Bret Harte Nursing Home Green Roof

Square Meters: 300 sqm
Roof System: WetSuit®

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The Bret Harte Inn is a 6 story, one hundred year old building, once frequented by presidents and characters like Mark Twain, it has been refitted numerous times over the years and is now a retirement home.

Situation:
The long time owners were looking to re roof two of the three roofs on the building. For the first floor roof, they were interested in a green roof system for the tenants to look out onto a garden roof. On the fifth floor roof, there were numerous leaks and buckling in the existing roof systems.

Challenge:
Budgeting was the strongest factor in this re-roofing project. The upper roof had three roofing systems dating back over one hundred years and was covered with over twenty air conditioning units. There was buckling in the membranes throughout the roof resulting in numerous tears at the seams and around penetrations. The lower roof, although leak free, looked hideous and was a constant eyesore for the tenants. The owners liked the idea of installing a green roof system as a pro active approach to getting decades of energy efficiency and preservation to their roofing system, but money again proved to be a deciding factor.

By deciding not to tear off the existing roof and lift the air conditioners on the upper roof, WetSuit® fit snugly into the owners budget. The buckling was cut out in places but many areas, although unsightly, were left in place and sprayed to a dry mil membrane of 110 mil. With an elongation of almost 1600% and a full memory, WetSuit® easily accommodates the movement happening in the buckles. The many air conditioning units were left in place, the WetSuit® membrane sprayed beneath them. For the lower roof, WetSuit® was applied as an 80 mil monolithic membrane and Xero-Flor was chosen as the green roofing system. Xero-Flor green roofs are pre-grown mats similar to sod but seeded with thirteen species of sedum, a flowering family that is tolerant to frigid winters and warm summers. It’s light weight, simple yet ingeniously designed system, and rapid installation resulting in an instant greening of the roof made it ideal for the job. ( Xero-Flor holds the world record for the largest green roof, 18 acres at the Ford Motor Plant.)

Results:
The Bret Hart started benefiting immediately. The re roofing was silent and efficient, causing no disruptions for the tenants. All leaks were solved and the roof was “cool” by the end of the work week. The tenants were already admiring their instant green roof before the crew could get off the roof and were excited and curious about the life cycle of the plants. The first flowers were spotted about four weeks later, and continued blooming throughout the summer. All work was completed in a timely manner and met the clients budget.