A school district has one summer to replace a roof, and the contract has to be signed before the snow melts. With the Coeur d'Alene School District the second-largest employer in Kootenai County, the roof list runs long and the summer runs short. The roofs answer to the city's 60 psf snow and 115 mph wind design. Send us the school list, the roof plans and the board calendar. We hand back a ranked list, a priced scope for each school and the alternates on separate lines.
The call: rank the roofs and fund the worst ones first
Eighteen schools do not all get roofs this summer. A district needs a ranked list that tells the board which roofs are failing, which are close and which are fine. We walk every roof, take cores, run moisture surveys and grade each one, with a cost range and a remaining-life estimate.
The board sees the list and picks a number. The worst roofs go in this summer's bid. The next tier goes into a levy or bond request with real numbers behind it. A roof list with evidence also helps in the community meeting, because a board member can show a core with wet insulation in it instead of describing a stain. We keep the list short on the first page, because a board reads the top of a sheet first, and put the detail behind it: one line per school, a grade, a cost range and a year. The second page carries the roof diagram and the core photographs for the board member who wants to see why a roof sits where it does, and the third carries the unit prices that will govern any surprise at tear-off.
What it costs: the summer window, crews and material lead time
The cost drivers are time and competition. Every district on the Prairie wants the same summer weeks, so crews fill early and material lead times add weeks. A district that signs in July gets leftovers. A district that signs in February gets the crew it wants.
Price the schedule, not just the square footage. A low square-foot number with a thin crew and no float is the most expensive bid a district can accept. Put the award date, the material order date, the mobilization date and the dry-in date in the contract, with what each slip costs. A bid that promises a finish date with no hold points is a bid that will ask for a time extension in August, just before the first day of school. Hold points help here: the deck inspection, the insulation layer and the flashing walk each get a date, and the district sees any slip the day it happens, with enough time to adjust.
What the code sheet says: 60 psf, ice barrier and school gym spans
Ice barrier underlayment is required at eaves on the city sheet, weathering is rated severe, and the 24 inch frost line and the statewide 2018 codes round out what a submittal is checked against.
School gyms and cafeterias have long spans, and their roofs collect drifts from taller classroom blocks. Wet snow is dense, so a drift pocket beside a tall wall is a concentrated load. Before a recover, the framing check is a priced line. An engineer reviews anything that looks stressed. Gyms with a clerestory or a stepped profile get a close look, since the lower roof beside the step carries the drift, and a classroom wing tied into a taller gym wall gets the same attention at the joint where the two roof lines meet. The result goes in the file with the district's building records and the original drawings where they exist, tagged by school and by roof section, next to the original drawings if they exist. Where drawings are missing, a field survey of the framing stands in for them, and it is worth doing before the board commits to a recover.
Where it fails first: gym roofs, entries and low-slope drains
Gym and cafeteria roofs fail first because of their span and their drifts. Entry canopies come next, since they shed snow onto the one place students walk. Then the drains on low-slope classroom wings, which freeze and back water to a wall.
A stain in a hallway is usually the first sign. Each stain is traced before it is repaired, and for a school with a pitched roof over a gym, the valleys and eaves get checked for ice. At the building level these are the failures behind school roofing work.
Alternates: recover, cover board and a longer service life
Price the options a board will ask about. A recover over a sound roof, if the framing carries it. A cover board for hail and foot traffic. More insulation to cut heating cost. A heavier edge for wind. Each is a priced alternate with its tradeoff.
A college buys the same way a district does, and the college and university roofs at North Idaho College follow that pattern. Cities and counties buy under rules like a district's, and public agencies use the same unit-price logic.
Schedule and snow window: sign in February, tear off in June
Dry weeks are few everywhere on the Prairie, from Post Falls, where the school district is among the top employers, to Rathdrum. Sign by February, order material in March and start the day after the last bell. If the roof is part of a bigger remodel, the scope moves through the general contractor, and the interior trades get a written dry-in date from us.
Two schools in the same summer is a good plan. Four is a risk. Crew size, material delivery and inspection hold points all stretch, and a weather week can push a rushed schedule past move-in day. We recommend sizing the summer to the crew, and moving the rest into next year's request with the cores and photographs already in hand.
Open edges over a weekend put a school roof at risk, so each edge is tied down when the shift ends. Student safety rules apply even in summer, because camps, practices and maintenance crews use the grounds. We fence the work zone, mark the crane lane and keep the staging area off the bus route.
Closeout: a roof file for the next board
The district keeps the photographs, product data, core results, a roof diagram for each school, the punch list and a maintenance calendar. The file feeds a roof capital planning cycle, so the next bond or levy request has numbers behind it. Fall visits clear the drains, and spring visits look for what ice did. District maintenance staff can also use the diagram for their own rounds, since it shows which drains and curbs are theirs to watch between our visits.
Commercial Roofing Questions
How many schools can be reroofed in one summer?
It depends on crew size and roof area, and we state the number in the bid. We recommend two or three rather than a rushed larger batch. Crew size and inspection hold points set the number, not the roof area alone.
When should the district sign the contract?
By February. Material lead times and crew availability both need the lead.
What happens if the job runs past the first day of school?
The contract names the date and the penalty, and the schedule carries hold points so a slip is visible weeks early.
Can a bond request use our roof list?
Yes. Cores, photographs and a ranked cost range make the request concrete. Keep the first page to one line per school.
Do we need snow guards at entries?
Often, on metal or steep roofs. They are a priced alternate.