Roof Replacement System – Roof Pro
Perdue Agribusiness LLC – Working Concrete Deck Area – Soy Processing Prep Room
Fully Reinforced Deck Coating – Sika Roof Pro System – Chesapeake Virginia
Completion April 2009 – Chesapeake Virginia
Perdue purchased the Soy Processing plant and export facility from Cargill Inc. in 2000. This plant came along with extensive infrastructure and process improvement needs. The Soy plant prep area includes dry soymeal processing equipment – rotexes (shakers) and other similar screening devices. The concrete deck above was riddled with old, obsolete penetrations and other features that allowed water to enter and foul up the process. This was a constant aggravation and cost a huge dollar amount for shutdowns, cleanouts, etc. Additionally, it was an irritation to plant personnel who constantly had to stop and clean out rain-soaked soy products from the process equipment.
Another strong need was for this deck coating system to have FM (Factory Mutual) approval for fire control. Perdue’s risk management company, Global Risk Corporation, repeatedly requested that Perdue source a system with FM fire approval. Both Global and Perdue’s concerns were due to soy processing plants using a typical hexane extraction process; fire and spark control is not just important – it’s paramount. Hexane is carefully controlled in production; it is very volatile and can easily set off a major explosion, resulting in loss of life and property.
Pro Coat offered the Sika Roof Pro (formerly Liquid Plastics Decothane system), which is a fully reinforced waterproofing system. This liquid-applied, fiberglass-reinforced membrane is applied at a total 100 mil thickness! The reinforcement fabric, Reemat Premium, is very unique. When the fabric/strands make contact with the coatings, their bonds leave only the actual fiber strands, making the reinforcement completely “conformable”. The fiberglass reinforcement wraps perfectly around odd-shaped penetrations and even drain openings, thereby creating a totally monolithic coating/waterproofing membrane.
Sika’s Roof Pro is in fact FM approved for fire. See attached video—when it is introduced to a high heat source—it actually emits moisture vapor and helps to extinguish fire! Global Risk Management provided their letter of approval and Pro Coat proceeded with installing the system over Perdue’s soy deck process area.
Prior to starting this project, Pro Coat had a major undertaking with the removal of existing roof coatings. The previous owners attempted to use an asphaltic product on the roof. Pro Coat removed in excess of 30 tons worth of obsolete materials & weight off of the roof.
Over the years, with many equipment modifications, they were left with obsolete voids & openings throughout the concrete deck. Pro Coat installed rebar reinforcement and formed up all the voids and penetration openings. We then poured and infilled the voids with concrete, eliminating old openings.
We, likewise, trowelled concrete to existing penetrations in order to provide a smooth transition to receive the waterproofing membrane.
The entire deck was either ground or sandblasted to provide cleanliness and a proper surface “profile”. All metal was primed using Sika EP/metal primer. Concrete was primed using Sika damp tolerant primer. The first embedment coat was applied at 50 mils and fully reinforced with their Reemat Premium scrim. The intermediate coat was applied at 30 mils, and the final “wear” coat at 20 mils with an aggregate broadcast for non-skid/safety and added life & wear.
Once the project was completed, all leaks were 100% eliminated and have remained leak-free for over a decade.