Illinois Roofing, a division of the Tecta America Corporation, the country’s largest roofing contractor with more than 53 locations and 3,200 qualified roofing professionals nationwide, was tasked with reroofing the 63,450-square-foot reservation center building for one of the largest international airline carriers based in the United States.



Illinois Roofing, a division of the Tecta America Corporation, the country’s largest roofing contractor with more than 53 locations and 3,200 qualified roofing professionals nationwide, was tasked with reroofing the 63,450-square-foot reservation center building for one of the largest international airline carriers based in the United States. In addition to its sheer size, this high-profile project had a tight schedule and budget - and also required that the reservation clerks continue working the phone banks directly below throughout construction.

Before the work even began a thermal scan was conducted to determine whether or not a complete tear-off was necessary, or if only the damaged wet insulation needed to be replaced. In cases where there is minimal wet insulation, the existing dry insulation can oftentimes be kept in place and reused.

According to Illinois Roofing General Manager Michael Ward, this results in significant cost savings right from the start. “By pinpointing the exact sections of the roof where heat is escaping and/or moisture is penetrating through the insulation, we are able to minimize material costs,” said Ward. “There is no need to replace products that are intact and performing well under the conditions.”

Illinois Roofing reroofed this 63,450-square-foot reservation center building for a major international airline. This high-profile project had a tight schedule and also required that the reservation clerks continue working throughout construction.

Material World

After assessing the scope of work required, Illinois Roofing needed to carefully select the right materials for the job, which would come to include two layers of 1½-inch polyisocyanurate insulation and a FiberTite membrane. As expected, a roof board was also included in the project specifications to provide added strength and sustainability.

Given the many performance requirements it would have to meet, however, the brand of roof board selected would play a larger role than normal in the success of the overall project.

“With our restrictive time frame, limited budget and need to minimize noise, this job called for a versatile, all-in-one roof board that could be installed either mechanically or with bonding adhesive, that needed no additional priming and that could be transported easily and efficiently,” said Ward.

To achieve these varied objectives, Illinois Roofing chose SECUROCK® brand roof board from USG. This rugged, fiber-reinforced roof board, which has no fiberglass facer to delaminate, is extremely versatile and can be used in single-ply, built-up, modified bitumen, liquid-applied, spray foam and metal roof assemblies.

Versatility a Key Factor

According to Ward, the product’s versatility was a key factor in Illinois Roofing’s decision. More than 35,000 roofing screws had to be mechanically fastened into the concrete deck, making noise a key concern that needed to be addressed before work even began.

“It would have been cost-prohibitive to start this project without having options in place for securing the roof board and membrane with adhesive if noise complaints arose from the United Airlines phone operators,” said Ward. “It was imperative that we be able to switch from mechanically fastening the boards to an adhesive installation midstream, if necessary.”

Adhesive installation of the roof membrane to typical glass-mat panels usually requires that the board be primed on the jobsite, or that a more expensive pre-primed panel be used. Securock roof board, however, does not require priming in fully adhered applications.

For Illinois Roofing, this meant there was no need to double-stock the project - which required 3,750 roof boards - with both primed and unprimed boards.

Packaged Savings

Given the proximity to one of the country’s busiest airports, getting the boards onto the roof of the building was also an issue. Since it took Illinois Roofing weeks to coordinate the use of a crane for only one day’s time, it was imperative that the roof board also transport easily and efficiently.

According to Ward, Securock roof board’s packaging not only protected the panels from edge damage but was also easy to unload.

“It’s all the little things like this that enable you to complete a complex job on time and at budget. Keeping your crew happy in the process - well, that’s just icing on the cake.”


For more information, visitwww.usg.com.