The Haines School roof isn’t one, but several roofs that have been replaced at different times using at least three different kinds of coverings.
It’s not clear that any of them are wateright. Besides chronic leaks, there have been more recent ones on sections of roof that were new when the Haines Borough rebuilt the school in 2007.
Above the high school, there are seams that are separating and caulking that’s shrinking and cracking with age. At one spot, where water is puddled between layers of roofing, asphalt moves with a ripple effect when stepped on.
A crew from Silverbow Construction of Juneau will take the latest stab at sealing the surfaces in the coming weeks. The company bid $50,900 on fixes outlined in a 2013 study by engineers Jensen Yorba and Lott.
Borough facilities director Brian Lemcke and school maintenance man Gary Stigen toured the roof on a recent sunny day, pointing out problem areas including spots where sections of roof meet, where seams are no longer tight and the 10-foot long section of trapped puddle that lies below torched-down asphalt covering.
Lemcke said school officials and the public should realize that the budget for the work will limit how much can be done.
“I don’t have high hopes for what we’re going to do, but we’re going to get as much done as we can. If we get some contingency money, we’ll get some more done, including maybe some flashing. We’ll walk the new roof and maybe see if we can forestall some issues there,” he said.
One of the reasons the upcoming fixes won’t be permanent is that a lot of “sealing” called for in the engineer’s report involves placing or replacing caulking or what Lemcke calls “mastic.”
“We’re putting a lot of faith in mastic and caulking, and it isn’t going to last,” Lemcke said. “A Band-aid is what it is. You buy a tube of caulk and it says on the side how long it’s going to last.”
A longer-term approach would be installation of flashing to keep water away from seams, he said. “A lot of the small areas are going to be masticked over. There’s been so much reliance on mastic over the years, but I’m not an engineer, maybe they’re building submarines with this stuff these days.”
One of the problems with diagnosing roof problems is that big leaks can come from small holes, Lemcke and Stigen said.
Another is that some leaks occur only during certain conditions, like a warm south wind following a dump of snow. And water entering the school can travel a long distance along roof beams before it becomes a drip in the ceiling, making the source difficult to identify.
“On a day like today, there are areas (of the roof) that look like they’re going to last another 20 or 30 years, but after a couple feet of snow followed by rain, maybe not,” Lemcke said.
Leaks in recent years include above the art room, home economics room, high school gym, and an office off the high school open area. Others are above the cafeteria and elementary gym. On the section of the roof built in 2007, wind blew a section of flashing off. That was an easy fix, said maintenance man Stigen.
Stigen expressed more optimism than Lemcke. He said caulking installed around doors in a second-floor, utility penthouse has apparently stemmed most the leaking there.
Stigen said flat roofs in Southeast Alaska often leak and that regular maintenance and patching are the only viable responses. “I’m relatively happy,” Stigen said.
Lemcke said it won’t be long before the district is forced to spend more on the roof.
As for leaks in the eight-year-old section, he said: “It’s frustrating to have leaks in a new building, but it’s not that new any more.”
According to school officials, contractors and former maintenance men, roofs above the high school have been replaced at least four times since construction in 1973. Types of coverings used on those sections include torch-down asphalt, PVC membrane and rubberized membrane.
Voters last fall rejected a $1.4 million roof replacement bond after some residents with experience on the roof questioned whether replacing the roof would change much.They pointed out that leaks have defied even major roof replacements.
Former public facilities director Carlos Jimenez also said he was more inclined to fix problems in the roof than to pursue a larger replacement project.