A unique and challenging roofing problem on a large school called for a permanent solution. Freedom Roofing Solutions of Vilonia, Ark., formed and curved Drexel Metals roof panels onsite.

“It was a fun one,” says Brian Kirk, who co-owns Freedom Roofing with his cousin Keith Williams. “We took off the existing roof and installed a metal roof.”

It wasn’t quite that simple. The original roof on Greers Ferry High School was comprised of asphalt shingles on a barrel vaulted section and modified bitumen on some low-slope side roofs. During an attempt to economically patch leaking, “the school allowed someone to spray the roof with some kind of foam product,” Kirk says. “It looked pretty bad.”

Once the original roof was removed, Freedom Roofing added some structural framing to the low-slope side roofs to create enough slope—up to 1-1/2:12—for the new roof to more effectively shed snow and rain. Before the metal roofing was formed and installed, the crew installed a high-temperature underlayment.

Freedom Roofing Solutions, a Drexel Metals Association of Regional Manufacturers member (DM-ARM), owns a certified Drexel Metals roll former. After the panels for the barrel roof were manufactured, Freedom ran them through a curver, rented from Drexel Metals. Kirk says they built a “cradle” for the roll former so it could be lifted to the eaves. From there, crews could run full length panels with no laps all the way to the gymnasium, which was the barrel vault section.

For the Greers Ferry High School project, 24-gauge Galvalume coil from Drexel Metals was formed to Drexel Metals’ DMC 200S profile, with 18-inch striated pans with 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.”

Some panels measured up to 50 feet long. The entire project was approximately 26,000 square-feet.

“Metal roofing was a great fit for this project,” says Craig Boone, AIA, of Architecture Plus Inc., in Fort Smith, Ark. “The barrel vault roof over the gym with the two side sections … those panels on the barrel were curved onsite 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 roofing system.”

Boone noted that within the first month of installation, that area of Arkansas received 20 inches of rain. “If it was going to leak, I think someone would have let us know by now,” he said.

For more information, visit www.drexelmetals.comor www.residentialmetalroof.com.