Downtown OKC Condominiums

Friday, May 5th, 2017 by Danielle Campbell

Challenge

After their condominium complex was severely damaged by hail, there were two main obstacles facing this Condo Association. The first was getting their insurance claim approved and getting a fair settlement to restore the buildings. The second was finding a contractor willing to undertake such a daunting project.

Upon first meeting with the Condo Association members, they said they had contacted several contractors to get bids in the past, but none of them ever returned. They understood why... it was a bit of a logistics nightmare. Built in downtown OKC in 1984, the complex consists of 48 units, a pool house and a swimming pool in the main courtyard, completely surrounded by 10' concrete walls. The buildings range from three to four stories high with garages below. Back in the day, the architects received accolades for designing and building such a contemporary and unique structure, but it would seem there was little consideration given in the design for future exterior maintenance and repair. Aside from being completely enclosed by a 10' concrete wall with no opening for access besides the 4' wide gates, there was very little space between structures inside. The main roofs are standing seam metal roofs with a 7:12 pitch. There are nooks and crannies everywhere with hidden roofs over balconies on every level, flat roofs, downspouts wound around corners, over and under balconies eventually running into a below ground drainage system, firewalls extend up to 20' above the roof-lines. There are catwalks, balconies, and open stairwells everywhere. In other words, just getting to the work to be done was a challenge.

Solution

Always up for a challenge, Justin (Ridgid's owner) decided to take it on. He spent a couple months analyzing, measuring, preparing estimates, meeting with the Association to discuss options and concerns, and drafting the final contract. He worked diligently with their insurance adjuster and was finally able to get the claim approved and arrive at a fair and complete claim settlement that covered all of the damage, including code upgrades. Finally, with all details worked out, Ridgid began the first phase of the restoration process.

The first order of business was fall safety! Pitched metal roofs are nearly impossible to maneuver, even with fall safety gear. Custom designed steel brackets were fabricated to apply to the high walls in order to accommodate metal fall safety lines for the painting and roofing crews to tie their harnesses off to. An OSHA approved safety plan was put in place to ensure a safe project. Temporary fencing, dumpsters, portable toilets, and equipment were set up on vacant lots we rented across the street from the complex. Occupants of the condominiums were notified that work was to begin and given an estimated schedule of projected progress.

Prior to tackling the metal roofing the concrete block walls, which were saturated with moisture due to old, peeling coatings, had to be stripped and sealed to prevent future moisture problems. During this phase of the restoration, we were contracted to do the block wall coatings on everything above the roof-lines to prevent roof leaks. They were pressure washed and scraped (and scraped and scraped) to remove the old, deteriorated coatings and expose the block enough to apply Benjamin Moore Masonry Sealer, Block Filler and the Elastomeric Coatings. This was done under the watchful eye of the Benjamin Moore rep to ensure a warrantable outcome. Once the exterior coatings were complete, the roofing process began.

The 10' concrete walls surrounding the entire complex prevented access for normal delivery of the new standing seam metal roofing material... and since all the main roofs were so pitched, they did not provide a surface to store the new roofing material once delivered. The solution? The metal roofing was lifted into the complex by crane, requiring special permits and road closures. The project was done one building at a time. Each building had a courtyard in the center, so three stories of scaffolding were set up in the courtyard of each building, providing a surface to place the material so the roofing crews had access to it. The crates were carefully numbered to facilitate situating the panels in the order they were to be installed. The old metal was torn off and manually lowered to ground level to be moved to dumpsters set up outside "the wall" for recycling. Rotted decking and fascia was removed and replaced as necessary. An upgraded underlayment of high temp ice and water shield was applied to all surfaces to provide added protection. Fascia, soffits, and gutters were installed (due to the placement of the original gutter system, they did not effectively collect water, so they were redesigned by incorporating them into the top of the fascia panels - problem solved). 24 gauge standing seam metal with Kynar/fluoropolymer finish was applied. Hundreds of feet of reglets were cut into the block to apply counterflashing to ensure no water penetration where the roofing met the walls. Modified bitumin flat roofs that were deteriorated both due to age and years of standing water since they were not pitched for runoff. They were torn out, built up for runoff and replaced with TPO roofing systems with new gutters for drainage. 8" downspouts were custom fabricated and installed, careful to stay in the same formation as the original downspouts since they ran into an underground drainage system. Wall caps were fabricated and installed at the top of the massive firewalls. Skylights were replaced. Deteriorated window jambs were replaced and resided, wood siding on areas above the roof-lines was replaced with James Hardie cement siding and painted. Finally snow guards and finishing touches were completed. Kudos to our crews who were not phased by the working conditions or plagued by a fear of heights. They literally rose to the occasion - working off of scaffolding, walk planks, ladder jacks, extension ladders, safety lines, balconies...

