IS THIS ENOUGH TO DESERVE YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION? HOW MUCH OF THAT DO YOU WANT EVERY YEAR? YOU, THE METAL BUILDING CONTRACTORS, ERECTORS, METAL ROOFING SPECIALISTS AND METAL ROOFING MANUFACTURERS!

METAL ROOF REPLACEMENT OR RETRO-FITTING DIRECTLY OVER EXISTING METAL ROOFS IS YOUR GAME! YOU ARE IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES!

M B M A (Metal Building Manufacturers Association) ARCHIVE STATISTICS SHOW THAT SINCE 1960, 2,000,000,000 (that’s right, 2 billion) SQ. FT. OF METAL BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE - OVER 50 MILLION SQ. FT. PER YEAR FOR 40 YEARS ON AVERAGE.

WHAT IS THE AVERAGE LIFE OF A METAL ROOF? THAT DEPENDS ON WHERE IT IS, BUT ON AVERAGE, 18 TO 27 YEARS. THE POINT IS THAT SINCE 1980, FIFTY MILLION SQ. FT OF METAL RE-ROOF HAS TAKEN PLACE EVERY YEAR AND IS RAPIDLY GROWING. YOUR EXPERTISE IS IN DEMAND! EVERY YEAR A NEW CROP OF AGING ROOFS COMES TO MARKET TO ASSURE YOU A NEVER ENDING SUPPLY OF PROFITABLE CONTRACTS.

NEW TECHNOLOGY AND NEW PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS THAT MAKE YOUR RETRO-FIT RE-ROOF JOBS SIMPLE, FAST AND SECURE.

IN THE RECENT PAST, CONTRACTORS HAD FEW OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO THE “TEAR-OFF-AND-REPLACE” PROCEDURE WHICH PRESENTED THEM WITH SERIOUS PROBLEMS OF LIABILITY IN OPENING THE STRUCTURE TO WEATHER DAMAGE, FALLING DEBRIS AND CLEAN-UP. FURTHER COSTS WERE INCURRED BY HAVING TO REPLACE EXISTING INSULATION IN MOST CASES DUE TO DAMAGE DURING ROOF PANEL REMOVAL AND LABOR COST ESCALATION BY THE NECESSITY OF RE-INSTALLING NEW INSULATION AND ROOF PANELS WHILE WORKING OVER OPEN STRUCTURALS.

WHAT ABOUT THE OWNERS—OR TENANTS? THEY HAD TO EITHER SHUT DOWN OR CURTAIL OPERATIONS FOR DAYS OR WEEKS AS THE RE-ROOFING PROGRESSED.

IN VIEW OF THE LIABILITY EXPOSURE AND OTHER PROBLEMS, THE CONTRACTORS AND ERECTORS WERE UNDERSTANDABLY RELUCTANT TO PURSUE SUCH WORK. OVER THE YEARS THEY DEVISED VARIOUS “MAKE—DO” SOLUTIONS USING EXISTING AVAILABLE MATERIALS SUCH AS STAND-UP CLIPS WITH A NEW PURLIN ON TOP, SINGLE AND DOUBLE “HAT” CHANNELS AND EVEN FURRING CHANNELS IN ATTEMPTS TO SATISFY OWNER DEMANDS TO NOT OPEN THE BUILDING OR INTERFERE WITH ONGOING BUSINESS.

SUCH SYSTEMS WERE MOSTLY NON-ENGINEERED “FIELD ADAPTATIONS”. THE MOST POPULAR BECAME THE LIGHT GAUGE “HAT SECTION” WHICH WAS READILY AVAILABLE AND RELATIVELY CHEAP WHEN THE EXTRA LABOR IS NOT FACTORED IN.

A GREAT MANY OF THESE WERE MERELY SET ON TOP OF THE SHEET RIBS AND FASTENED BY ONE LONG FASTENER INTO A PURLIN BELOW THROUGH ONLY ONE SIDE “RAIL” OF THE HAT.

SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT MEETS NO UPLIFT CODE OR SOUND ENGINEERING PRACTICES AND HAS BEEN THE CAUSE OF MANY FAILURES LEAVING THE PERPETRATOR LIABLE AND THE OWNER WITH A SUB-STANDARD ROOF IN DANGER OF “BLOW OFF”. WE HAVE SEEN AND HAVE PICTURES OF SUCH FAILURES AND HAVE HEARD ABOUT NUMEROUS OTHERS.

