RhinoBond Makes the Grade!
OMG’s RhinoBond® Keeps Dublin School on Programme
In 2014, Saint Aidan’s School in Whitehall, Dublin will be celebrating its 50th year of developing “the physical, emotional, intellectual, aesthetic, moral and religious aspects of its students.” The school has more than 650 pupils, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, and is one of 98 schools under the leadership of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust.
Like its students, the roof of the school’s new facility also has certain standards to uphold -- such as strong performance and value. One roofing system which meets these criteria is the Soprema RhinoBond PVC roofing system.
The roof on the new school is 1,150 square meters and is “A” shaped with one-meter -high parapet walls and insulated gutters on two sides. The Soprema PVC was installed over one layer of 120 mm Kingspan TR27 tissue faced insulation on top of a metal deck. Instead of using the traditional penetrating fastener-attachment method for this project, roofing contractors Empire Roofing Limited chose the RhinoBond system from OMG Roofing Products of Agawam, Massachusetts, USA.
RhinoBond Makes the Grade
RhinoBond, designed for use with thermoplastic PVC and TPO roofing systems, uses advanced induction welding technology to bond the membrane directly to specially coated plates that are used to secure the insulation to the deck, all without penetrating the roofing membrane. The result is a roofing system with improved wind performance that requires 25 to 50 percent fewer fasteners and plates and 50% fewer membrane side-laps to weld on the roof when using two-meter-wide rolls.
In addition, since the fastening points are spread out across the roof deck in a grid-pattern rather than concentrated in the side-laps of the membrane, the wind uplift load is distributed more evenly. The result is less point loading on each fastener, enabling the system to achieve higher wind ratings with fewer fasteners.
“We have been working with OMG Roofing Products for more than 13 years now and they understand the importance of developing products that contractors like,” said Michael McDonald, Jr., sales director at MAK Fastener Specialists, Ltd of Dublin, local distributor partner for OMG Roofing Products. “OMG and MAK are very much alike in that we are thinkers who are also doers. We both make it happen.”
McDonald added that the RhinoBond system is one example of OMG’s innovation. “RhinoBond is nothing short of a revelation for the flat roofing market and will change the way these roofs are installed,” he stated. “The benefits include no penetrations or side lap fasteners; no half rolls or wind straps; 25 to 50 percent fewer fasteners; enhanced wind uplift resistance; reduced flutter regardless of membrane width; enhanced productivity; and faster dry in. In other words, it’s all good!”
Quick Learning Curve
: “We heard about the RhinoBond system from MAK Fastener Specialists, and after attending a training course at MAK Fastener Specialists presented in conjunction with OMG, I was convinced of the benefit of using RhinoBond,” explained Kevin Bradley, director of Empire Roofing Ltd. in Dublin. “It seemed to be less labour intensive, faster and less expensive than the traditional fastening methods."
Although this was Empire Roofing’s first installation using the RhinoBond system, the operatives quickly learned how easy it is to install a RhinoBond roof.
“It was very easy as Mak Fastener Specialists was on site to assist and help with the calculations, and the fastening layout was very helpful and easy for our operatives on site to understand,” Bradley stated. “After only a half day of training we had no issues whatsoever.”
“Training the contractors of Empire Roofing was relatively easy,” McDonald said. “Empire Roofing is very open-minded to different ways of doing things which was a tremendous help.”
Not only did the RhinoBond system offer time savings in terms of a short learning curve, but it also saved time in the installation of the roof. “I’d estimate that we completed this job 20 percent faster with RhinoBond,” Bradley remarked. “The wider fastening patterns allowed us to use two meter wide rolls in all areas including perimeters and corners, which meant less welding and also a material savings as only 50 mm side lap welds were required in lieu of 120 mm. There was also a benefit to rolling out the membrane quickly and protecting the insulation from wet weather.”
He estimated they used 3,700 RhinoBond plates and 3,700 XHD175 fasteners on the 1,150 square meters installation.
Bradley added that on another installation Empire Roofing became the first contractor worldwide to use a foil-faced insulation board with the RhinoBond system. “Being able to use RhinoBond with foil insulation has really increased the potential of this system,” he commented.
Bradley said the roof at St. Aidan’s is doing “excellently” and he would recommend RhinoBond for future installations. “The operatives on site liked using it and the membrane is not punctured so it eliminated this stress on the membrane,” he explained. “The OMG products seem to be of high quality and the welding tool is lightweight, reliable and easy to use. Best of all, RhinoBond allowed us to complete the project on programme and under budget.”