THE CHALLENGE
As part of the MSBA’s Accelerated Repair Program, CBI provided roof replacements at five (5) schools in Springfield, MA which included Springfield High School of Science & Technology, Margaret C. Ells Elementary School, Springfield Public Day High School, South End Middle School and Chestnut Middle School.
CBI’S SOLUTION
The schools are all of varying ages and condition. They all received new PVC single ply roofs with a 20 year warranty. New insulation was provided to meet the requirements of the new energy codes.
Sci-Tech High School was renovated about 20 years ago, and consisted of a 1950’s converted 4-story office building and a 1990’s era accessory gym and pool building. The flat roof was replaced on the entire building. The 1950 portion’s brick parapet walls were distressed and required complete rebuilding. The masonry parapet walls on the 1990 portion were constructed with no water stopping measures on the surface facing the roof and also had water leakage issues; these required repointing and covering with new membrane.
Ells Elementary School was originally constructed in the 1950’s and has a 2:12 roof pitch over the whole building. It last had a roof installed in the mid 1980’s; the roof membrane from that installation was in poor condition, and had an unconventional system for installing the insulation and membrane. The decking below the membrane in several areas was severely deteriorated. The prior roof was stripped off, but the original built up roof membrane remained as the base for the new roof. New soffit edges and snow guards were installed around the entire perimeter of the roof.
Springfield Public Day High School was recently acquired by the City from the Diocese of Springfield. There were several additions to the building over the years, each with different roof deck structures. In addition, all roof decks (except for the gym) were dead flat, which resulted in poor drainage and ponding throughout. New tapered insulation was designed for the roof so proper drainage would occur. This required raising the through wall flashing at projecting walls and raised edge copings along the open sides.
South End Middle School was also recently acquired by the City from the Diocese. No insulation was found on the existing roof. The existing modified bitumen roof systems were torched down to the existing concrete roof deck, and removal would be very difficult. In lieu of removing the roof, the membrane was kept as the vapor barrier and base for the new roof system that was installed over it. New copings and flashing on parapet walls were installed all around. Penthouse walls projecting up above the roof were weathered, and required repointing before they could be covered with new metal wall panels.
Chestnut Accelerated Middle School was built in the late 1990’s. Unfortunately, a hail storm in the fall of 2013 damaged significant parts of the existing membrane. Water leaked into the building in many spots as a result of punctures in the roof membrane. An infrared scan was made of the existing roof systems to determine which parts were water saturated. In lieu of stripping off all of the insulation, only those areas with damaged insulation were replaced. The entire roof membrane was removed and replaced. There were some areas of the roof that had ponding water; these areas had tapered insulation added to promote drainage. The existing roof insulation almost met the requirements of the new energy code, but fell slightly short. A new high density insulation coverboard was installed below the new roof membrane to provide a new, smooth cover on the existing and new insulation, as well as to provide additional insulation value.