Many challenges presented themselves during the course of this project, but each one presented a unique opportunity to problem solve. It was very rewarding and we appreciate the opportunity. It gives a tremendous sense of satisfaction knowing how happy the residents are with their dry buildings and the major facelift we were able to help them achieve.

Project Summary

PROJECT MANAGER: Justin Bartusevicius

SITE FOREMAN: Juma Moss / Sue Stewart

CERTIFIED INSPECTOR - Benjamin Moore: Spectgrum Paints - K. Peters

CERTIFIED INSPECTOR - Roofing: Coates Inspections

PRODUCTS - COATINGS: Benjamin Moore Super Spec Masonry Sealer, Hi Build Block Filler, Acrylic Elastomeric

PRODUCTS - ROOFING: The Metal Store - 24 guage standing seam metal with Kynar/fluoropolymer finish

Before aerial picture of OKC Condominiums

Aerial picture of condos. As you can see, metal roofs were definitely in need of replacement

Another aerial view of condo complex shows the close proximity of the buildings and complex building configurations

View from the street shows one of the storage Pods set up for equipment.

10' walls surrounded the entire complex making access a challenge

Another view from outside the condo complex

Fenced area with storage, dumpster and portable toilet outside the wall which, along with limited space inside, didn't allow them to be placed inside where work was being done.

Material and equipment storage staged on 2 rented lots across the road from the condo complex

Before shot - pool covered to protect it from debris at Oklahoma City condos

More assessing... Gutters on original roof were situated at the bottom of the fascia so they did not collect water from roof above. Gutters were redesigned to be applied at the top of the fascia allowing them to do their job

Assessing quantity and dimensions of roofing panels needed

Assessing flashing required around the windows that sit on top of the roof

Fall safety in place enabling crews to tie off across entire expanse of roofs & walls

Another view of fall safety wire in place

Custom fabricated wall brackets secure wire for fall safety tie-offs

Custom steel brackets were fabricated for fall safety ropes

Exterior coatings above the roofs were part of this phase of renovations. Netting put in place to reduce debris when pressure washing and scraping coatings

Pressure washing exterior coatings on Bldg #1

Netting in place to keep paint chips from flying when pressure washing and scraping old coatings

Scraping loose coatings off after pressure washing

Removing old coatings in a hard to access area

Walls prepped with first coat of Benjamin Moore Concrete Sealer and Block Filler. ready for Elastomeric coating

Before pic - downspouts run around corners, over and under balconies... and down to underground drain system

Bldg #3 lower level roof before pic

One of the lower roofs on bldg 2 at OKC condos

Before pic of one of the hidden lower level, interior roofs and downspouts

Another view from courtyard

Crews tearing off old metal and manually lowering and removing it to dumpsters for recycling

Metal roof tear off complete on bldg 2 in OKC

High temp ice and water shield covers substrate before roofing is applied

Another view of high temp ice and water shield covers before roofing and fascia are applied

Another view of work in progress on bldg 2

Scaffolding set up in courtyard of bldg #2 for material staging

Scaffolding set up 3 stories high for material staging

Another pic of crane lifting material onto scaffolding set up inside - that crane operator was spot on!

Crane lifts metal roof material off the delivery truck and onto the scaffolding set up in the courtyard of bldg #2. Permits and road closures required for this endeavor

Progress being made on bldg 3 in OKC condos

Before pic of flat roofs shows how badly deteriorated they were. After pics coming soon!

One of the flat roofs before - getting ready to tear out. Flat roofs were not pitched so there was no drainage, new roofs were built up to pitch them to gutters that were added for drainage. After pics coming soon!

Before pics of rotted window jambs on 3rd story of bldg #2

In process of replacing rotted window jambs on 3rd story

Worker works off pitched metal roof to replace window jambs that were found to be leaking

Replacing window jambs and siding around them

Much better! Water tight and sided - waiting for paint

What an improvement! 3rd story windows with jambs replaced and sided with James Hardie cement siding

Working on bldg #3

View of one of the lower roofs after replacement

Working up high doing firewall caps

Fall safety equipment enables crews to work up high and hands free when necessary

Work in progress on end wall cap, siding being replaced above roof

Another view of work near completion - metal roofs, gutters, downspouts, wall caps done. Wall coatings done above roof lines as contracted for.

Bldg #2 roofing done, now for the downspouts and wall caps. Siding will be done in another phase of the project

Another view from inside - nearing completion

Getting near completion, only a few wall caps and downspouts to go

This guy obviously lost the coin toss! Replacing firewall cap on high wall

They saved this one for last, cap on high firewall completed

Getting near completion, this view shows multiple levels of metal roofs, gutters, downspouts, wall caps done. Wall coatings done above roof lines as contracted for.