2014
Lubbock, Texas
Bayer Museum of Agriculture Roof Reaps Compliments
When the Bayer Museum of Agriculture in Lubbock, Texas, built a new addition featuring two faux grain silos, there was some concern about making the roofs of the silos look authentic. “The original plan was to use corrugated metal like those used on real grain silos, but that posed problems with insulation and leaks,” explained Devin Sherman, formerly an estimator/BIM manager at Lee Lewis Construction of Lubbock, the general contractor for the project. “Silo roofs are meant to breathe because grain should not be stored in airtight buildings. But this building was to be used for exhibits and events, so we needed a roof that was air and watertight. That would be difficult to do with the corrugated metal.”
The Décor Roofing System combines Sika’s G410 thermoplastic single-ply roofing membrane with Décor profiles to give the appearance of a standing seam metal roof – and thanks to its watertight seams, the durability of this system is unmatched. It is one of the only roofing systems of this type that includes warranty coverage for the hot-air welded ribs that give the roof the appearance of metal.
Owner
Bayer Museum of Agriculture
Roofing Contractor
Merit Roofing Systems, Inc.
Richardson, Texas
General Contractor
Lee Lewis Construction
Lubbock, Texas
Architect
MWM Architects
Lubbock, Texas
Roofing System
Sarnafil Décor Roof System using 60 mil
G410 feltback membrane in Light Gray
Project Size
15,885 square feet
A Roundabout Installation
As might be imagined, installing the roofing system on the conical roofs of the silos was not an easy task. “There were a lot of scratch paper, erasers, and calculators involved in figuring this out,” Staggs remarked. “All the pieces of the roofing membrane had to be measured and cut into pie-shaped pieces to wrap around the cone.”
The Décor profiles were then painstakingly placed to provide the look of a standing seam metal roof. “Not only did the profiles need to be perfectly spaced and aligned, but they also needed to conceal the seams in the membrane,” Staggs said.
One problem Merit Roofing faced concerned the peaks of the two silo roofs. “Because of the shape of the roof, the profiles couldn’t just run to the peaks or it would be a jumbled mess,” Staggs pointed out. “A Sika representative suggested we build a small circular platform on the very top and run the profiles up to that. That gave us a nice clean termination.”
“The geometry of putting the profiles over the seams and over a cone posed some challenges, but Merit Roofing made it seem like this wasn’t a problem at all,” Sherman said. “That’s why we love working with Merit Roofing. They always go above and beyond and the quality of their installations is top-notch.”
It was this professionalism and attention to detail that earned Merit Roofing third place in the Steep Slope Category of Sika Sarnafil’s 2014 Project of the Year competition.
“Exceeded Our Expectations”
Today, the Bayer Museum of Agriculture is host to numerous exhibits, events, and functions, and is on its way to becoming a Lubbock landmark. Fortunately, the Décor system has “exceeded” expectations on presenting the authentic look of grain silo roofs. “At first we were skeptical that the roof would give us the look we desired but it looks like an older, galvanized roof, which is exactly what we wanted,” Sherman stated.
Lacee Hoetling, executive director at the Bayer Museum of Agriculture, said she is very happy with the roof’s performance and appearance. “We have received a lot of compliments from visitors and people in the community about the roof, and have had no problems with leaks.”
“I was really impressed with the Décor system,” Moore commented. “The performance has been great and the aesthetics were exactly what we were striving for.”
Sherman added that his experience with this installation has led him to consider the Décor system whenever a metal roof is specified. “The Décor system promised the look of a standing seam metal roof but with a better price, better warranty and better insulating values,” Sherman said. “It turned out to be a win/win situation.