Shenandoah, Pa., was once a bustling mining town in the eastern mountain valleys of Pennsylvania, but when the coal industry began to decline after World War II, many residents left the region. During this time of economic despair, Shenandoah resident Mary Twardzik began making traditional Polish pierogies to raise church funds. In 1952, Twardzik’s son, Ted, began operating what has become the largest pierogie company in the United States — Mrs. T’s Pierogies. Over the years, the Shenandoah population dwindled to fewer than 6,000 residents, but with nearly half a century of success, Mrs. T’s Pierogies, operated by the Ateeco Company, provided the remaining residents with job security and economic stability.

Recently, the company decided to replace the roof on its leaky dry-storage warehouse, which stores all the necessities for creating the company’s famous Polish specialty, including potato flakes, flour, salt, and packaging boxes, among other items. When the roof and skylights began to leak, Ateeco president Tom Twardzik knew that a long-term solution must be found immediately. Twardzik realized the environmental and economic benefits of daylighting and began to search for a high-performance, watertight alternative to the traditional skylights that had been installed on the rooftop.  

The galvanized metal skylight flange is attached to the wood blocking using galvanized metal fasteners.

With the advice of Barry Berger of Berger Roofing Company in Orwigsburg, Pa., Ateeco chose to install a 20-year EPDM roofing system manufactured by Carlisle SynTec, along with Carlisle’s new DryLight™ daylighting system to replace the building’s 50 existing skylights. Berger looked at other options, but he found Carlisle’s comprehensive system and warranty coverage was the ideal solution for Ateeco’s re-roofing project.

“Carlisle’s ability to extend warranty coverage to include its DryLight skylights sealed the deal,” Berger said. “Even competing product representatives conceded that the Carlisle edge was tough to beat.” 

Workers from Berger Roofing Company install Carlisle’s Pressure-Sensitive EPDM curb flashing on one of the 50 new skylights at the Ateeco Company warehouse.

Carlisle’s DryLight skylights are manufactured utilizing RIM (Reaction Injection Molding) technology, originally introduced to the automotive industry. The RIM technology is used in the production of DryLight to encapsulate the glazing into a pigmented, UV-stabilized, polyurethane retainer frame, which ensures both unit size consistency and a weatherproof bond between both materials. This technology eliminates the need for tapes, gaskets and sealants between the frame and dome, reducing the leakage associated with traditional skylights that employ more common glazing methods. In addition, DryLight’s COLOFAST® polyurethane frame requires no coating or maintenance and is also non-conductive, providing a thermal efficiency that the company states is 38 percent greater than that of metal-framed skylights.

Construction on the 70,000-square-foot facility began with a complete tear-off of the building’s existing stone ballast, loose-laid EPDM and polyisocyanurate insulation. Once the existing system was removed, a new layer of 2-inch Carlisle HP-H Polyiso was installed. Berger’s crew left a 6-inch separation between the edge of the skylight opening and the polyiso to allow for the installation of two-by-six pressure-treated wood blocking, which was used to anchor the DryLights onto the rooftop.

Once the details were applied, the curb was completely sealed and the roofing crew began to install the skylight domes.

Once the wood blocking and insulation were in place, Berger’s crew installed Carlisle’s 60-mil Sure-Seal® EPDM onto the entire roof surface. Next they cut fifty 48-inch-by-48-inch holes through the membrane to prepare for the DryLight installation.

The roofers secured the galvanized metal skylight flange to the wood blocking using galvanized metal fasteners. After the flange was secured, Carlisle’s Pressure-Sensitive EPDM curb flashing, a new accessory that cuts installation time by up to 50 percent, was cut to fit the outside of the curb and applied. The EPDM curb flashing was primed with Carlisle’s HP-250 Primer and the corner details were applied, saving additional time and labor. Once the details were applied, the curb was completely sealed and the Berger roofing crew began to install the DryLight skylight domes. 

The skylight domes were placed over the curb and attached using the Carlisle-supplied fasteners and a bead of Carlisle’s Universal Sealant.

Even though there were 50 DryLights to install, the task was a breeze, according to Berger. Each skylight was placed over the curb and attached using the Carlisle-supplied fasteners and a bead of Carlisle’s Universal Sealant.

In matter of days, the Ateeco employees were working in much-improved conditions underneath a leak-free, environmentally friendly rooftop with a 20-year Total System warranty. The Ateeco Company never lost a minute of production time during the installation and can rest assured that cost savings will continue with the decrease of energy costs provided by the natural light created by the skylights.

For more information, visit www.carlisle-syntec.com.