Demonstration of Improved Technologies for Rehabilitating Metal Roofing in Severely Corrosive Environments

The objective of this project was to successfully demonstrate and evaluate two technologies for extending in place the service life of failed metal roofs on two different buildings at Wheeler Army Airfield, which is located in a severely corrosive marine environment. A polyurea-hybrid coating was applied to a leaking corrugated aluminum-panel roof on a barracks building, and a structural standing-seam metal roofing SSSMR system with an innovative sub-purlin framing system was used to recover a severely corroded metal roof over the Bowling Center. Because both technologies allowed the existing metal panel roof to remain in place, rehabilitation could be completed more quickly and cost-effectively than a full replacement. The projected return on investment ROI for these technologies ranged from 21.6 to 28.7 depending on assumptions. Additional benefits not quantified in the ROI analyses include deferred roof removal costs reduced costs for restoring protection of building occupants and interior furnishings and reduced disruptions of building operations during rehabilitation. When full replacement of a failed metal roofing system is being considered, Army facility managers should also evaluate the feasibility of using one or both of the demonstrated technologies to reduce roof rehabilitation time and cost burdens.