There has been a lot of noise on the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma’s campus recently. The source of that noise is Lawson Court getting new roofs.
During the third full week of May, Oklahoma Roofing worked hard to redo the roofs of all the apartment buildings on campus: Lewis, Shackleford, and Shaffer. The roofs of Robertson Hall and Lawson Clubhouse are undergoing repairs along with the apartments receiving new roofs.
Lawson Court’s roofs were not in horrible shape, but could use a bit of work from storm damage. The roofs of Robertson Hall and Lawson Clubhouse, on the other hand, were just missing some shingles here and there.
You may be pondering some questions at this point. Why are the roofs being redone or repaired, and why did the apartments receive new colored shingles?
The lifespan of asphalt shingles is roughly 20 to 25 years. Now factor in Oklahoma weather, and the lifespan of the shingles is severely reduced.
“The university received an insurance claim for wind damage,” Delton Gordon, USAO’s Housing Operation Director, said.
That claim is what put the project of getting new roofs and repairs into motion.
Robertson Hall and Lawson Clubhouse repairs happened at the end of the week prior.
Prior to the repairs, Lawson Courthouse had a red roof. Now as you walk campus, you’ll notice that the roof is grey. The new color scheme comes due to the fact that the red shingles previously used are no longer available.
As an outsider this doesn’t seem like a complicated project, but for Oklahoma Roofing, it was a walk in the park. The university purchased 600 square feet of shingles, which is approximately 18 full bundles of shingles, and Oklahoma Roofing was able to finish the project across seven business days.
Oklahoma Roofing’s Operations Manager on site said they had 24 working hands at the most at one point on this project. That means to get all three roofs stripped down of the old shingles, fixing any repairs to the roof deck if needed, installing a new underlayment, which is a protective barrier, flashing, and finally adding the new shingles to the roofs. This was done in a week.
The on-site Operations Manager for Oklahoma Roofing mentioned they had a peak of 24 working hands contributing to the project at one point. This means in seven work days, the crew for Oklahoma Roofing managed to strip all the roofs of their old shingles, fix repairs to the roof deck, install a new protective underlayment, added another protective layer in a process called flashing , and finally added the new shingles to the roofs.
With the new roofs, USAO students have added protection for any type of weather. The elements may try to ruin your day, but the new roofs at the apartment buildings will keep you covered.
Cassie Srock is a second-year communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
