(Carlisle, PA) - Established in 1968 by three ambitious businessmen, Pathmark has evolved into one of the most successful supermarket retailers in the United States. A pioneer in the super center concept, Pathmark was one of the first stores to combine traditional grocery and perishable items with non-food goods such as appliances and electronics.
Pathmark's business has grown considerably over the past 38 years. The company currently operates 141 supermarkets throughout New York, New Jersey and the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Ensuring that the aisles of those stores remain fully stocked is an intricate web of distribution warehouses positioned throughout the northeastern United States. Located along major highways and interstates, these warehouses are ideally situated to feed the growing demand at all of Pathmark's stores.
When the roof on the company's general merchandise distribution warehouse in Edison, NJ began to leak, Pathmark officials knew that a replacement was necessary in order to continue replenishing the stores' precious products. Store officials first considered replacing the old, four-ply built-up roof (BUR) with a similar asphalt-based system, but changed their minds after discussing the project with Systems Design & Analysis (SDA) Industries, Incorporated, an independent roof consulting company located in Jackson, NJ.
"Installation of a built-up roof can be costly and problematic. Plus, the hot asphalt used to install a built-up roof system gives off a strong odor that is disturbing to the people inside of a building," said Jan Chrostowski, president of SDA. "After a great deal of discussion, we collectively decided that a mechanically fastened, single-ply roof system would be the most economical, long-term solution for Pathmark's warehouse."
Considering a number of options, Chrostowski ultimately recommended replacing the failing roof with a white, 45-mil, Sure-Weld® TPO roof system from Carlisle SynTec. "The efficiency and heat weldability of Carlisle's TPO made it the perfect choice for this project," said Chrostowski.
Chrostowski is quite familiar with Carlisle's single-ply roof systems, having specified them numerous times in the past. "We feel comfortable with Carlisle's products," said Chrostowski. "Carlisle's TPO offers a fast, economical installation and the heat-weldable seams are extremely reliable, so we knew it would provide the warehouse with years of protection."
Once the decision to use Carlisle's Sure-Weld TPO was finalized, the re-roofing job was put out for bid. After reviewing all of the bids, officials in the store's maintenance department chose Nu-Tek Roof Systems, Incorporated to install the new, Carlisle roof system. Nu-Tek, from nearby Lake Hopatcong, NJ, has been an authorized Carlisle applicator since 1992 and has installed nearly 1.5 million square feet of warranted Carlisle roof systems, so Pathmark knew the warehouse would get a quality roof from a quality contractor.
Before Nu-Tek could install the Sure-Weld roof system they had to tear off the old, worn out BUR system. Pathmark officials wanted operations inside of the building to continue during the re-roofing project, so Nu-Tek worked from three o'clock in the afternoon until at least 11:30 at night during the tear off process to minimize disruption during the warehouse's busiest hours.
"It was specifically indicated in the bidding process that the re-roofing project could not interrupt the daily operations within the warehouse," said Pathmark Maintenance Supervisor Robert Cherry. "Nu-Tek did an excellent job of working around our schedule. Most of the time you didn't even know they were there."
After the old roof was torn off, Nu-Tek installed Carlisle's two-inch polyisocyanurate insulation to help regulate the warehouse's energy consumption and decrease the airflow in and out of the building. Using Carlisle's HP-X Fasteners and Piranha Plates, Nu-Tek fastened the insulation directly to the warehouse's steel roof deck. For extremely flat areas of the roof, Nu-Tek utilized Carlisle's tapered polyiso to divert any future ponding water to the appropriate rooftop drains.
When all of the polyiso was installed, Nu-Tek began attaching the Sure-Weld TPO membrane, again using Carlisle's plates and fasteners. After the membranes were fastened, Nu-Tek heat welded the seams with a stand-up machine welder. The welder allowed Nu-Tek to complete the seams quickly and efficiently, further decreasing the interruption to the operations inside.
One interesting detail to this traditional, box-shaped warehouse roof was a firewall that divided the roof into two sections. Instead of leaving the brick firewall exposed, Nu-Tek ran the membrane over the wall and fully encapsulated it in the TPO membrane.
To complete the firewall detail, Nu-Tek fastened the membranes to the base of the wall on both sides. Then they ran Carlisle's non-reinforced TPO-based Sure-Weld flashing up and over the firewall, hand welding it to the fastened base sheets.
"Firewalls are a constant threat for water infiltration," said Mike Campanile, project manager at Nu-Tek. "By completely covering the wall, we drastically reduced the likelihood of any water getting into the building."
After all of the membranes were fastened and seamed, Nu-Tek utilized Carlisle's innovative Sure-Weld accessory products to complete the installation. Pre-fabricated in the factory, Carlisle's accessories save time and money during the time-intensive flashing portion of a roof's installation.
"Carlisle's pre-molded flashing products make any job quicker and easier," Campanile. "The pre-molded accessories are easier to use than field-fabricated flashing products and they look better too."
While the new Carlisle Sure-Weld TPO roof may look nice, what matters most is how well it protects the warehouse and the products inside. Carlisle backs all of its roof systems with industry-leading warranties and this project was no different. Pathmark received a 15-year total system warranty on its new roof, assuring years and years of fresh, dry groceries and goods.
