When the Town of Surf City, N.C., made plans to construct a building that would consolidate the police department and other emergency services operations, durability was a main consideration for an area that sees high winds and hurricanes on a regular basis. To meet the high-wind requirements of the coast, the architectural roofing choice was McElroy Metal’s Maxima standing seam metal roofing.

Highland Roofing of Wilmington, N.C., installed approximately 20,000 square feet of mechanically seamed Maxima panel with a 3-coat Sherwin-Williams Fluropon PVDF finish in Bone White. The official ribbon cutting of the complex was held May 21, 2021.

“We selected a metal roof to add resilience to the new structure,” says Kyle Breuer, town manager. “Our previous building was lost to water damage during Hurricane Florence (in 2019) and that damage occurred because of water penetration through the roof.”

Breuer says aesthetics played a role in the selection of metal roofing as well.

“Metal helped us keep with our coastal theme,” he says. “Maintaining a community aesthetic consistency was an important consideration. Metal helped us achieve that.”

Maxima panels from McElroy Metal meet requirements for fire rating (Class A), wind uplift (UL 580, FM 4471, ASTM E1592), air infiltration (ASTM E1680), water infiltration (ASTM E1646) and impact resistance (UL 2218).

“There were a lot of hips and valleys, some transitions from steep slope to a lower slope, but they were all just standard details,” says Rickey Miller, Construction Manager at Highland Roofing. “We have our own shop so we fabricated everything we needed: valleys, roof caps, trims, gutters and downspouts. The 3-coat finish is durable. We didn’t scratch it up, which can happen with some other coatings.

“This is one of those projects that everyone will see coming into Surf City. It’s close to the road and that white just ‘pops.’ It really catches the eye and looks great in a beach community.”