Low Slope Roofing

Case Study: Kia Forum and Working Against the Clock

With time running out, a large Los Angeles venue needs attention to its roof; commercial contractor Centimark and products manufacturer GAF made the job happen

How a Roofing Contractor and Materials Producer Conquered a Large Undertaking

The Kia Forum, located in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, Calif., is now the only arena-sized venue in the country dedicated to music and entertainment. The iconic venue, past home to the NBA’s Lakers and the NHL’s Kings, was operating under a solid deadline requiring the facility to remove its existing rooftop logo by spring 2022.

Circumstances, including supply chain shortages, created a less-than-ideal situation to meet the tight deadline. Time constraints and lack of available materials meant the 135,000 sq. ft. roof was too large to undergo a complete PVC reroof in order to remove the logo.

CentiMark Corporation, the Pennsylvania-based contractor specializing in roofing and flooring installations, stepped in to provide an innovative roofing solution using GAF coating products. Rather than reroof, CentiMark’s alternative plan allowed the existing Kia Forum logo to be completely covered — with a new logo applied — satisfying the Forum’s obligations and providing it with a fresh roof design.

“CentiMark was a great fit for this project, we specialize in reroofing commercial, industrial and public buildings and have over 50 years industry experience,” Philip Edwards, senior project manager for CentiMark, said in a statement. “As GAF Master Select contractors, no job is too big or too small, whether it’s a single owner or a large corporation. We know that we can provide solutions to any customer because we work with superior vendors like GAF.”

The Details

Kia Forum_Inside image.jpg The 135,000-square-foot roof deck was power washed to remove dirt and debris and prepare the existing PVC roof for coating application. Then GAF Unisil Primer base was applied over the existing PVC system. It was subsequently topped with the GAF High-Tensile Acrylic Top Coat in white, completely covering the previous logo; this ensured Kia Forum successfully met its deadline. Lastly, GAF Kymax Coating was used to apply the Kia Forum logo, ensuring a long-lasting, fade-resistant, protective rooftop logo.

“We were working against a tight deadline and Kia Forum was obligated to change the roof logo within a short period of time. Operating at the height of the material shortage, no other contractor or manufacturer was able to provide a viable solution to remove the existing rooftop logo,” notes Edwards.

“GAF was the only manufacturer that was able to provide a viable solution because of their broad range of coating products,” Edwards said. “GAF products enabled us to cover the existing rooftop logo within a relatively short period of time and apply a lasting new logo of excellent quality even with subpar weather conditions.”

Materials Used:

GAF Unisil Primer base over PVC
GAF High-Tensile Acrylic Top Coat
GAF Kymax Coating

Commercial Contractor:

CentiMark

For more information, visit centimark.com and gaf.com.

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Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).

Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction, and community issues. He has worked at Adweek, managed a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif., and reported on finance, law, and real estate for the San Diego Daily Transcript. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and was managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage.

Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure projects, new products and business.