Bigham Taylor Roofing has been maintaining, restoring, repairing and reroofing the eight buildings on the Fujitsu campus in Sunnyvale since 1999.
The latest reroofing project BT has finished is Building M4, which is the largest building on the campus at close to 2,000 squares. The challenges were multifaceted — a tri-level roof dominated by HVAC units, venting units and mechanical screens, a client that was working with sensitive technology underfoot, and the call for BT to work after hours to reduce the impact on the client.
BT Superintendent Rod Freitas points to the vast amount of mechanical systems on the roofing surface as his major concern. “On these types of buildings, where the client needs to maintain a pristine environment inside, we have to make sure all of the HVAC and venting remains undisturbed,” he says. “Plus, working in tight spaces during both the demo and re-roofing can be delicate.
“Then there are the needs of the client that we have to be tuned in to,” he continues. “We ended up working a lot of nights to reduce the noise and vibration that they would normally feel.”
According to Andrew Smith, Senior Field Advisor for Tremco Roofing, BT has served as the key roofing contractor on the site because of the dedication to things small and large. “They’ve been used on all of our projects out there,” he says, “and we have a relationship with them that goes back to the early 1970s. So, we trust them and the client trusts them.”
Smith reports that the new roof on M4 is a cold applied Modified Bitumen System. “The modified cap sheet is white and Title 24 compliant,” he says. “The sheet is set into a white adhesive, so when there is bleed through at the seams on the cap sheet, it’s white and not black.”
The choice to use cold applied was for client comfort, Smith adds. “We needed to minimize the odor issue, even though we were working during off hours, because the odor can be retained in the building’s HVAC units and air duct returns.”
While a number of BT roofers are busy on M4, another team is working on Building M3. “BT did this roof for me 12 years ago,” Smith recalls. “Now we’re doing restoration and upgrading the roof, while also doing some repair work. We took off all the original loose gravel and are fixing a couple of areas where water is ponding by adding some insulation and plywood. Then we’re applying Title 24 compliant white coating and white gravel.”
Smith is already looking towards the next project out at Fujitsu, Building M2 and its 1,000 squares.
“We’re ready for it,” Freitas says. “One of the great things about having long relationships with clients like we have here is that we know the ins and outs of these roofs. It gives us a leg up when it comes to service calls or re-roofing.”
