The original roof system on West Side High School's gymnasium in Greers Ferry, Ark., was in rough shape.

In addition to the roof system's age, which was estimated to be between 25 and 30 years, an inadequate attempt to patch a leak had caused issues.

"The school allowed someone to spray the roof with some kind of foam product," says Brian Kirk, co-owner of Freedom Roofing Solutions Inc., Conway, Ark. "It looked pretty bad."

When the school decided to replace the existing roof system with a metal roof system, Freedom Roofing Solutions won the bid for the project. The company was asked to retrofit a new metal roof system over the low-slope roof sections and install a curved metal panel roof system over the existing curved roof.

Making the panels

The gymnasium's 26,000-square-foot original roof system consisted of two low-slope sections covered with polymer-modified bitumen roof systems, as well as a barrel-vaulted roof section that consisted of a curved wood frame, wood deck and asphalt shingles.

Once the original roof was removed, Freedom Roofing Solutions added light-gauge structural framing to the building's low-slope roofs to create a slope of up to 1 1/2:12 to help shed rain and snow more effectively. The company then installed a 2-inch vinyl-backed insulation and the metal panel roof system on the low-slope roof sections.

Before forming and installing the metal roof system for the barrel-vaulted roof section, the six-person crew installed a high-temperature underlayment. Then, the company began manufacturing the metal roof panels on-site using its certified Drexel Metals roll former.

The company ran the panels through a curver, which was rented from Drexel Metals. Additionally, 24-gauge Galvalume coil from Drexel Metals was formed to Drexel Metals' DMC 200S profile, with 18-inch striated pans and hot butyl sealant applied during forming.

"We always manufacture panels with striations," Kirk says. "Striations help mitigate the appearance of oil canning. We run the panels with pencil ribs and we've never had any problems with oil canning."

Kirk says Freedom Roofing Solutions has a "cradle" the company built for use in situations when the roll former needs to be lifted to roof level. The cradle helped the company lift the roll former to the eaves of the building; from there, crew members could run full-length panels—some of which measured up to 50 feet long—with no laps all the way to the gymnasium, which was the barrel-vaulted roof section.

Kirk says the most unique and challenging part of the project was the curved roof.

"Curving panels to fit the curved roof was a challenge," he says, "but it was overcome with the use of Drexel Metals' panel curving machine and the help of a Drexel Metals technician to set up the curving machine on-site."

Kirk says the curved metal roof panels were installed using Drexel Metals' installation protocol, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety standards were followed.

"Because of the barrel situation, we had everyone harnessed as OSHA standards require," Kirk says. "We also had somebody at the edge of the roof as 'roof watch' to keep an eye on the roofing work and on the people going in and out of the building below."

School spirit

"Metal roofing was a great fit for this project," says Craig Boone, AIA, of Architecture Plus Inc., Fort Smith, Ark., the architect for the project. "The barrel vault roof over the gym with the two side sections ... those panels on the barrel were curved on-site and laid down perfectly on the structure. From there, metal worked as a great transition to the two sloped side roofs. We were able to match the school colors and provide a leak-free roof system."

Kirk says the feedback from the community has been positive.

"The superintendent said the community was really happy with the project," he says. "It was an older gym but people wanted to keep it in the district because a lot of people grew up with it. They were glad to see it updated and with a fresh look."

Krista Berns is Professional Roofing's director of online communications.

Project name: West Side High School
Project location: Greers Ferry, Ark.
Project duration: March 7, 2015-May 22, 2015
Roof system type: Metal
Roofing contractor: Freedom Roofing Solutions Inc., Conway, Ark.
Roofing manufacturer: Drexel Metals Inc., Louisville, Ky.