Restoring a building to its former glory is a rewarding part of retrofit projects. Drexel Metals Inc. had an opportunity to be part of such an undertaking as the manufacturer of the metal roof system chosen to replace a failed one at East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs, FL.
East Lake High School is one of 17 schools in Pinellas County, FL, serving the communities of Tarpon Springs, East Lake, Palm Harbor, and Oldsmar. It ranked in the top ten percent of all high schools in the state of Florida in 2011 and was one of only two schools in the district to be recognized for academic excellence.
Drexel Metals was excited to be part of the project to give this deserving school a new roof. For this project Drexel Metals used its DMC 175S roof panel in Slate Blue. The color proved an ideal complement to the bright blue Florida sky.
The DMC 175S is Drexel Metals’ most popular roof system. It features a 1-3/4" Snap Lock seam. The continuous interlocking system offers designers a concealed fastener and clip application that provides for expansion and contraction.
While the DMC 175's panels and attachment clips are easy to install–offering labor savings when compared to many other types of metal roof systems–the completed roof is engineered to resist hurricane force winds. The system is offered in both steel and aluminum, and is approved for use on Weather Tightness Warranty projects. The forensic architect, Robert Whitcomb of C.B. Goldsmith and Associates Inc., who won an award for the reroof of East Lake High School, chose the DMC 175S roof system because it eliminated the cost of seaming the roof panels. This allowed the contractor, Hennessy Construction Services, to remove or replace individual panels without having to disassemble a standing seam. This allowed greater flexibility when installing and saved time since they did not have to seam the panels.
The East Lake High School roof was investigated for metal finish failure ten years ago and was subsequently repainted. The traffic on the panels during the repainting work caused the roof to have leak problems so the roof was put on a list of school roofs to be replaced. This project was not a retrofit design in the normal roofing sense because the contractor reused some of the existing roof materials. They did this by tearing off the existing metal panels and salvaging the existing insulation. They also left the existing metal zee purlins used to support the old roof panels in place. They were able to use less landfill space by recycling 575,000 pounds of steel from the existing roof panels and saved $60,000 in salvage cost.
Drexel Metals provided the contractor with a portable roll forming machine so that they could roll form the roof panels on site, which was helpful since most panels were 80’ long. Drexel Metals is a leading supplier of equipment, materials and technical support for the Regional Manufacturing of metal roofing. Drexel Metals supplies contractors and distributors with the equipment and materials to fabricate metal roofing panels on demand through a low-cost supply chain versus purchasing prefabricated metal roofing panels.