Asheville High School Presents a Beautiful Challenge

Aerial view of a high school with red and orange clay roof tile

This year we had the pleasure of completing one of the most beautiful and intricate projects in Baker Roofing Company’s history. In partnership with Vannoy Construction, we completed the Ludowici clay tile roof replacement of multiple buildings at Asheville High School in western North Carolina.

It was an incredible undertaking and required a collaborative effort between our operational teams in Asheville and Raleigh. The Asheville High School project required a reroof of 12 buildings with 15 different roof sections. Our team conducted a complete tear off of all 12 buildings with extra care taken as a few of the roofs contained asbestos.

The installation of new roofing for the school covered a wide array of system types consisting of TPO (low-slope and tapered insulation), as well as Ludowici roof tile.  The school, originally constructed in 1929, boasted unique and beautiful tile roofs that required replacement reflecting its original charm and design. That was achieved with the installation of the new Ludowici roofing tile system.  The existing Ludowici tile, copper trims, cornice, and gutters were removed from the main building, and any rotted wood was replaced. When the new tiles were installed, they were staggered 5/8 horizontally to give the appearance of the original tiles. The existing internal gutter drains were also removed, and new collector heads and downspouts were added externally for gutter drainage. Additional staging concerns were addressed during the installation of the Ludowici system to ensure tear-off, dry-in, and installation schedules were strictly followed to maintain the water-tightness of the building.

This was a large project that required the use of cranes, sky tracks, and a Bocker machine for loading materials. This project posed a few challenges due to the size of the project as well as the number of different trades needing to work around each other’s schedules. The scope of the project was incredible, but Baker Roofing Company was up to the task.  It was a great project that was very well planned by Vannoy Construction. While there were many components and stages of the project Baker Roofing Company is proud of, the beauty of the work can be most directly observed in the completed Ludowici roofs.