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Columbiana BOE hears proposals for roof

COLUMBIANA The Columbiana Board of Education will soon be taking the next step with regards to the roof over South Side Middle School.

During a special meeting Thursday the board heard presentations from two manufacturers and one local roofing company representing a manufacturer.

The manufacturers are on a state bidding system and estimates range from $300,000 to $750,000.

The companies all offer 20-year warranties, although specifics of those warranties differ. If approved by the board, the district will contract with the manufacturer, which will then hire contractors for the work.

The local roofing company, Boak and Sons, already has a maintenance contract with the district and presented on behalf of Duro-Last, a manufacturer of prefabricated roofing systems.

“It looks like you guys are just fighting it tooth and nail,” Boak employee Chris White said of the roof’s leaking that has caused damage to insulation and ceiling tiles in classrooms and hallways.

The damage has resulted in the district opting to move students out of the 1962 edition to the 1969 edition of the school and even Joshua Dixon Elementary on the other side of town.

The district is hoping to have the roof replaced before the next school year in order to have students back in the middle school. The board was originally hoping to replace the flat roof with a pitched roof using tax revenue generated from a 29-year bond issue, but the bond has been rejected by voters three times since 2012.

A pitched roof has been estimated at upwards of $1 million while a flat roof is significantly less, and money for the new flat roof is coming out of the general fund.

White said in addition to the “extensive history of leaks,” the 45,000-square-foot roof over the 50-year-old structure has “severe blistering” of the surface and widespread splits throughout.

The metal decking is also likely deteriorated, he added.

He and Sam Boak recommended tearing off the entire roof down to the deck and replacing it with a new Duro-Last roof that would consist of two foam boards and a rubber membrane.

“The issue is, no one has seen the deck in 35 years. Whoever you hire, whether it’s us or someone else, you’ve got to tear the roof off,” Boak said.

Tremco, another manufacturer, also suggested tearing away the existing roof to the deck.

Representative Reuben Hall said the company offers multiple roofing options, including a single ply, which can be adhered without the need of fasteners.

The company could install roofing using foam board and wood board with asphalt layers in between. Tapering is not needed, he said.

The replacement could begin as soon as weather temperatures are at least 32 degrees, and work would take about four weeks, he added.

The district would be responsible for housekeeping maintenance during the 20-year warranty.

West Roofing told the board it would not need to tear away the existing roof, but apply a three-inch spray foam, that would be tapered in places as it is installed.

The work would consist of a base coat application, the polyurethane spray foam and then a protective coating that provides ultraviolet protection for the foam and additional weatherability, Chris West said.

The foam roofing would not require fasteners, he added.

The company would also conduct an infrared scan survey of the roof upon a verbal commitment from the board, and the survey would show which areas of the roof are the most saturated by water.

Board member Scott Caron was not in favor of providing a verbal commitment to the company before any final costs are factored in, and Sam Boak said later in the meeting the board should hire an independent company to perform that survey, if they wished.

Boak estimated it would take about two to two-and-a-half months to complete the work while West Roofing estimated it could be done in three weeks.

All of the manufacturers have been up on the roof and taken core samples.

Mook said the board will likely make a decision at the March board meeting.

kschwendeman@mojonews.com

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