How a Metal Sales Plant Stays Open During Re-Roofing?

Today’s #MagnificentMetalMonday features long-standing METALCON partner, Roof Hugger, and how they were able to provide a re-roofing solution to Metal Sales Manufacturing without suspending their operations. According to an article recently featured in DesignandBuildwithMetal, “The disruption of production for several months was not an option,” said Kevin Roehl, Production Manager at installation company Ebert Companies. “Using the Roof Hugger system allowed operations in the facility to continue normally during the re-roof.”

Sub-Purlins to the Rescue

In 2020, the Metal Sales Manufacturing plant in Rogers, Minnesota, sustained hail damage to its 25-year-old trapezoidal standing seam roof. The initial plan required tearing off the damaged metal roofing and replacing it with a new system. Roof Hugger was called in and charged with finding a solution to retrofit the roof and avoid a stoppage in their production. They were able to install their sub-purlins on the damaged roof and attach a new metal roofing system to those sub-purlins.

The Installation

Ebert Companies installed 25,450 linear feet of Roof Hugger’s Model-T sub-purlins on top of the existing roofing. The 16-gauge, 50 ksi, G-90 galvanized Model-T sub-purlins were designed and tested for existing metal roofs mounted on tall clips as well as special stand-off fasteners for the structurally correct attachment of the Huggers to the structure, standard fasteners for joining the Huggers to each other and attaching the other structural components and 16-gauge structural hat channels in various heights. Metal Sales chose a 24-gauge bare Galvalume Seam-Loc 24 roof panel (105,000 square feet) with Ocean Blue flashing and trim.

Retrofitting an existing roof installed using tall clips presents a special challenge since the panels “float” one inch or more above the existing purlins. For this project, Roof Hugger had to provide a structurally correct framing system to properly support the Seam-Loc 24 standing seam metal roofing and trims from Metal Sales. They created, tested and patented a unique sub-purlin system specifically designed for these panels that controls positive, negative and rotational forces.

After project completion, the owners were not only pleased with the lack of production disruption, but they also found that the insulation added between the roofing systems is helping to keep the facility warmer during the Minnesota winter months. Metal Sales is now considering the option of adding photovoltaic panels to the roof in the future to help reduce or even eliminate electrical costs — another benefit of the Roof Hugger sub-purlins.

Learn More about Retrofit Roofing at METALCON 2023

Attend METALCON 2023, scheduled for October 18 – 20 in Las Vegas, and you will have two opportunities to learn more about metal roof retrofit and Roof Hugger products, including their sub-purlins. Visit with company representatives and see their products first-hand in Booth #5081 in the Exhibit Hall. You can also learn from Dale Nelson, president of Roof Hugger, during the FREE education session, Basics of Metal Retrofit Roofing. Scheduled for Wednesday, October 18 at 4:00 pm in the Technical Know-how Learning Center located in the Exhibit Hall, Dale will be joined by other leading industry experts including Metal Construction Hall of Fame, Chuck Howard, president of Metal Roof Consultants, and Allen Craig with the Fleming Construction Group to review all the basics of retrofit roofing. Both metal-over-metal and add-pitch to a flat roof will be discussed along with general marketing and sales of this process, and a special preview of the MBCEA Retrofit Roof Video.

If you haven’t registered yet for METALCON ’23, make your plans today! Your Total Experience registration gives you three packed days of visiting with over 200 world-class exhibiting companies, earning AIA credits while learning from experts at keynote addresses, super sessions, over 35 smaller educations sessions on Best Practices, Technical Know-How, Sustainability, networking with over 4000 industry peers from around the world and more!

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