The saying “life's a roller coaster” certainly resonates with roofer Jim Carson. During the harsh winter of 2013 and 2014, Carson and his team at A-STAR installed a Bellaforté slate roof high atop the Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point theme park during the hotel’s off-season ... and now they’re back again for round two of installations during another record-breaking frigid winter.

“We started the second phase of the hotel roof installation in November of 2014 and anticipate being finished in April 2015,” said Carson, vice president of A-STAR out of Macedonia, Ohio. “Northeast Ohio just experienced an unusually cold and snowy winter with temperatures many days below zero. Thanks to the quality of the polymer tiles from DaVinci Roofscapes, we were able to install product on this roof when temperatures dipped down below freezing.”

With Cedar Point’s famous roller coasters as the backdrop, the A-STAR team is busy installing 450 squares of composite slate tile to the roof—plus on four turrets—in a custom Milano blend featuring combinations of gray and purple tones. “Our experience with installation on the first phase of this project last year made it a bit easier for the second phase,” said Carson. “However, there’s nothing that can really help when temperatures hit record lows and with the brutal snowfall we had this year.”

Backed by a limited lifetime materials warranty, all roofing products are designed to remain flexible at extreme temperatures, making it possible to install roofing tiles during all types of weather. The resin system for all products has passed the freeze-thaw ICC-ES Test (Acceptance Criteria AC07, section 4.9) with exposure to temperatures from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 180 degrees Fahrenheit in 22 hour cycles for approximately a month. And, products have undergone the accelerated weathering test ASTM 4798 test for 4,500 hours with excellent results. That test is six months of actual exposure, but is equivalent to several years of exposure to the sun. The test replicates real world weather extremes such as high temperatures, moisture and thermal shock. 

“One of the chief reasons Bellaforté slate roofing tiles were chosen for the Hotel Breakers re-roofing project originally was because the installation could be done in cold weather without having to warm the polymer roof tiles before installation,” said Carson. “This is the final phase of the installation, which has gone very well. While there may be more re-roofing projects on site here, I don't believe we’ll be battling Mother Nature as much in the future.”           

Opened more than 100 years ago, the Hotel Breakers is the original on-property Cedar Point hotel. Situated on the Cedar Point beach and just a two-minute walk from the theme park, the hotel hosts 650 rooms and suites.

A-STAR works on commercial and residential projects in northeast Ohio. For more details on the company, visit www.ASTAR1.com. For additional information on Hotel Breakers and Cedar Point, which is owned by Cedar Fair, visit www.cedarpoint.com.