A prerequisite for installing a new roof on a Lapeer, Mich., church with a 24/12 pitch was that the finished product had to be spectacular, according to Ron Turkus, president of Roof Technologies Inc.

A  prerequisite for installing a new roof on a Lapeer, Mich., church with a 24/12 pitch was that the finished product had to be spectacular, according to Ron Turkus, president of Roof Technologies Inc.

“The roof system had to be stunning,” Turkus said. “A building with a 24/12 pitch roofline simply demanded it.”

The goal was to capture the look of a slate roof with a premium laminated shingle, and what transpired over a summer of installation achieved a stunning result that did not exceed the church’s budget.

Project Startup

Ron Turkus has been in the roofing business since 1980 when he started out as an industrial and commercial sales representative for a mid-Michigan roofing company. In 2003, Turkus established Roofing Technologies Inc. of Okemos, Mich., a suburb of Lansing. His experience prepared Turkus for installing his most prominent slate-look project to date at a Lapeer church located north of Detroit in Genesee County.

Turkus said he first met with officials from St. Paul Lutheran Church of Lapeer in early 2007. “The agreement was signed in June 2007 and the project started just after the Fourth of July holiday,” Turkus recalled.

The project included the installation of two layers of 2-inch thick polyisocyanurate insulation, a vented air space, and one-half-inch OSB (oriented strand board).

Roofing Technologies then installed 200 squares of CertainTeed Centennial Slate™ luxury shingles. Centennial Slate is a multi-layered laminated shingle designed to replicate blended slate. Specifications required Turkus to obtain a Sure Start Plus/5 Star coverage warranty.

“The five-member church roof committee was trying to achieve several goals,” Turkus said. “First of all, they wanted to increase the R-value of the roof system because the existing system had little R-value. The next consideration was that the roof system had to be durable and long lasting. The previous roof system lasted only 15 years.”

Turkus said the final consideration was the roof system had to have a striking appearance - something people would notice from the street. The slate look fit the bill perfectly, at a fraction of the cost of real slate. “The custom copper ridge vent, I think, topped off the sanctuary roof perfectly,” Turkus said.

The St. Paul Lutheran Church roof installation took approximately 31/2 weeks to complete. “The whole project, which included extensive sheet metal work, took quite a bit longer,” Turkus said. “The roof slope started with less than a 3/12 pitch at the eave, and after approximately 14 feet was at the 24/12-pitch.”

CertainTeed WinterGuard Waterproofing Underlayment was used on the entire low-sloped area, and CertainTeed Roofer’s Select high-performance underlayment was used on the steep-sloped area, Turkus said.

“The job was about 20,000 square feet of roof area, which included the sanctuary and the school gymnasium,” Turkus said. “The roof was loaded with a Skytrack, which was on an as-needed basis. With this kind of slope there was really no place to put anything.”

The steep-sloped area required the roofers wear full safety harnesses.

“The biggest challenge of this job was to get the job done in a timely, yet safe manner,” Turkus said. “The foreman of the shingle crew, subcontractor Ramon Rosas of Regional Roofing Services, achieved that goal without a problem in four working days on the steep sanctuary roof.”