Composite Roofing Tops Walgreens Store
As the tagline goes, you’ll find a Walgreens “at the corner of happy and healthy.” You’ll also find one on Willow Road in Northfield, Illinois. And that Walgreens store is now sporting a new composite shake roof from DaVinci Roofscapes!
The team at Cedar Roofing Company (CRC) had the privilege of re-roofing the Walgreens store earlier this year. The old, deteriorating real cedar shake shingles were falling off the roof. They gathered in the gutters, and at times, fell to the ground. The dangerous situation had to stop.
“Clearly this store was in need of a new roof,” says Keith MacNaught, sales manager for Cedar Roofing Company out of Lake Forest, Illinois. “We have worked with the store owner on his residence before, so he asked us in to quote on this commercial structure.”
Gaining Community Approval
The Village of Northfield has a population of less than 6,000. In a fun twist, the township also has a “corner” theme — The Comfortable Corner of the North Shore. People here are proud of their outside-of-Chicago relaxed lifestyle.
When it came time for the Walgreens on Willow Road to get a new roof, it meant working with the architectural review board at the Village of Northfield. They had to approve the use of synthetic shake in place of the original traditional shakes on the store.
“We’ve been installing DaVinci composite roofing on residential projects for years,” says MacNaught. “We’ve seen how well it holds up in this harsh environment. The product’s resistance to fire and impact were key reasons we suggested the DaVinci Single-Width Shake tiles. Plus, they require minimal maintenance, which is ideal for the store owner.”
Perfect Replication
After winning the project bid, the CRC team got to work. Because they were re-roofing during business hours, special precautions were needed. The store’s drive-thru area was closed. One roofing team member was designated to direct traffic. He also helped customers navigate to safe entrances.
“We’ve re-roofed other Walgreens (stores) in the area, so we knew the best way to handle the installation and store traffic,” says MacNaught. “An important aspect of this project included adding snow guards. Accumulated snow can ‘avalanche’ off a composite roof as it melts. So, we placed snow guards above key pedestrian traffic areas. This helps reduce the chance of snows coming down in large chunks on walkways and entrance areas.”
Now that it’s complete, the Tahoe-colored synthetic shakes perfectly replicate the store’s original real cedar shakes.
“The DaVinci roof looks really great on this structure with the reddish bricks,” says MacNaught. “We know they’ll have a long lifespan. We’re also confident the synthetic shakes will provide decades of carefree beauty to this Walgreens store.”