The Mosaic project involved the renovation of the former Fidelity Union Bank and Insurance complex, two aging vacant downtown Dallas office towers.
Catherine Awtrey is president of Texas Roof Management Inc.
The Golden Hammer Awards - presented by the North Texas Roofing Contractors Association - are given to companies who perform outstanding reroofing projects in both commercial and residential applications.
The Mosaic project involved renovation of the former Fidelity Union Bank and Insurance Complex, two aging vacant downtown Dallas office towers. The result was the creation of The Mosaic, downtown Dallas’s newest high-rise residential community.
“The Mosaic was chosen for the award because of its difficulty in staging, tremendous number of challenges, safety requirements during construction, cool integrated artwork, and finished appearance,” said Catherine Awtrey, President of Texas Roof Management Inc. (TRMI).
The 35,000 square feet of existing roof was riddled with challenges, including poor access between the 15 different roof levels situated between the 21st and 36th floors of the two towers. Also, the perimeter of many of the roofs included only a gravel guard edge, beyond which had a drop-off of 230 to 410 feet to street level. All roofs required removal of up to four layers of existing roofing containing asbestos, coal tar pitch, and fiberglass insulation. And inadequate drainage and severe ponding water existed on every roof level.
Awtrey also noted safety precautions included perimeter fall protection consisting of steel posts and three strands of steel cabling with flags mounted to the structure. “Fall protection railings (around 30-plus openings) were cut into the deck prior to the installation of the roof, and railings were set up inside the building below holes in the deck to protect workers below the opening,” she said. “All men working on the roof outside of the fall protection were tied off with lanyards and safety lines to tie back, and a second lifeline to a different tie back.”
Awtrey said GAF Materials Corporation products used on on The Mosaic roof included EnergyGuard Tapered ISO 1.5 inches up to 7 inches; Liberty SBS Self-adhering Base Sheet; Ruberoid SBS Heatweld 25; and Ruberoid Torch FR. The adhesive used on The Mosaic roof was OLYBOND 500/Spot Shot by OMG Roofing Products.
The project was completed on schedule and within budget. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and about 700 invited guests celebrated the grand opening on Dec. 6, 2007.
“This is truly a gem in the heart of downtown Dallas and an addition to our city hall that all of our citizens can enjoy for years to come,” Mayor Leppert said.
The Gables Uptown project involved the replacement of the roof on the 22-story tower formerly named The Residences at McKinney.
A Complex Challenge
The Gables Uptown Tower project, meanwhile, involved the replacement of the roof on the 22-story tower formerly named The Residences at McKinney. The 12,000 square feet of existing roof included a protected roof membrane assembly consisting of a 45-mil EPDM membrane laid directly over the structural concrete deck.The EPDM was covered with a tongue and groove insulated cementitious protection board to provide a protective traffic surface over the roof membrane. Set directly on this traffic layer were 206 small residential-style A/C condensing units that literally covered the entire roof surface wall-to-wall, with the exception of the narrow paths between the rows of the A/C units. The cost alone to disconnect the units was more than $100,000.
Still, the Uptown Tower was chosen for the award because of its difficulty in staging, difficulty in working around 205 air conditioning units on 100 squares of roofing, and difficulty in installing a IRMA (inverted roof membrane assembly) with full concrete paver surface under all equipment, Awtrey said. “Lesser companies ran from the job because of its complexity,” she said.
Safety on the project included perimeter fall protection on the penthouse roof with workers tied off with lanyards and safety lines to window washer davits, Awtrey said, noting workers were “stationed on the ground and on the fifth floor pool deck beneath hoisting areas to keep pedestrians free of loading and off loading sites.”
Overall, the Gables project was one of Dallas’ most difficult projects ever completed, Awtrey said.
“It is a perfect marriage of Old-World craftsmanship combined with our industries most current roofing technology,” Awtrey said. “It is a true masterpiece and one the building owner points to often as a testament to what is possible.”
TRMI is a full-service commercial roofing and sheet metal company that specializes in reroofing, repair and maintenance. The company currently has 80 employees.
“We have a dedicated full service repair and maintenance department that responds to our customers twenty-four hours a day seven days a week,” Awtrey said. “Our average response time is approximately two hours on the same day that a leak is reported.”
Still Awtrey owes much of her company’s success to communication. “As always, great communication with the client is key,” she said. “Coordination and timing helps to keep complicated jobs flowing smoothly resulting in award winning project and satisfied customers.”
Among the manufacturers that TRMI utilizes are Siplast, Performance, GAF-Elk, Soprema, Johns Manville, Sarnafil, Firestone, TAMKO, Carlisle, Loadmaster, Stevens, and U.S. Ply.
“We look forward to an amazing 2009,” Awtrey said. “TRM has acquired many new and exciting customers, giving us the opportunity to continue our growth and participate in more challenging and high profile projects.”
Texas Roof Management Inc. also won the award in 2005 for a reroofing project on the Dallas Museum of Art. For more information, contact TRMI President Catherine Awtrey at cawtrey@texasroof.com
