PVC Roofing System Gives Iowa Shopping District Protection
Coralville, Iowa, started out as a small mill town in the mid-1800s, but over the years it has evolved into a sprawling suburban success story. While other communities still suffer from hangovers thanks to the recent recession, Coralville has become one of the fastest-growing communities in Iowa, with an emergent economy and low unemployment rate. Large corporations have chosen it as the site of their facilities, and it is home to many smaller businesses as well. Coralville is also the site of the Iowa River Landing District, one of the most rapidly developing projects in the region.
In 1998, the city of Coralville received the first of many brownfield grants to pay for assessment and cleanup of an old industrial park. Due to the city’s redevelopment efforts, what was once 100-plus depressingly unattractive acres occupied by rundown warehouses and a waste transfer station has been transformed into the Iowa River Landing District, an elegant complex containing stores, restaurants, and a hotel/conference center. Thus far, the project has employed 11 Iowa contractors and over 180 workers.
One of the Iowa-based companies that worked on Iowa River Landing District project is Giese Roofing Co. Giese Roofing has been installing Versico roofs for more than 30 years and has earned a reputation for quality workmanship, timely installations, and excellent customer service that is well-known throughout Iowa and the roofing industry. In addition to installing roofs, Giese Roofing also offers maintenance, service, and inspection programs to help customers maximize their roofing investment by making sure it has a long service life.
Giese Roofing was chosen to install the Versico PVC roofing system on Iowa River Landing District’s 80,000 square foot Von Maur Department Store. Von Maur, which started out as a small dry goods store in Davenport, Iowa in the late 1800s, has transformed into an upscale department store which sells clothing, accessories, jewelry, and shoes. Von Maur has grown from one store to 27 in eleven different states. Five of those stores, plus corporate headquarters and an e-commerce center, are in Iowa, where Von Maur employs more than 900 Iowans.
The new Von Maur store in Coralville has a mechanically fastened .060 white VersiFlex™ PVC roofing system, selected because it is long-lasting, durable, cost-effective, and easy to install. PVC has been used for decades in the roofing industry and has a proven track record; it is fire-resistant, puncture-resistant and can withstand the extreme temperature fluctuations that are characteristic of Iowa’s sometimes harsh climate.
Giese Roofing started by installing two layers of 1.7-inch Polyiso with the joints staggered to minimize potential heat loss from thermal bridging. Tapered Polyiso was installed on top of the flat, and then the insulation was attached to the deck using Versico’s HPV fasteners. After the PVC membrane was installed, pre-fabricated PVC pipe boots and corners were used instead of field-fabricating those details from non-reinforced flashing. These pre-fabricated items helped to give the roof with a more professional and uniform appearance and the time and labor savings they provided helped to keep the job on schedule.
There are several HVAC units on Von Maur’s roof that will have to be serviced periodically by building maintenance personnel, which means future rooftop traffic. Giese Roofing installed Versico’s PVC heat-weldable walkway rolls to provide a defined path to the rooftop HVAC equipment. These slip-resistant walkway rolls are designed to protect the PVC membrane in areas exposed to repetitive foot traffic and other hazards. When the job was finished, Von Maur received a 20-year warranty on the roof, providing them peace of mind in their investment.
Iowa River Landing has already seen positive effects from the opening of the new Von Maur store. Coralville Mayor Jim Fausett told KWWL TV, “We have already had a lot of businesses contact us now that we have Von Maur open and ready to go, because now they want to be here as well.” Von Maur company president Jim Von Maur said of the Coralville location “(The store) has open air, is well lit and it’s just more shoppable… (Iowa) is where we started, so all the stores here are on the older side. I think customers will be surprised and excited at our stores’ newer looks.”