SEVERAL OF THE MAJOR MANUFACTURERS HAVE DEVELOPED PROPERLY ENGINEERED RETRO ATTACHMENT SYSTEMS BUT MOST HAVE MULTIPLE PIECES TO WORK WITH AND RESULT IN A CONSIDERABLE “BUILD—UP” IN HEIGHT OF THE NEW ROOF OVER THE OLD, SOME AS MUCH AS 6 INCHES AND ARE LABOR AND TRIM OUT INTENSIVE.

THE EARLY NINETIES SAW THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW PRODUCT WHICH WAS DESTINED TO BECOME THE STANDARD FOR A NEW IMPETUS IN RETRO-FITTING ROOFS IN LIEU OF “TEAR—OFF’S”. THE FIRST EVER LOW –SILHOUETTE, ONE PIECE, “Z” SUB-PURLIN SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED, ENGINEERED, TESTED AND CERTIFIED ATTACHMENT MEMBER TO RETRO-FIT OVER MOST ANY EXISTING RIB PROFILE.

THE”ROOF HUGGER” CONCEPT IS A 16 GA. HI-TENSILE, GALVANIZED, MINIATURE “Z” THAT IS FACTORY PUNCHED TO FIT OVER EXISTING RIBS SO THAT THE BOTTOM FLANGE RESTS DIRECTLY ON THE FLAT PAN OF EXISTING PANEL. FASTENERS ARE INSTALLED THROUGH PRE PUNCHED HOLES INTO THE STRUCTURAL PURLIN BELOW FOR AN UNCOMPROMISING, STRUCTURALLY SECURE ATTACHMENT ON WHICH TO MOUNT THE NEW “ROOF—OVER”.

ROOF HEIGHT CHANGE IS HELD TO 3/8 TO 5/8 OF AN INCH ABOVE THE EXISTING HIGH RIBS: ONE PIECE, 10 FT. LENGTHS WITH PRE-PUNCHED FASTENER HOLES ASSURE RAPID, COST SAVING INSTALLATION: ERECTORS WORK OFF THE PLATFORM OF THE OLD ROOF FOR CONSIDERABLE COST REDUCTION: NO INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS OR OPENING TO POSSIBLE LIABILITIES: NO REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING INSULATION: TWO-ROOF SECURITY WITH CAVITY AIR SPACE BETWEEN OR FOR ADDED INSULATION IF DESIRED: MINIMAL TRIM OUT COSTS.

THOSE ARE THE BENEFITS THAT HAVE SPAWNED A SURGE IN DEMAND AND PURSUIT OF RETRO-FIT RE-ROOFING. IT HAS NOW BECOME EASY, FAST, ECONOMICAL AND PROFITABLE. THE FUTURE LOOMS VERY LARGE INDEED AS ONE VIEWS THE HUGE NUMBERS OF METAL BUILDINGS PRODUCED IN THE ‘70’S THRU THE ‘90’S.

OTHER VERSIONS OF THE PATENTED AND TRADEMARKED “ROOF HUGGER” ARE BEING OFFERED THE INDUSTRY BY MAJOR NATIONAL AND REGIONAL MANUFACTURERS AND COMPONENT SUPPLIERS UNDER PRIVATE AGREEMENTS WITH ROOF HUGGER, INC. AS REPORTED IN NATIONAL MAGAZINES.

IN ADDITION TO OUR USE OF 40 YRS. OF M B M A ARCHIVES ON METAL BUILDING SALES, WE REFER INTERESTED READERS TO THE EXCELLENT STATISTICS AND GRAPHICS PUBLISHED BY METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS “BUILDING SYSTEMS PRODUCT FILE AND DIRECTORY, 2002” PGS. 6,8,10 AND THE FEB. 2002 ISSUE OF METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS MAGAZINE PGS. 47 TO 50 TO SEE THE GRAPH CHARTS BY REGIONS AND APPLICATION IN THE U. S. FOR METAL RE-ROOFING IN SQ. FT. AND DOLLARS EXPENDED FOR MATERIALS ONLY.

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