CLIENT:
Perdido Beach Resort
TYPE:
Reroofing After Hurricane Damage
PROJECT LENGTH:
100 Days
CHALLENGES
Category 2 Hurricane Sally hit the Florida Gulf Coast in September 2020, inflicting widespread damage across the affected region that was estimated to cost $7.3 Billion dollars. Mobile, Alabama & Pensacola, Florida took the brunt of the damage, where the hurricane made landfall on the continental US. Perdido Beach Resort was right in the middle of where the hurricane hit in Orange Beach, Alabama. The powerful storm caused over $26 million dollars worth of damage to the resort, with the roof being completely destroyed.
Bruce Benton was hired by Perdido Resort as the General Contractor for scheduled renovations before the hurricane hit, and once the damage was inflicted, he pivoted to working on procuring the right team of subcontractors to make the necessary repairs to the resort.
Mr. Benton first discovered EC Malone through a Google search for commercial roofing companies a couple of years earlier while developing a plan to reroof a large 80,000 SF department store in Tallahassee, FL. Malone Roofing was ultimately awarded the contract and delivered expert craftsmanship and project management, earning the respect of Bruce and his team. Having worked with Malone Roofing before, he knew they were close to Perdido and had the resources to get the temporary roof done right – and quickly.
PROCESS
With over 35 years of experience in construction and engineering, Bruce knew that local roofers would be overwhelmed with emergency service calls from the community. Most locally-based roofing companies in Pensacola, Florida were not prepared to have the whole county calling for service. In all likelihood most of the local roofers were probably busy trying to fix their own damaged roofs, which was understandable. This meant that a larger, regional roofing company would more likely be capable of dedicating the proper time and resources to administer a temporary roof system to the badly damaged Perdido Resort. Malone Roofing had offices in the neighboring cities of Pensacola and Mobile, but could also mobilize labor, materials, and equipment from their other service locations including Hattiesburg, MS & Baton Rouge, LA locations.
Bruce got in contact with Roman Malone, the President of the company, who personally came out to survey the damage on the roof and got the ball rolling in developing a plan. The first order of business was getting a temporary roof installed to prevent any further interior damage from occurring due to wind and rain exposure. After that, a plan to install a permanent roofing system would then be developed. Malone Roofing, having always been on the cutting edge of smart roofing techniques, used an innovative strategy to hold the temp roof down. The technique, held as a trade secret within the company, enabled them to successfully secure the roof without the need to transport heavy anchor weights up to the top of the building. Then the unthinkable happened. Shortly after the temporary roof was applied, Hurricane Zeta hit Orange Beach and added insult to injury. Making landfall further west in Louisiana, Zeta was less powerful than Sally. However, it still had the power to destroy the temporary roof that had just been completed.
EC Malone quickly mobilized their crews once again and in a matter of days re-installed a new temp roof. The quick response and the confident measure in which Malone operated while performing the roof repair to the temp roof heavily influenced Bruce’s decision to hire Malone Roofing to install the permanent roof for the Perdido Beach Resort.For the permanent low slope roofs, EC Malone installed a Duro Last PVC membrane because of its extensive track record against the long term effects of heat aging and UV’s of the sun and the corrosive, salty air from the coast. On the steep slope portions of the roof, they chose Eagle Tile, a concrete tile that’s long-lasting and environmentally friendly. Careful consideration went into all materials that were chosen for the job. All of the roof components that were selected were required to meet the minimum 160 mph wind ratings considering the Gulf coast’s susceptible to tropical storms and hurricanes each year. While a building can’t fully evade intense natural disasters, it can do its best to fortify its defenses with top-of-the-line building materials.
In the end, the permanent roof on the Perdido Beach Resort was completed in 100 days; from early January until its completion in mid-April. With multiple roof sections, different roof types (both steep and low slope), and additional safety measures in place, as well as reroofing on multiple elevations throughout the property, the timely finish was a major accomplishment.
RESULTS
Bruce Benton was very satisfied with the expertise, skill, and professionalism of the Malone Roofing team. He knew that Malone’s ability to hire, develop, and retain top roofing industry talent with the right kind of work ethic would serve the Perdido Beach Resort project well. Mr. Benton was especially pleased with Malone’s superintendent, Brad Farinelli, whom he said was a consummate professional in his duties on the job. Mr. Farinelli was charged with all scheduling duties and at many times wore several different hats – he was quick to address and develop solutions to problems that arose, as well as communicate with manufacturers to develop details that would provide for a good warranty.
Things like Brad Farinelli’s success are credited to Malone’s commitment to quality control, in the end, says Mr. Benton. He can’t stress enough how important the people involved are to the process of a major roof replacement project. Always looking for different ways to help, Roman Malone and the team were adamant about securing additional funds from the insurance claim to properly replace the roof. Having decades of experience in negotiating with insurance companies, the Malone team was able to secure an additional $900,000 for the project, bringing the total amount earmarked for the roof to $2.7 million dollars (the entire Perdido insurance claim was nearly 10 million dollars).
When asked, Roman Malone said “helping is just what we do. If we have a special way of doing something that will help our client or our community, we do it.” With all of the devastation surrounding Orange Beach, there was understandably some chaos in the local relief efforts. There were families and businesses who were waiting days if not weeks to have their property inspected for hurricane damage that would support an insurance claim. The local roofing contractors were, in fact, overwhelmed and needed assistance from those who could lend a helping hand. EC Malone Roofing was able to come in and offer their support, helping make a difference however great or small to the residents who had just lost so much.
Mr. Benton believes that Malone’s ability to mobilize their assets, strategize a relief plan, and implement forward-thinking roofing solutions was the key to their success at Perdido Beach Resort. After already partnering with Malone Roofing twice with excellent results, Bruce has continued to work closely with Malone Roofing at the Perdido Beach resort as the locally-based preferred service provider to address unforeseen emergency leaks, general roof maintenance, and roof inspections. He is confident he will always call on them again in the future when the right opportunity arises.
PERDIDO- TESTIMONY
“E.C. Malone Roofing is all about performance in areas of pricing, quality work, scheduling, and service. I’ll definitely use them again”
– Bruce Benton, Consultant for Engineering & Construction