Rooftop Maintenance Room and Stairwell Roofs

Swaysland reported that nearly half of the main roof was in danger of debonding, a preamble to imminent failure. Although rainwater had continuously infiltrated the field membrane through open laps in the base flashing, it hadn’t yet fully corrupted the system and leaked into the building. While roofs over the elevator maintenance room and above our porte-cochère front entrance were heavily blistered and scarred, Swaysland was far more concerned about the roof over the mid-building stairwell, which was submerged under several inches of water – and looked like a hot-tub. Threatened infiltration of the underlying infrastructure could have compromised the structural integrity of the stairwell serving the upper floors.

We contacted Allied Signal-Honeywell, the corporate goliath that manufactured our Millennium Roofing system and Campany Roofing, the contractor that originally installed the roof more than a decade earlier. Following a thorough inspection of all four roofs on August 1, Campany issued a Roof Maintenance Inspection report in which corrective measures for defects were matched to line item pricing and further designated as either critical or elective (preventive).

Severe Granule Loss near Roof Entry

Since our 20-year Honeywell warranty is contingent on strict adherence to manufacturer maintenance specifications, Campany contacted Honeywell to solicit approval for planned repairs. Although roof repairs are rarely protected by warranty, we inserted a limited warranty for planned repairs over the stairwell, given the prospect of subsequent infiltration. On September 4, Swaysland approved the amended repair plan - with one caveat. While the elective repairs weren’t immediately critical to rescuing the roof, Swaysland admonished that since accelerating deterioration could easily treble those repair costs overnight, performing them now would save a bundle.

Open Laps Along Roof Perimeter

On September 5, we met with vendor Justin Campany to review contract terms. Salvaging the roof over the stairwell would run $9,800. For repairs Campany described as “elective”, it would cost another $2,875 to rehabilitate areas with exposed asphalt and advanced granule loss at the base flashing and $3,815 to repair open laps in the copper flashing along the perimeter wall and recaulk eroded spans of counter flashing. When added to the cost of repairing blisters and other defects on all association roof membranes, the total cost of repairs was initially estimated at $38,180.

Eric and Roofing Contractors Ed and Justin Campany Hunt for Blisters

To better determine the actual cost, the parties agreed to count the current number of blisters, fish mouth cracks, chemical burns and other defects on each roof. Having identified 104 repairs at $277/defect, the association outlay would jump to $47,598, prompting a return to the negotiating table and a revised pricing formula.

Water Blister

Since standard industry pricing for membrane repairs is systematically overstated to cushion unexpected cost contingencies, Campany agreed to tailor the repair rate more closely to the company’s critical labor costs. Campany dropped the repair multiplier from $277/defect to $90/defect, reducing the total cost to $28,150. In exchange, we would accommodate Campany’s unpredictable scheduling needs and provide additional project support on request. The agreement was sent to the association attorney on October 7, where the contract was fitted with boilerplate protections against non-performance and/or capricious construction liens.

On October 30 in the late afternoon, Justin Campany called and asked “A long weekend in our schedule opened up – can we begin tomorrow morning?” Instead of sending a 4-man maintenance team that would spend two weeks on the roof, each day from Thursday, October 31 through Saturday, November 2, a crew of 14 Campany techs worked from 8 AM to 5 PM, completing the repairs in 3 days. All 104 defects were torched and patched. After removing the damaged roof system over the stairwell, the coping cap system was set aside and a new roof installed.

Repairs to Roof over Stairwell

Above layers of tapered iso-insulation and secure rock in foam adhesive, a Dynaweld base sheet was topped by a Dynaweld cap sheet. The coping cap was then reset. 900 lineal feet of cracked caulk atop the surface mount counter flashing was chipped out and replaced. Roughly 2500 square feet of exposed asphalt and granule loss on base flashings and curb flashings were covered with an aluminum roof coating that’s also resistant to erosive ultraviolet light.

After inspecting the four roofs two days later, Swaysland gave them a clean bill of health. Since the roof above the porte-cochère front entrance is visible from all of the association’s west-facing windows and from wrap-around balconies in the 6 and 7 stacks, the “patchwork quilt” appearance of some three dozen repaired defects had to be aesthetically improved. Campany sent a 3-man crew to apply a water-based, elastomeric roof coating called SolarGard Hy-Build. Filled with fibers, the white acrylic film not only gives the porte-cochère roof a clean, even appearance, it provides a tough, breathable layer of waterproof protection.