Silver Bow Construction of Juneau will return to Haines in warmer weather to again look at Haines School’s leaky roof, a puzzle that has defied fixes for decades.
The company was paid $50,900 to address leaks last summer, but they have persisted, including over the elementary school gym, a roof section put down in 2007. The company returned and did additional patching before Christmas.
“Some of their patching didn’t work,” said district maintenance chief Gary Stigen. “We had some leaks at a new downspout over the art room. They put in an additional drain where water had pooled up.”
The nature of the leaks also may have changed, Stigen said. “Whenever it’s slushy we have leaks, not so much anymore when there’s blowing rain.”
Two other downspouts are causing drips into the high school gym, he said. “It’s just a drip. It’s more of an irritant than anything.”
There’s also a drip coming through the eight-year-old roof of the elementary gym, although Stigen suspects water there may be seeping through flashing rather than the roof surface.
Continued leaking didn’t come as a great surprise to school officials. Former borough public facilities director Brian Lemcke called Silver Bow’s work a “Band-aid,” and questioned whether the job that involved caulking should have involved more flashing.
“We’re putting a lot of faith in masic and caulking and it isn’t going to last,” Lemcke said in June.
School superintendent Rich Carlson reported at the school board’s January meeting that borough chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart recommended putting the roof project on the borough’s major maintenance list.
“As the district may need to look for other funding sources, Stuart felt it would not hurt to have them on the six-year CIP request and the borough’s major maintenance list,” Carlson reported.