A roofing problem on a school in Greers Ferry, Arkansas, called for restoration services from Freedom Roofing Solutions.

The Vilonia, Arkansas-based contractor formed and curved Drexel Metals roof panels on-site to resolve the issue. The project required removing the school’s existing roof and replacing it with a new one.

But it wasn’t quite that simple, said Brian Kirk, co-owner of Freedom Roofing Solutions.

The original roof on Greers Ferry High School was comprised of asphalt shingles on a barrel-vaulted section and modified asphalt on some low-slope side roofs.

Prior repair attempts weren’t always performed properly, he said.

“The school allowed someone to spray the roof with some kind of foam product,” Kirk said. “It looked pretty bad.”

Once the original roof was removed, Freedom added some structural framing to the low-slope side roofs to create enough slope for the new roof to more effectively shed snow and rain. Before the metal roofing was formed and installed, the crew installed a high-temperature underlayment.

Since the company owns a Drexel Metals roll former, workers were able to fabricate the roof panels at the worksite. Next, Freedom ran the panels through a curving machine rented from Drexel. From there, crews could run full-length panels with no laps all the way to the gymnasium, which was the barrel-vault section. Some panels measured up to 50 feet long. The entire project was approximately 26,000 square feet.

 “Metal roofing was a great fit for this project,” said Craig Boone of Architecture Plus Inc. in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

A barrel-vault roof with two side sections was installed over the gym.

“Those panels on the barrel were curved on-site and laid down perfectly on the structure,” Boone said. “From there, metal worked as a great transition to the two sloped side roofs. We were able to match the school colors and provide a leak-free roofing system.”

It was a good thing, too — within a month of installation, the community received 20 inches of rain, he added.

“If it was going to leak, I think someone would have let us know by now,” Boone said.