The recently completed Carolyn Lewis School is a beautiful, state-of-the art K-8 school in Summerville, South Carolina. Its crowning feature is a stunning, 140,000-square-foot standing seam metal roof. To get the project successfully completed on a very tight schedule for the first day of school in the fall of 2023, it took a talented team of design and construction professionals, including designer FW Architects, general contractor Edcon Inc., roofing contractor Grieme Roofing, and metal panel manufacturer Construction Metal Products (CMP).
The roof system features CMP’s S-2500 double-lock panels, which were specified for their durability and resilience, according to Bradley Goulds of Construction Metal Products. “The 24-gauge S-2500 16-inch-wide double-locked is a high-performance panel,” Goulds says. “This panel performs well in high wind zones, and with this project being on the coast in Summerville, South Carolina, a high-performance panel was very important.”
CMP fabricated the panels in house and delivered them to the jobsite. The system was engineered to meet the requirements of the new South Carolina building code, ASCE 7-16. “ASCE 7-16 drastically increased the wind pressures when compared to the previous ASCE 7-10,” Goulds notes. “The clip spacing was much tighter when compared to the previous requirement of ASCE 7-10, but we were able to provide the required engineering successfully.”
Roofing Work Begins
Work proceeded in phases as the various sections of the building neared completion, according to Jonathan Grieme, vice president of Grieme Roofing. The company is a second-generation commercial contractor that has been servicing the Carolinas for more than 50 years. Grieme Roofing worked closely with manufacturer and general contractor to coordinate the roofing work.
“We had several on-site meetings with Edcon to discuss their plan as far as what wings were going to be ready first,” Grieme notes. “Once the decking was down and inspected, we could come in and do the dry-in part.”
The substrate was constructed of Type B metal decking. “On that, we installed two layers of 2-inch extruded Dowboard insulation,” Grieme says. “Then the entire roof was covered in a non-slip, butyl-based ice and water shield.”
The next step was measuring for the roof panels. “Our team would get the field measurements for the panels, and then we would relay that back to CMP, who would then go ahead and fabricate the panels,” Grieme notes.
Installation work proceeded in sections of approximately 20,000 square feet at a time. Rainy weather complicated the schedule, as muddy conditions on the busy jobsite made setting up the crane difficult.
Panels were lifted to the roof in crates, which had to be secured to the roof. “The pitch of the roof was 5 on 12, and we had to install extra bracing once the crates got set on the roof to prevent them from sliding anywhere,” Grieme says.
Installing the Panels
Individual panels were set in place and installed using clips and fasteners. The seams were hand crimped and then mechanically seamed. “One of the unique things about this project was because of its proximity to the coast, there are very high requirements for wind loads, and so the spacing for the clips on this project was far more stringent than most projects,” Grieme says.
Great coordination with the panel manufacturer kept things moving along smoothly. “We have a lot of experience working with CMP,” Grieme says. “All of our team members, collectively, have got decades of experience doing standing seam roofs on schools, especially in new construction, which is our bread butter. We get the gist of how things are going to have to transpire, from measuring to ordering to getting it there — and then getting our crews moving in the right direction.”
Great communication was also essential for ensuring a safe jobsite, notes Aaron Gibby, operations manager and safety manager for Grieme Roofing. “We always have a site-specific plan, set that up, make sure everybody’s happy,” Gibby says. “We had a man lift on site because it was pretty tall building in most spots. We’d have weekly safety meetings, or safety huddles, as people call it. We would periodically just visit the sites and make sure that everybody was doing okay.”
Workers were tied off at all times using personal fall arrest equipment, with many employees using self-retracting lifelines. “My favorite safety gear is the FallTech,” notes Gibby. “As tie-off points, we used temporary anchors, and once we were wrapping things up and the panels already in place, we used seam clamp anchors.”
Wall Panels
As the roofing work neared completion, crews concentrated on the edge metal, as well as gutters and downspouts. The scope of work was also expanded to include wall panels.
“There is an area on the back part of the project where we installed 2,000 or 2,500 square feet of light tan wall panels,” Grieme says, “We also installed all the metal soffit panels on the project, and there was probably 12,000 square feet of soffit panels.”
“We have a computerized sheet metal folder in our warehouse, and so we custom-fab all of the trim pieces,” notes Grieme. “So, the gutter, the fascia, the J-trim, the rake metal, we made ourselves. We just have a little better control over things that way.”
As the opening of the 2023-2024 school year approached, the jobsite was a beehive of activity. “We needed a lot of coordination, especially as we were trying to wrap up our trim work, and others were trying to get sidewalks, parking lots, and playgrounds ready to go,” Grieme says.
“From our safety and our management team, to the project manager and field superintendent, it just was a collaborative effort,” Grieme notes. “Just being able to work together to coordinate deliveries, coordinate fabrication of materials, and getting it down there when we needed it — a full team effort was needed in order to be able to accomplish that. I think it speaks to our strength of being able to pull together as a team.”
TEAM
Architect: FW Architects, Florence, South Carolina, fwa-sc.com
General Contractor: Edcon, Inc., Peak, South Carolina, edconinc.com
Roofing Contractor: Grieme Roofing, Aberdeen, North Carolina, griemeroofing.com
MATERIALS
Metal Roof Panels: CMP S-2500 Double Lock, Construction Metal Products, cmpmetalsystems.com
Metal Wall Panels: HP-16 Wall Panels, Construction Metal Products
Soffit: Flush Panel Soffit, Construction Metal Products
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