Project Profile: Barber Law Firm with Double-Tiered Roof Replaces Failing Fascia

Just one year after installing another company’s fascia, the appearance of the building in Plano, TX had deteriorated significantly because of oil canning.

Within a year of installing another company’s fabricated fascia, the building owner of Barber Law Firm was highly dissatisfied with its performance. The appearance of the fascia was distorting and warping. Often referred to as “oil canning,” it is one of the most common roof edge problems encountered in the market and is completely avoidable.

Seeking a better long-term solution for his building investment, the building owner began working with CSL Materials in Texas to remedy the problem. With a low slope, tiered contemporary roofing design situated in a high velocity wind area, this Texas law firm needed a strong, high performing roof edge solution. Plus, the law firm required very tall face heights to cover its varying roof tiers.

The Challenge: The existing fascia was built of an insufficient gauge material and installed in a manner ill-equipped for face heights over 8” to properly withstand wind forces and thermal expansion. The result was rapid deterioration and oil canning of the fascia cover. This combination left the law firm’s roof edge extremely vulnerable to disengagement, and over time could lead to failure.

Awareness around the importance of protecting the roof edge is gaining momentum. It’s not just hurricanes and tornados that cause great damage. It’s the accumulation of all wind and weather events that batter a roof day after day that can cause significant reduction in performance. The edge, especially at the corners, takes the brunt of hurdling wind and rain events. A single less severe weather event can serve as the final straw for roof edge failure.

At least 60% percent of roof failures begin at the roofs edge with causes ranging from insufficient gauge material and roof edge products ill-suited for the application to improper installation. Sometimes it’s a combination of factors. For many, roof edge is at the bottom of the list of purchase decisions and sacrifices are made when value engineering a project. Yet roof edge is a crucial roof decision. If chosen carefully, it’s the 1% of construction cost that protects 100% of the roof investment… for decades.

The Action Plan: CSL Materials partnered with Paul Booher, Metal-Era’s Southern Field Tech, to take detailed field measurements and assess wind requirements and performance needs for the law firm. Paul worked with Metal-Era’s Technical Support Team to create an action plan and determine the best product approach to meet building code, satisfy the regions rigorous wind standards, and create a visually appealing finished look to complement the building’s design.

Recommended for this project was Metal-Era’s high-performance Anchor-Tite Extended Fascia, designed and tested to meet ANSI/SPRI/4435/ES-1 standards. This product was provided in custom face heights to adapt to building conditions. The Anchor-Tite Fascia system is built for longevity and offers superior performance against oil canning, weather events, and wind forces by protecting the roof investment with its 215-mph lifetime wind warranty.

Product Solutions:

• 258 LF of Anchor-Tite Extended Fascia in .050 Aluminum, color Dark Bronze with a Kynar finish (30-year warranty).
• The Anchor-Tite Fascia System includes heavy gauge extruded anchor bar for terminating the membrane, continuous cleat, splice plates, and a cohesive cover in 12’ lengths, saving on labor as 12’ lengths install 20% faster than 10’ lengths.
• The Anchor-Tite Extended Fascia was custom fabricated to achieve the specific sizes for each roof tier of the Law Firm.
  • Upper roof – 19.5" comprised of 9 ¾” custom Anchor-Tite Extended Fascia and 9 ¾” Flush Face Fascia Extender.
  • Lower roof – 17.5" comprised of 8 ¾” custom Anchor-Tite Extended Fascia and 8 ¾” Flush Face Fascia Extender
• Metal-Era’s concealed splice plates are specially designed to prevent migration under the fascia panels and create a more aesthetically pleasing finish compared to traditional cover plates. Also included were custom soffit J closures pre-manufactured by Metal-Era.

The Metal-Era Difference Metal-Era’s hands-on support makes the process easier for contractors, saving them time and money to get them onto the next roof faster. On this project, the Metal-Era team assisted the roofing contractor who hadn’t used Anchor-Tite Extended Fascia by walking him through the install and answering questions for fast and successful completion. Our team offered solutions when the preexisting fascia was removed to find there was no underlayment on the wood nailer.

Metal-Era takes pride in its team approach. From meetings with the owner and contractor to facilitating project takeoffs and providing in-field assistance, the Metal-Era team and CSL Materials provided a full spectrum of project support. The Metal-Era difference is in its comprehensive customer-centric system ensuring customer needs are met, solutions are proactive, and accurate installation is achieved.

Installed By: Swan Roofing – Plano, TX

Rep Firm: CSL Materials – TX

Learn more about Metal Era solutions at www.metalera.com.