Work underway to replace Sidney Glen Elementarys tile roof

The buckets that line the rafters at Sidney Glen Elementary School soon will be cleared.

That is because work began June 30 to replace the schools leaky roof.

Thats a project weve needed to do for a long time, said Tom OBrien, director of facilities and operations for the South Kitsap School District. It was not uncommon to have very, very large leaks coming through the ceiling tiles into some of the offices along the main hallway. One of those was the principals office. There were days when he really couldnt work in there.

SKSD is not the only district in the region to have issues with tile roofs. Bremerton High School is scheduled to put on a new roof next year and OBrien said a Shelton school also is in the process of replacing one.

OBrien said there are a variety of reasons behind Sidney Glens issues, including tile not being the right roof for this community and area. But OBrien, who noted that Hidden Creek and Mullenix Ridge elementary schools still has a tile roof, said there were other reasons behind the problems at Sidney Glen.

I think there were a variety of issues, probably first and foremost was the installation of the product, he said. We feel, anyway, it wasnt lapped properly, which meant we had courses of tile that go across and they basically overlap each other.

OBrien said that led to rain finding its way through gaps, particularly on windy days. He said there was a felt system that was designed to handle rain that penetrated through the roof, but that system became overwhelmed.

What weve found is that it has just deteriorated over the years to the point where that was no long water tight, OBrien said.

SKSD now is in position to replace the roof, OBrien said, because of revenue generated from the maintenance-and-operations levy passed last year. He said the project at Sidney Glen is much more extensive than the 2009 roof replacement at Orchard Heights Elementary School. OBrien said the most significant issue at that school was replacing sheetrock with plywood under the roof there. At Sidney Glen, which is 54,378 square feet and opened in 1991, the tiles must be removed and recycled. There also are thousands upon thousands of linear feet of nailer boards that have to be unscrewed to place a wooden diaphragm on top of the plywood.

Once that portion of the project is complete, OBrien said a protective ice and water shield will be installed.

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Work underway to replace Sidney Glen Elementarys tile roof