Hadley officials review library roofing woes

A crew works on the roof of the Hadley Free Public Library in 2020.

A crew works on the roof of the Hadley Free Public Library in 2020. GAZETTE FILE

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Staff Writer

Published: 12-24-2024 1:16 PM

HADLEY — Putting a standing seam sheet metal roof or synthetic slate on the roof of the Hadley Public Library, or making significant modifications of the roof’s perimeter to allow better venting, could address problems in the four-year-old building, including wet insulation, wet plywood and buckling asphalt shingles, according to a report provided to the Select Board last week.

“There’s options for this roof, if you’re considering replacing it, whether it’s an unvented system, which is what you have up there currently, or modifying the roof to become a vented system for asphalt shingles,” John Kurpeski, a project manager with Gale Associates of Rockland, told the Select Board on Dec. 18, at a joint meeting with library trustees.

No cost estimates were provided and the Select Board took no action, but at a meeting over the summer potential fixes were expected to cost up to $1 million.

After earlier completing a visual inspection of the roof using infrared imagery and an aerial drone, following leaks that occurred last winter and spring in the library director’s office and the building’s local history room, Gale Associates finished a more extensive report than the one it delivered in July.

The latest report, dated Nov. 19, describes the condition of the roof based on 17 exploratory openings, or test cuts, identifying how the roof was constructed and comparing these observations to the the as-built plans.

“In summary, the construction that we saw generally aligned with the as-built drawings,” Kurpeski said.

There were a few discrepancies from the as-built plans. One was evidence that spray-foam insulation, which should have been used throughout, may not have been in certain places. It’s also unclear if the roof vapor barrier is tied into the wall vapor barrier.

Other problems observed were uneven plywood, possibly caused by underdriven or overdriven fasteners, which was evident at one location where wet insulation and plywood materials were found. Buckling of some shingles was aligned with an uneven substrate where Gale found found rusted pancake head roofing screws that had been overdriven into the plywood.

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Kurpeski said that if roof replacement or structural changes to the roof are made, the town will need to move forward with schematic designs and that asphalt shingles would have to be removed.

“We think there’s enough benefit in removing the asphalt shingles to expose the underlying materials to look for wet materials, improperly installed or attached materials or uneven materials,” Kurpeski said.

Much of the report also centers on the fact that the roof had no ventilation provisions, no ridge vent at the top for exhaust and no intake areas at the bottom down slope. Such a so-called hot roof isn’t typical in the Northeast climate.

Lynne Latham, who chairs the trustees, said officials initially hoped to put a metal roof on the building, constructed in the midst of COVID, and had designed it in that manner, but then it became clear the town wouldn’t be able to afford that. The difference between asphalt shingles and a metal seam roof was hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“That was then changed to asphalt, “Latham said. “Whether or not there was discussion at the time about having an unventilated roof, right now no one has a recollection of that.”

But she said that trustees and others are examining minutes from meetings, archived recordings and other communication to see what was mentioned about the so-called hot roof.

The less expensive option, Kurpeski said, would be remediation of failed areas, and look at perimeter conditions, but this would require noticeable patches for active leaking areas and removal of wet materials. He said it would be prudent to get as many of the asphalt shingles off as possible, because those that are buckling already have a reduced lifespan.

Meanwhile, Latham presented statistics showing that the new library, which replaced the Goodwin Memorial Library, has attracted significantly more patrons, increasing patron visits by 61% from 19,643 in fiscal year 2019 to 31,617 in fiscal year 2024.

The participants in library programs has also gone way up, from 990 in fiscal year 2019 to 6,636 in fiscal year 2024.