Working above facilities where sensitive technology and business-critical information lives is nothing new for Bigham Taylor crews. Answering client requests to have a roof watertight every night is just another job. Weather challenges like fog, rain, wind, and heat are an everyday occurrence in the roofing business.
When all of those conditions happen on the same job? Well, that’s what BT worked through during a complete tear-off and reroof project in West Sacramento in early 2026.
Given the sensitive nature of the work being done in the facility, the client requested interior protection to catch dust and debris from the roof tear-off and installation. A sub installed TuffWrap inside the building.
The client also asked its general contractor to perform minor trade work and tenant improvement projects, including resealing exterior windows, resealing the boxcar units on the roof, and minor electrical conduit rerouting to accommodate the roofing project.
“We’ve worked with this general contractor a couple of times before, and they’re always great,” says BT Senior Project Manager Paul Hemsath. “This is the first project of this size. They handled the coordination by far better than anyone else I’ve worked with, and they made all the subs’ lives relatively easy for a project of this size.”
“The spec and the consultant rule on this job was whatever we tore off we had to cover 100 percent,” Paul explains. “There was no vapor barrier in this system, so we had to install the full roof assembly every day. We did not set any speed records on this job, but we were doing about 20 squares a day with 10 guys, and that was phenomenal.”
Superintendent Marty Behrbaum adds: “The client, GC, and roofing consultant wanted us watertight every night. It didn’t matter what time of the year it was; they told us that it rains at 5 o’clock every day.”
Paul, Marty, and VP of Field Operations Steve Yocham put together three crews that could understand a very complicated project specification package and set of roof plans with crazy details far above industry standard, and they worked well together as a team.
The team also had to be ready for inspections on three of the five days, including city officials and inspectors. “It’s becoming more and more common,” reports Paul. “On another job we did, the client had one of their representatives along with the GC pop up on the roof maybe once a week, and then they wanted a copy of the manufacturer inspections every time.”
Given this job required a substantial amount of adhesive and because of the variance in weather conditions in West Sacramento, BT built a 10’x10’ heated storage containment area to maintain the adhesive’s effectiveness.
“That’s not the norm,” Paul says with a laugh. “I usually wouldn’t build a box on a roof, but that adhesive is very sensitive to the cold, and since Sacramento gets below freezing a lot of times, all the glue and adhesives would be ruined.”
Fog was the main concern, he adds. “There are two requirements for glue work: you can’t do it below a certain temperature, and you can’t do it above a certain moisture point. Fog is literally 100 percent moisture. As we were driving up to the job, it didn’t look foggy, but as soon as we hit Davis, it would be covered in fog.”
That fact delayed some days as the crews waited for the fog to burn off or temperatures to rise. “There were other days where we just said, ‘It doesn’t look like it’s going to clear,’ and we’d send the crews home.”
Weather permitting, BT crews took 20 to 25 squares a day down to the metal deck. Deck sealant filled any holes they found, and they were careful not to let the material (and the glue used to adhere the new system) drip into the building.
“There were just a bunch of little repairs across the deck,” Paul says. “Because over time, metal decks inherently have rust issues here and there. When metal decks are installed, they’re never meant to see the light of day or get water to them. But if a guy put a fastener in the wrong spot, pulled it out, and then left a hole, water gets in there.”
Any time a BT crew found a hole, they made it a point, before an inspector or consultant asked, to point out where they applied caulk, covered holes, or installed metal plates. “That wasn’t in the spec,” says Paul, “but they knew there was a problem and appreciated that we were fixing it.”
As weather permitted, the crews removed the existing roof, made repairs, filled holes, and then began installing a new system.
The first layer is a 2.1-inch-thick poly ISO, 25 psi coated glass facer set in insulation adhesive with bead spacing 4-inch, 6-inch, or 12-inch on center, depending on where we were working on the roof. Because of concerns about winds in the area, the crew used 4-inch bead spacing in the corners. The second layer is the same material set in the same ribbon pattern of insulation adhesive.
Soprema committed to the client to produce the custom 2.1-inch ISO facer and offered BT’s crews support throughout the project.
A half-inch primed DensDeck roof board adhered in the same ribbon pattern went on top of that.
Finally, the crew adhered Soprema SENTINEL P200 HFB, an 80-mil-thick, fleece-backed thermoplastic PVC roofing membrane, to the roof set in splatter membrane adhesive.
While much of the roof called for two layers of insulation, BT used six or seven layers near the perimeter walls, drains, pipe penetrations, or cricket systems. On those days, the crew got through 10 to 12 squares.
The crew installed SOPRA-TITE Gold Coping on the perimeter wall because the material can withstand high winds.
As with many other jobs, BT crews went back over the areas they had roofed after a subcontractor had completed their work.
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