Benny's Transmission

Case Study

Benny’s Transmission & Auto has been family owned and operated in Whitehouse, TX for over 30 years. Employees specialize in auto diagnostic services and transmission and automotive repair.

Problem

The building was sheltered by a 41-year-old galvanized roof which had started to deteriorate. The roof was leaking in several places and the Light Transmitting Panels (LTPs), or skylights, were worn out and allowing in very little light. The roof had rusted in a number of places and there were several old roof penetrations that were no longer needed. It was important that the roof be fixed without closing down as to not lose business or working hours.

Solution

To avoid closing the shop and cause his tenant to risk losing revenue, the owner chose to do a retrofit of the roof with MBCI’s Retro-R® panel. This panel does not require the original roof to be removed and instead is installed directly over the existing R panel roof. This allowed the shop to run normal work hours with no disruption to daily business. Even the noise of construction was kept to a minimum. Benny’s Transmission retained all revenue that would have been lost if the roof removal process would have been required.

Installers were able to reuse all the trim from the original building. Additionally, they did not have to remove the rake, gutter or down spouts; in fact, they never even had to disassemble them. Installers only took the ridge vents up in order to lay the panels flush, and were able to reuse them once the roof was installed. This added up to large material and labor savings for the building owner. There are no concerns of rust transferring from the existing roof to the new roof because of the factory-applied membrane adhered to the bottom of the Retro-R® panels.

The color chosen for the 40×100 single slope roof was Galvalume Plus®, which comes with a 20-year roof warranty through MBCI. Although there was no extra insulation added, the high reflectivity of the Galvalume roof increases the building’s energy efficiency. This type of roof is especially beneficial in areas with a high heat index to help cool down the facility. The building owner is very satisfied with the result and even compared it to having a brand-new building. The installation took place over a two-and-a-half-day period with a crew of 3 people. Overall, the building owner’s decision to retrofit his roof with MBCI’s Retro-R® panels resulted in cost savings, increased energy efficiency and convenience of a low maintenance roof.