visit www.s-5.com.

For more information on LMCurbs products, visit www.lmcurbs.com.