Horn Brothers was selected to perform annex roof renovations during a special meeting of Hopkins County Commissioners Court Thursday afternoon.
Hopkins County Commissioners Court on Monday tabled making a decision about the roof renovation for the annex building housing the County Clerk’s Office, at Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Price’s request. Price cited a possible problem with materials to be used.
Tom Glosup, who provides consulting services for the county buildings, explained the bid specification called for a TPO roof or equal. One of the two bids included a PVC roof as that is consider “equal.”
When the bids were presented Aug. 26, 2021, for consideration, County Auditor Shannah Aulsbrook told the Commissioners Court Horn Brothers submitted a bid for $105,227 and Alta Vista Roofing submitted a bid for $77,000. Aside for the obvious difference in cost, the biggest difference in the bids, according to Aulsbrook, is the time frame when each business can perform the work.
Horne Brothers anticipates being able to start the project in 7 to 14 days after a contract is signed. Alta Vista Roofing does not anticipate being able to start the project until mid-December.
“The County is trying to get this done by the end of the budget year. We have interior damage in the interior of the building and we really don’t want to start the renovation of the building until the roof problem issue is [resolved]. We’ve done maintenance on it and done temporary repairs to stem any influx motion from the building. We don’t want to have to keep continuing to do that, so the time frame is the main issue here,” Glosup said.
Glosup said work on a project of this type during the winter months typically takes longer due to inclement weather. During the project, there will be several areas exposed. This, Glosup pointed out, is the dryer part of the year. So, the main problem is the time frame.
“Since I became county judge, we’ve been dealing with this roof. The is everything, I believe is what I hear you saying. Get the job done before the inclement weather does come in,” Newsom said, asking if there would be enough insurance money to cover the higher bid to get the job finished before winter.
Aulsbrook said insurance proceeds should provide more than enough funding to cover hte cost of the EPS flute fill and 90 mil TPO retrofit over the metal standing roof. Glosup noted insurance funds will cover interior improvements for water damages caused when roof issues resulted in the building flooded more than one time over the past few years.
“It’s my understanding those materials can only be applied if the temperature’s above 55 degrees,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Wade Bartley said.
Glosup said it is a fully adhered system that is glued to the substrate that is provided. This calls for a subsystem to be built over the existing standing roof called a flute fill product. EPS insulation is used to fill the flutes, spaced 24 inches apart. A recovery board is mechanically fastened over the top of it using FM-I90 criteria (industry standard)
“You come in with an EPS insulation and fill the flutes between standing seams and then you put a recovery board on top of it that’s mechanically fastened in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications and industry stands, FM-I90 criteria. Then, you fully adhere the TPO or the PVC to that sub seam – essentially weld it. The product comes in a row you either buy it in 6-foot-wide sheets or 10-foot-wide sheets and it’s 100 foot long, so you cover big long areas. You don’t have as many seams as you would using an asphalt-type product. You get 20 years with this product,” Glosup said.
The glue that is used has to be kept above 50 degrees, and the temperature needs to be 50 degrees and rising to use it, Glosup said.
“So if we wait until mid December we may not have to time to get that job done,” Bartley said. “I’m all for saving money. There’ a big difference between those two bids. I think to get the job done we may have to go with the higher bid.”
Some of the adherent or glue to hold the pieces of the roofing together must be performed when temperatures are 50 degrees or higher, Glosup affirmed. The insulation will also make the building more energy efficient, which should reduce energy costs as well.
Bartley made a motion, seconded by Price, to go with the more expensive bid from Horn Brothers, to go ahead and get the annex roof renovation done. The motion passed with the unanimously vote of the court, which consisted of all members except Precinct 1 Commissioner Mickey Barker who was unable to attend the meeting.
