ACI Vlog 5: Reroof and Retrofit Roofing Systems

ACI President George Ray talks to Josh Long from Butler Manufacturing about roof systems. Butler Manufacturing uses the premier MR-24 roof system because of its versatility, longevity, and recyclability.

*remarks edited for clarity*

GEORGE: Good afternoon, I’m George Ray with Associated Contractors and I have Josh Long with me today from Butler Manufacturing. I want to talk a little bit today about re-roof systems.

People are always looking at their roof and needing, you know, a new roof put on and Butler, which has the MR-24 roof, which we have talked about in previous videos if you want to go out there any look at those, the premier roof system to go over many roofs. Let’s talk about some of those situations, Josh. The one I’m thinking of first is metal over metal.

JOSH: Butler can do metal over metal, whether it be a through-fastened or screw-down roof system that’s used in the industry. We utilize a blocking system that goes down over the top of the existing roof, which is pre-punched, and then allows the MR-24 roof to be installed over the top of that roof system just as if you would on a new construction. And, depending on what insulation value requirements are going to be, we have different clips and different stanchion blocks that will allow you to put the insulation that you need into the system in order to achieve the thermal values that you’re looking for. 

From there, we have another metal-over-metal option that is going to be standing seam over an existing seam, again using stanchion blocks that will fasten down into the panels of the existing roof system and then again going over top of those with the MR-24 roof, just like you would in any other installation application, and those will also allow you to achieve whatever type of R-value you’re looking for.

So, aside from getting a new roof system, if you’ve got weather tightness issues, you can also increase the thermal value of your building tremendously.

GEORGE: And you know, going off that, I know there’s some government programs out there which allow you to get tax rebates and tax credits for increasing thermal efficiency of the roof systems so we can certainly look at those for you and see if you can’t get some money back from, you know, your taxes.

JOSH: There definitely is and in most cases the purpose of those are to create a higher R-value in your building, which will help your heating and cooling costs, so there it depends on your area. There’s different criteria on how to qualify for those programs, but we can certainly do the research to help you or your client to find out what they would qualify for.

GEORGE: That’s great. One of the other things is that the MR-24 roof system – it’s not just a roof panel because it’s a system – the details have all been ironed out, whether it’s how to go up against a flash against a wall, to put in roof curbs, skylights, or daylighting systems. So, we have all those products available with this roof system to go over an old roof system that isn’t providing you a weather-tight solution.

JOSH: Correct, and on top of metal over metal systems, we also can do metal over rubber roof systems so for conventional buildings whether they be warehouses or retail, flat roof systems, sloped, it really doesn’t matter. We can take a flat roof system and put a slope on it, if that would be more desirable. We can also just fasten down into the decking system to put a metal roof over rubber. We’ve gotten 40 years out of our roof systems and their panels’ performance, whereas your typical rubber roof system is going to see 20 years in all likelihood. So, if you’re wanting to put down a panel that’s going to have a longer longevity, we do have options of going over top of the rubber systems to put down the MR-24 roof panel.

GEORGE: I could certainly speak to that. We became a Butler builder in 1982, so 38 years ago, and of all the Butler buildings we started building back then, I’ve never had a call back on an MR-24 roof for a roof leak. I think that’s pretty impressive.

JOSH: That’s fantastic.

GEORGE: As you talked about the slope build-up system, especially in this area, some people have built some really ugly situations with interior gutters. You know, an interior gutter is a situation where you’re sloping two roof systems into the middle and you’ve got a gutter there. We all know what our weather is like here, with freezing and thawing, and it causes problems for weather tightness and the slope build-up system certainly can allow you to get rid of that particular condition.

JOSH: Oh, absolutely, and it allows you to slope the water to the edges of the building instead of to the middle of the building. Most buildings were intended to shed water and not create a bathtub situation. 

GEORGE: Yeah, absolutely, you know one other unique feature of steel roofs, steel buildings in general, is that they’re green. The whole roof system can be taken off and recycled. Butler has met many points for lead systems and I know that they use recycled steel.

JOSH: Yes.

GEORGE: Everybody does, and so that makes a metal building and a metal roof green.

JOSH: Right, when you’re talking about lead points, obviously the higher the point count that you can get into a building, the greater the certification level is for that particular project. So

in most cases, depending on your location, any buildings here in western Pennsylvania are going to be within a 500-mile distance of the plant. So, from a carbon emissions standpoint of getting the building from the facility to the job site, you get points for that. The recycled content that makes up the Butler building would give points, the recyclability of a pre-engineered metal building will also give points. So, with utilizing a Butler building you’re going to achieve more than just one. You’ll get numerous points for just using a Butler building.

GEORGE: That’s a great point to end with. All of our products from Butler, at least the majority of them, come from Anvil, Pennsylvania, which is our local Butler manufacturing plant. So you’re reducing your freight costs as well, because Anvil is probably about five to six hours from here and we get the majority of our products from there. 

I want to thank you, Josh, for being with us today and I want to thank you for joining us. If you have any additional questions, please check out our website or give us a call. Thank you!