Multifaceted Residential Project Puts Contractor to the Test

Craig Ranch is a multi-phase residential community in McKinney, Texas. Condominiums and town homes feature shingles and standing seam metal roofs. The metal wall panels are a distinctive focus of the design. Photos: Petersen

Photos: Petersen

Diversification has always been a key component of Paul Graham’s business philosophy. Graham is the president of StazOn Roofing Inc., headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company has been in business 38 years, handling all types of roofing, custom sheet metal fabrication and specialty wall panel systems.

Graham designed his company to be able to tackle multiple scopes of work on complicated projects. “Through time and through practice on all of these jobs, we’ve just been able to step up to the plate and maintain a multi-level task force to handle different types of work on the job,” he says.

The company’s diverse portfolio has been on display at Craig Ranch, a multi-phase residential development in McKinney, Texas. “It’s a high-end multi-family project,” Graham notes. “The most recent phase of the project involved a few five-story and predominately four-story buildings, all wood-framed. There are pools and courtyards with amenity areas for the residents.”

The buildings featured a blend of different roof systems. Crews from StazOn installed 60,000 square feet of shingles on roofs with a 4:12 pitch, 52,000 square feet of TPO on low-slope areas, and 8,500 square feet of standing seam metal roofing on roofs with an 8:12 pitch. They installed 22,000 square feet of standing seam wall panel cladding. The metal roof and wall panels were custom fabricated by StazOn with PAC-CLAD metal from Petersen in two colors, Zinc and Weathered Steel.

The company also fabricated and installed trim, flashing, gutters, collector boxes and rectangular downspouts. “We have our own sheet metal shop, so we can manufacture any type of architectural sheet metal product for our own jobs,” Graham says. “We also provided the builder with a proprietary door pocket at each of the door locations.”

Up on the Roof

The roofing work came first. On the large multi-family buildings, GAF EverGuard 60-mil white TPO was applied on the low-slope sections, which house the mechanical units and serve as a design feature on the project. “These were on the

Craig Ranch is a multi-phase residential community in McKinney, Texas. Condominiums and town homes feature shingles and standing seam metal roofs. The metal wall panels are a distinctive focus of the design. Photos: Petersen

perimeter of the buildings, primarily,” Graham explains. “The architect likes to showcase the walls, so to create that effect, they design a flat roof adjoining the pitched roof sections.”

GAF Timberline Dimensional Shingles in Weathered Wood were installed on the steeper sections of the large multi-family buildings. “These roofs had long, big runs,” Graham notes. “It was kind of like a roofer’s dream if you will, to shingle up there with nothing in the way. It was pretty wide open.”

Metal roofs were installed on a section of town homes. Where the intersecting roof sections formed valleys, crickets were installed to provide adequate drainage. These cricket sections were covered with TPO, and the details where the TPO roof and metal roof came together were crucial. “We terminated the TPO at the sloped roof with a receiver flashing that we heat welded to the TPO,” says Graham. “We take it one step further with that application, so we have a complete watertight transition from the TPO to the bottom of where the metal panel starts.”

The crickets divert water to the exterior, where it drains through the custom-made collector boxes. “The downspouts in those locations are oversized four-by-six downspouts fabricated at our shop from the Petersen material,” Graham notes. “Along with the other sheet metal items, we did the coping, the pre-flashing and flashing, the edge trim, and miscellaneous other vertical and horizontal expansion details.”

On the Walls

After waterproofing inspection of the exterior facade was completed, crews first applied a peel-and-stick building wrap from Grace, Vycor enV-S. “We took field measurements and we custom made all of the trim out of the four-by-eight sheets that Petersen supplied for the job,” Graham explains. “We make all of the trim to fit the windows, doors, penetrations, the steel support beams, which all get pre-flashed and clad.”

The metal roof and wall panels were custom fabricated with 24-gauge aluminum supplied by Petersen. Photos: Petersen

The 16-inch-wide wall panels were fabricated on the site. “We keep the panels protected until the guys are ready to install them,” Graham says. “We have everything we need right there on hand so we can keep up with the needs of the job as it is evolving.”

Panels are installed using a man lift. “From a safety standpoint and a production standpoint, it made sense to use the man lifts,” says Graham. “It’s the most maneuverable way to do the installation. We work in synchronization, moving three or four lifts at a time along the side of these walls as we work our way around the project.”

One unexpected challenge was a section of the leasing office that did not line up perfectly. “The builder came to us and asked if we could build the wall out and make sure all of the wall panels on the facade would be flush once the building was completed,” notes Graham. “We made some custom 16-gauge steel hat channels and Z-members and installed them as structural members to the wall. Then we installed the panels over the steel framing, so that we would have that same elevation and same build-out across the front of the building.”

Coordinated Attack

Phase III of the project was just completed, and Phase IV is now underway. Graham points to a few keys to navigating complicated projects like these. “It usually is a tight schedule, so coordinating with the builder to keep everything on schedule is the key,” says Graham. “You have to fabricate the necessary components and deliver them to the job in a timely fashion to keep the crews on target.”

Crews from StazOn Roofing installed the roof systems and wall panels, as well as custom-made trim, flashing, gutters, and downspouts. Photos: Petersen

Maintaining the consistency and quality of the details is also important, and experience helps. “We know what works best for the long haul,” he says. “At the end of the day, you want those details to line up with what the architect had as his vision, but we will make recommendations if we think there is a better way to construct a detail for specific conditions.”

The wall panels on this project were a top priority. “The specialty wall panel systems are so architecturally significant,” he says. “We kind of live and breathe them. We understand them. We’ve come across many, many challenges along the way on other jobs, so when we run into a new challenge, we just roll up our sleeves, get it figured out, design it with all of the people involved, and get going with it.”

Graham credits the Dallas-based builder and the Dallas-based architecture firm, JHP, for spearheading the successful project. “It’s nice when you have a team you’ve worked with and everyone understands what needs to be done to satisfy the client’s desires,” he says.

TEAM

Architect: JHP, Dallas, Texas, www.jhparch.com
Roofing Contractor: StazOn Roofing Inc., Dallas, Texas, www.stazonroof.com

MATERIALS

TPO: EverGuard 60-mil white TPO, GAF, www.GAF.com
Asphalt Laminate Shingles: Timberline Dimensional Shingle in Weathered Wood, GAF
Metal Roof and Wall Panels: PAC-CLAD 24-gauge aluminum in Zinc and Weathered Steel, Petersen, www.Pac-Clad.com
Building Wrap: Vycor enV-S, Grace, www.gcpat.com

About the Author

Chris King
Chris King is the editor in chief of Roofing magazine. He has covered the construction industry for more than 20 years, previously serving as editor of Roofing Contractor, managing editor of the Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News, and associate editor of Plumbing & Mechanical. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

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