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Safety Concerns Prompted School to Install Snow Guards

 

Project at a Glance

“We always recommend ColorGard as the most reliable snow retention product of its kind on the market. With unsurpassed holding strength, S-5! ColorGard is a tested, trusted and engineered product that performs for the life of the roof.”

-Lisa Olson, Metal Products Coordinator, Brock Associates

The Situation & Results

Latrobe Elementary School is a state-of-the-art facility featuring two-story classroom wings, a cafeteria with a stage, full-prep kitchen, gymnasium, media center, science and technology classrooms, band/music rooms, a center for student creativity, administrative offices and support spaces designed to serve nearly 700 students. 

Located outside of Pittsburgh in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the school is within easy driving distances of several popular ski areas, and the building’s design, by Monroeville, Pennsylvania-based Axis Architecture, intentionally mirrors the feel of its surroundings with a Swiss chalet theme in its roofline. 

ColorGard® is mounted on the eaves of more than 18,000 square feet of Petersen’s Tite-Loc Plus roof panels in a distinct, custom marquis orange finish, which emphasizes the angled gables. The 22-gauge panels, along with 3,800 square feet of .032 gauge PAC-750 soffit, complement the classic terra cotta-toned brick that clads the upper two-thirds of the school’s façade.

Roofing contractor, Pennsylvania Roofing Systems (PRS) faced quite a challenge on this project as the acoustical deck for half the building was running in the wrong direction. This posed a problem, as attaching the clips for the metal panels would perforate the acoustical deck. Another challenge was that school administrators were concerned about mounting snow on the new metal roof and the safety of its schoolchildren down below.

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What Worked?

PRS fabricated a 16-gauge hat channel installed over the acoustical decking to ensure the correct clip attachment. The roof panels were rolled on the site. Crews also installed 3,800 square feet of .032 gauge PAC-750 soffit.

Material supplier, Brock Associates suggested installing ColorGard snow retention by S-5! Manufactured from high-tensile, certified aluminum and extensively tested for load-to-failure results, ColorGard controls roof snow migration and dramatically reduces the risks associated with rooftop avalanches.

PRS installed ColorGard on 10 sections of the metal roof. The non-penetrating system was easy to install and complemented the look of the school’s unique marquis orange roof, with a clean appearance and perfect color and finish-matching, all designed to last the life of the roof.

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Long Term Outlook

ColorGard® was custom designed and engineered for this project, and dramatically reduced the risk of sliding snow and rooftop avalanches.  It provides safety to the school children while complementing the look of the school’s unique marquis orange roof, with a clean appearance and perfect color and finish-matching, all designed to last the life of the roof. 

S-5! Products Used

ColorGard® snow guards feature finish-matching that lasts the life of the roof because it is the same material as the roof. Easily install any time of the year; or retrofit the ColorGard system to an existing roof or incorporate it in the new roof design.

The S-5-V (“V” is for vertical) is a cost-effective solution for most machine-folded seams in vertical orientation and within certain dimensions. This is one of our most popular standing seam metal roof clamps.

Learn More about ColorGard S-5-V Clamp
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