HUTCHINSON MALL

Roofing Size: 600,000SF (6,000SQ)

Additional Trades: Roof Vacuum, EIFS, Acoustical Tiles, Exterior Paint, Interior Painting, Sign Fabrication, Electrical, Standing Seam Metal Roofing, HVAC, Plumbing, Remediation, Carpentry, Drywall, Asphalt Repair, Skylights, project management and claims consulting.

Project Valuation: $11,000,000.00

The Hutchinson Mall Project was the largest insurance claim in 2013 as a result of storm damage. CAT Contracting services commercial clients throughout the nation and responded to one of our large commercial clients within 24 hours of the grapefruit sized hail impacting their property.

When we arrived on the property just 20 hours after the storm subsided, the impact was devastating. Commercial skylights were riddled with holes larger than baseballs. The gravel ballasted roofing system looked more like the surface of the moon. Where the roof was exposed hail stones busted the 4-ply membrane which is meant to withstand 160 pounds per square inch of pressure.

Our immediate attention was focused on securing the breaches in the skylights and temporary filling the impacts in the roofing system. Membrane tape was used to cover the holes in the skylights while the roofing repairs proved more challenging. With over 1” of rain per day following the storm the mitigation process proved difficult. Over 5 pallets of Qui-Crete mortar mix was utilized in order to mound over the holes in the roof. The rain wets the mix and clumps into layers of built up roofing. With an hour of dry weather between storms, small plugs would form and limit the water that could enter the property.

Next we focused our attention to the stores and mall corridors where the water had collapsed ceiling tiles and flooded the floors. Moisture readings were taken, ceiling tiles removed & disposed, and blowers were strategically placed to begin the dry out process. Once the claim negotiation was under way we began replacing the 600,000 square feet of the building’s waterlogged roofing system. The majority of the existing roofing system consisted of 2” of fiberglass, 4-ply asphalt built up roofing and 2” of gravel ballast. The most vulnerable area however consisted of 3” EPS under EPDM Loose laid with River Rock Ballast. The Roof had bridged (buckled) exposing the membrane with no protection to the immense hail. The hail had torn completely through the rubber diminishing the waterproofing capability over some of America’s largest retail box stores.

The ballast stone was vacuumed in sections while the new insulation was craned atop of the loose laid rubber in order to avoid the existing roof from blowing off. We removed section by section of roofing while installing 2 levels of Insulation. R-20 code was met by stagger stacking one layer of 1.5” ISO and another of 2” ISO mechanically attached to the metal roof deck. We then installed Densdeck cover board to offer additional fire rating and hail impact resistance. A .60 mil Roofing system was mechanically attached in the field and fully adhered to the parapet walls.

Once this section of the roofing system was completed we moved onto the south side and began working our way north on the 24 sections of the built up roofing system. The gravel ballast was vacuumed and removed in order to uncover the roofing system for tear off. We then saw-cut sections of the built up roofing to expedite off loading, and removed the insulation and perlite below.

The debris was then hoisted down by crane and disposed of. New insulation was installed in 1.5” and 2” stagger stacked layers and the Versico 60mil system was then mechanically attached to the roof deck over a Densdeck cover board. New drains, roof hatches and flashings were installed as we progressed through the project along with new Hickman Engineered Perma-Snap pressure cleat metal coping system around the perimeter. The roofing system began in August and progressed into February due to frigid temperatures in December and January.

Once the roofing was under way we began the exterior repairs on the walls which were damaged by the hail storm. The fluted CMU was chipped on the west and south sides of the mall. This needed pressure washed and repainting which we contracted direct to one of our painting contractors. Once the exterior painting was completed we moved inside after hours to repair and paint the stained corridors that were damaged from the storm. We worked after hours in order to avoid conflict with customers of the mall.

Sections of the mall are skinned with EIFS plastering. These sections were badly damaged as the substrate of the EIFS system is comprised of EPS foam insulation and a thin skim coat of plaster. CAT Contracting erected 4 levels of scaffolding along with a barriers to maintain proper temperatures and proper curing of the EIFS build up.

Over 1.2 million dollars of the project was allocated for the replacement, repair and maintenance of HVAC Roof Top Units (RTUs). The hail was so intense that the coils were badly damaged and compromised the fluidity of the gas charged lines. By causing dents in the lines, the life of the unit was decreased and 40 Units needed complete replacement. An additional 44 units were repaired by replacing coils, compressors and metal work. Due to the distance some units were from the reachable walls, CAT Contracting helicoptered in the units to place and consecutively removed the existing unit.

As the roofing work progressed and the exterior envelope was service tested, we began nearly 200,000 SF of acoustical ceiling tile work. New grid systems were painted, installed and ceiling throughout the mall corridors and store units which were damaged. Labor was performed after hours to avoid interruption to mall traffic and ensure safety precautions could be taken for our crew and pedestrians.

As the project progressed through the major trades we began the ancillary trades. New Signs were designed and erected, asphalt parking lot repairs were scheduled and the standing seam metals were replaced around mall entrances.

A project of such magnitude could only be perfected through proper planning, procedural fortitude and attention to detail. Over 15 trades working together in restoring a property that suffered catastrophic damage proved to be challenging and demanding however our firm handled it with little disruption. The major offer CAT Contracting had to the projects ownership despite the general contracting experience was our years of successful contract and insurance claim facilitation.