The $21 million Cumberland Park Shopping Centre upgrade has been the perfect opportunity for Adelaide commercial roofing specialists S&LJ Roofing Contractors to trial two innovative new products from Lysaght – the LOK-KLIP™ end and expansion joint system and BlueScope’s next generation ZINCALUME® steel.

Since opening in 1977 the centre had seen no significant renovations and with major tenants Big W and Woolworths looking to bring their stores in line with their other premises in Adelaide it was time for a major extension to the Woolworths part of the centre and a facelift for the Big W store.

The projects building contractor, Badge Construction, chose S&LJ Roofing Contractors to undertake the roofing component of the project.

“We’d done work for Badge Construction before”, said Justin Hewett, General Manager of S&LJ Roofing Contractors, “and while we had to tender for the job we were pleased that they again saw the value in our services and awarded us the work.”

With over 30 years of experience S&LJ Roofing Contractors has always been focussed on ensuring the roofing component of a project runs smoothly.

“We really pride ourselves on the quality of our work but we also make sure that we have enough people on our crews to ensure that we stick to timelines and that we’re never the cause of a delay in any project we work on,” explained Justin.

The main part of the project called for the installation of 4500 square metres of 0.48mm LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK CLASSIC® manufactured from BlueScope’s new next generation ZINCALUME® steel.

“This is the first job in South Australia where we have supplied next generation ZINCALUME® steel,” said Chadd Viergever, Lysaght’s Commercial Segment Manager.

100% Australian made next generation ZINCALUME® steel incorporates magnesium compounds in its formulation which ‘activate’ the aluminium in the coating to provide even more effective corrosion resistance.

“This new product represents an enormous investment of time, technical expertise and money by BlueScope in developing a product that provides significant durability advantages over other steel building products”, said Chadd.

One unique challenge for the Cumberland Park project was reroofing an older section of the existing Big W building which potentially required sheets of LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK CLASSIC® roofing up to 28 metres in length.

“Roof sheeting that long is not only difficult to handle on-site requiring more people but also has very high transport costs associated with getting it to site,” said Justin Hewett.

“When we discussed our options with Lysaght they suggested we consider using their recently introduced LYSAGHT LOK-KLIP™ product so we could use shorter 14 metre sheet lengths on this section of the roof.”

LYSAGHT LOK-KLIP™ is a new weather resistant end and expansion joint solution for use between overlapping sheets of LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® or KLIP-LOK CLASSIC® 700 roof sheeting.

“After we were shown the system and we did our sums we were able to show the builder the cost savings associated with being able to transport and install the shorter sheet lengths made possible by using the LOK-KLIP™ end and expansion joint.”

When it came time to install the new section of roof Lysaght’s technical experts were on hand to provider training for the S&LJ Roofing installation team.

“Our installers found the system very easy to work with,” said Justin. “We were a bit wary at first never having seen the LOK-KLIP™ end and expansion joint before, but those concerns were quickly allayed by the Lysaght team.

Fixing the engineered LOK-KLIP™ brackets to the ribs of the lower sheet only requires standard fasteners and then profiled weather-seal infill strips are laid across the lower sheets which are held in position by the upper sheet when it is clipped to the LOK-KLIP™ brackets.

Positive locking is achieved by foot pressure and confirmed by a “snap” sound generated when the sheet and bracket engage.

“We found the LOK-KLIP™ components worked perfectly with the LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK CLASSIC® roof sheeting we were installing”, said Justin.

“Using the LOK-KLIP™ end and expansion joint meant we were able to get the job done with only three guys instead of the six or seven we would have needed if we were installing full length sheets.”

The Cumberland Park Shopping Centre upgrade is scheduled for completion towards the end 2013. S&LJ Roofing Contractors completed the roofing component of this project in 3 weeks from June 15th to August 9th.
“Lysaght were great to deal with on this project,” said Justin. “Not only did their technical advice help us with the LOK-KLIP™ end and expansion joint which saved us both time and money, but they also scheduled product deliveries to site in line with our usage which ensured that we were able to efficiently and safely manage our product handling on site.”

“People often say when you think of roofing you think of Lysaght and from our most recent experience it’s pretty easy to see why,” commented Justin.