Published: May 28, 2008 03:57 pm      

Roofs of Rusk public buildings need repair

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

The good news is there haven’t been any roof leaks reported at Rusk City Hall or Singletary Memorial Library; the bad news is it’s only a matter of time, unless something is done now.

Both public buildings have been inspected and diagnosed with terminal roofing problems.

“(A city inspector) told us the city hall’s roof sagged as he walked around on it,” Rusk City Manager Mike Murray told council members in a meeting held in April.

Murray said city officials asked the roofing company contracted to repair the Cherokee Heritage Museum — which developed several severe leaks earlier this year — to look at the public library’s roof when they inspected the museum’s roof earlier this month.

“They told us that the library’s roof was holding water like a sponge,” Murray said. “When they stepped on it, it squirted water out of the roof.

“It’s bad,” Murray said.

All three buildings were sprayed with roofing foam in the past, which is what city officials say is the problem now.

City Maintenance Director Neill Holcomb recommended using Parsons Commercial Roofing to repair the roofs during April’s regular meeting.

The company, based in Waco, recently reroofed the Cherokee County Courthouse.

“Parsons Commercial Roofing specializes in the installation of the Duro-Last Roof System,” states the company’s Web site. “We have installed the Duro-Last system on numerous schools, churches, banks, shopping malls, private businesses, and government buildings, totaling over 1,000 roofing projects and over 16 million square feet.”

According to Duro-Last’s Web site, Duro-Last® Roofing, Inc. manufactures a custom-prefabricated, reinforced, thermoplastic membrane roofing system.

“Extremely durable and easily installed by authorized contractors without disruption to daily operations, the Duro-Last single-ply roofing system is also leak-proof, resistant to chemicals, fire and high winds, and virtually maintenance-free,” the site states.

Prefabrication reportedly reduces the material waste associated with installing most rolled-membrane systems — omitting up to 85 percent of the seaming required for other single-ply roofing systems.