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Thursday, October 19, 2000
Water damage keeps Abilene
roofers busy
By Ken Ellsworth
Reporter-News Staff Writer
Heavy rain Tuesday and sprinkles
Wednesday kept Abilene roofers puddle-hopping to answer complaints
of sagging ceiling tiles, wet wallboard and damp carpets.
Unfortunately, not much could
be done until drier, more favorable conditions returned.
“You’ve just got to
find a bucket,” said Sean Siewert, an estimator at Lydick-Hooks
Roofing Co., shortly after Tuesday’s storm.
Lydick-Hooks, which employs about
60 people, had answered about 200 calls from Abilenians complaining
of leaking roofs during and immediately after the storm. Siewert
said it would take at least a week to follow up on all the calls.
Calls were evenly divided between
home and business owners, he said.
By Wednesday, the calls had slowed
to a comparative trickle, but roofers were able to start working
on permanent repairs.
“Naturally, in a drought
nobody knows they have roofing problems,” said David Phillips,
manager of Hartman Roofing Inc. “So, when something like
this happens, it’s a good time to pinpoint roofing problems.
You don’t have to guess where they are.”
Doyle Story, the owner of Doyle
Story Roofing and Construction, said small cracks in roofs usually
go unnoticed until heavy downpours.
“You can get 1 or 2 inches
of rain and it won’t get in,’’ he said. “But
then you get 5 inches and you’ve got water everywhere.’’
Abilene roofers will stay very
busy during the next week or so, he estimated.
Barr Roofing answered about 80
calls by early Tuesday afternoon.
“We just take them as they
come in,” estimator Bob South said.
Most calls Tuesday came from
the north side of Abilene, where the rain was heaviest.
Roofing defects and wear came
to the forefront during Tuesday’s deluge. Clogged gutters
and roof drainage systems contributed, but homes and businesses
with flat roofs may have taken the brunt of the damage.
“Around here, those roofs
are just not made to drain that amount of water, even if they
are draining properly,” South said.
When water accumulates and rises
above the roof’s flashing, which is sheet metal that protects
roofing joints, problems multiply.
“Then, water runs in big
time,” South said.
Besides businesses and homes,
several of Abilene’s public buildings had their share of
leaks, most notably City Hall.
Abilene Independent School District
officials said 69 roof leaks were reported in school facilities,
which total 2.7 million square feet of roofing.
Despite the prospect of expensive
repairs, no one seemed upset or angry when reporting leaks, roofers
said.
“Everybody just seemed glad
to get the rain,” South said.
Contact staff writer Ken Ellsworth
at 676-6777 or ellsworthk@abinews.com.
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