Santa Fe Community College

With serving more than 13,000 students per academic year, the Santa Fe Community College needed to ensure safety for its students. The campus featured multiple roof types with various stages of wear. The first two sections addressed in this project (Fitness Center and West Wing) were EPDM roofs with punctures, deteriorated sealing on the termination bar and counter flashing, and drains that were starting to fail. In addition, the surface also had seals on penetrations, corners, scuppers, and target patches that were starting to split or lift up. The third section of campus (Commons Area) had built-up (BUR) capsheet roofs with multiple issues, including severe granule loss.

The challenge

Working on an active, occupied college presents a lot of safety challenges. Not only did RoofCARE need to utilize safety measures for their crew, they also took extra measures to protect students and staff. When re-decking abandoned curbs, they sent someone inside to block off the area underneath, as an extra precaution. All areas on the ground were secured, especially by entrances/exits (safety flags, caution signs, safety lines around dumpster, etc), ladders were tied off, and a safety monitor was utilized on the ground when working outside the safety line. Interior air quality was not affected, thanks to HydroStop’s^® low-VOC properties.

The solution

Because the roof was not considered to be failing and not in need of a full reroof, HydroStop^® was viewed as a financially viable and effective solution. The school administration was so impressed with the system they ultimately selected the HydroStop^® Roofing System as the basis of design for a long-term capital improvement plan. Scheduling and project management was difficult. Some stages of the project were completed during New Mexico's Monsoon Season and others were carried out in late fall. Rain or low temperatures stalled production for days on end. Also, due to HydroStop’s highly reflective top coat, the SFCC will now experience reduced cooling costs compared to the previously dark-colored EPDM and BUR roofs.