Projects, Awards and Manufacturers

ROOFER MAGAZINE / MAY '96

From the street, the "Student Suite Style Dormitory" at Clark Atlanta University construction site seems like any other. In many ways it is; but it is not your ordinary roofing job.

When you meet David Welch and the crew from Ben Hill Roofing Company of Douglasville, GA., you soon find that this is no ordinary roofer.

This project, like many others in the several college communities around Atlanta, will house Olympic athletes before it goes into service for the university of which it is attached. One thing about the coming Olympic games is that they will be here in July. Not August or September or later in the fall-July. So timeliness is not just "of the essence"...it is the essence of this and many other projects. In a perfect world, there was plenty of time allocated to bring this project well within the budgeted time. This job was, however, to be constructed in the real world.

So, what made this roofing project so special? A number of things, not the least of which was the fact that the roof decks were pitched at 7/12 and 12/12 and were 50' from the ground. The decks were Loadmaster. That is, they were corrugated steel with two layers of 5/8" fire rated gypsum board (tape) mechanically attached. Added to all this, the roofing contractor would also be responsible for the gutter system and all the other edge metal details.

Ben Hill Roofing was attracted to this project because of its challenging nature. The job was negotiated directly with the general contractor, and included a re-design of the gutter, facia, soffit & some other metal details. The original specification called for a .060 aluminum "OG" type gutter. Welch designed a system that adequately furnished the owner with a gutter that would withstand the requirements for rain carrying capacity, snow loads, aesthetic appearance and life expectancy. The design was not only functional, but came in for tens of thousands of dollars less that the original design. The re-design was submitted with plans drawn on computer using the Ami-Pro drawing software. This of course, was before the job started. Some of the real fun began when the roofing work proceeded.

Timeliness and productivity and tight schedules are all wonderful things, but worker safety had to be considered first. Not just Ben Hill Roofing Company workers, but all persons working on and around the site. This project, being fast tracked, had many trade's people working underneath the roofers at all times. So, consideration for fall protection schemes had to include not only a device to keep workers from falling off the roof, but also to keep materials or debris from falling onto workers below.

To address the needs for safe execution on this job, the PR-20 Eave Catchguard system by Protective Roofing Products Ltd. was selected. The PR-20 provided a system that was set up and moved easily. It provides a guardrail system with a "mini platform" at the base, and has a vertical board that provides a catch basin for materials, debris or tools that may slip from above the eaves. The PR-20 Eave Catchguard system utilizes a manufactured stanchion and anchorage device along with deck anchors and common 2X4 through 2X10 lumber.

The PR-20 was designed by Ted Palmer, an 18 year veteran (former) roofer whose broken back from a fall provided the inspiration to invent such a device. A total of 300' of the PR-20 Eave Catchguard system was employed on the Clark Atlanta job, and was erected by the Ben Hill Roofing sheet metal workers, who were working from 50' man lifts. After that section of the roofing was complete, the roofers dismantled the guard rail, which was then moved to another site on the building. According to Ben Hill's Residential Roofing Department manager, Kirk Goodrick, the roofers who actually used the system felt "at ease" while nailing on the several hundred squares of felt & shingles. With only a few exceptions, they were able to work without the use of personal fall restraints and ropes.

Nail shingles into gypsum board? Not your everyday occurrence. A letter approving the application was granted for this job by shingle manufacturer GAF Manufacturing Corp., of Wayne, NJ. The GAF Timberline Series shingle with Algae/Fungus Guard was chosen for the project. GAF invented the now famous "dimensional" style shingle and touts its "Natural Shadow" that gives it a deeper dimensional appearance, and their reputation for producing a consistently high quality product. The Timberline Shingle is manufactured nationally by GAF.

No, you don't nail shingles onto a Loadmaster Deck with 1 1/4" roofing nails. The specified fastener was the EG Hardened Do-All Lok Nail by E/S Products. These unique fasteners were used to nail both shingles and felt. The only modification to the original specification came when the special 1" ribbed disk furnished by E/S was replaced with the old conventional "tin cap". The E/S disk is pre-punched, because the gauge is too heavy to penetrate with the Hardened Do-All Lok Nail, which also made it impossible to nail through when the shingles were being applied. The tin caps were more accommodating and worked out just fine.

At the very peak of this project, Ben Hill's installers mechanically attached an "Air Vent Filtervent" ridge line vent. Typically, these vents would be nailed, but screw fasteners were chosen to avoid the possible occasion of blow-off.

The "Student Suite Style Dormitory" job at Clark Atlanta University is in the history books at Ben Hill Roofing Company, and is but a small part of the story of this multifaceted contracting firm. Company president, David Welch, is a second generation roofing contractor. His mother, Ezma Welch Burks, remains active with the company.

The company is broken into several departments with the previously mentioned Kirk Goodrick as the manager of the Residential Roofing Department. As such, Kirk had the primary responsibility of the execution of this job along with Gene Gay, manager of the Sheet Metal Department. Ben Hill Roofing has a third department, through certainly not the least, headed by Gary Woodall, manager of the Commercial Roofing Department. Ben Hill Roofing's business is divided at roughly 70% commercial, 25% residential and 5% sheet metal.

The corporate offices of Ben Hill Roofing impressed me as being not only neat, but well organized and obviously well run. Welch, like many of the savvy business people I have had the good fortune of encountering, seems to maintain a focus on quality of workmanship and integrity in his business dealings. He has organized his business in such a way that he has good people in charge of sales and productivity and the other things that are the first focus for many business people. His job seems to be the cheer them on while maintaining the direction and aims of the company.

In addition to focus on safety and quality, Ben Hill Roofing brings unique ability to cash flow their jobs and to meet the time and quality demands of even the most particular clients. Part of this is owed to their desire and ability to communicate with their clients, as well as other trade's people.

If it sounds as if I am impressed with these guys, well I am, and have been for a long time. But not for the aforementioned reasons (although they are admirable). David has spent a good deal of his time and fortune "putting back" into the roofing industry. His community involvement has been exemplary, but his industry involvement in his home state of Georgia will have impact for years to come. His latest adventures have him as the chairman of the trustees of the two year old Self-Insurers Fund for the Georgia Roofing & Sheet Metal Contractor's Association. Ben Hill Roofing, along with roughly thirty other firms, has taken the bold step for forming this fund to cover worker's compensation, and are dedicated to establishing safe working practices as the norm.

Talking to David about his business is one thing, but he is downright passionate when speaking about his firm's safety record. I, too, believe that keeping a lid on injuries makes not only for a more profitable enterprise, but is what we are supposed to do. Taking on a job as challenging as the Clark Atlanta job is one thing. Running a safe contracting operation while delivering a quality product can be a major challenge in itself.

So perhaps it is appropriate that the "not so ordinary" roof should be installed by the "not so ordinary" roofer. Given the results, I would say the it worked out just fine. RM

Rick Damato is editor at large for ROOFER Magazine.