PROJECT PROFILE ROWING RED Historic Philadelphia Boathouse Gets a New Vibrant Red Roof with High-Performance Coating By Ron Partridge

› As the earliest of the surviving Boathouse Row structures, the home of the Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club (far left) serves to anchor the other elegant boathouses along the banks of the Schuylkill River. All photos courtesy of Arkema Inc.

he Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club is an Historic Roof Preservation amateur all-female rowing club located on After experiencing some roof performance T Philadelphia’s picturesque Boathouse Row problems in 1994, the Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing — a national historic landmark and birthplace of Club contracted Cooper Roo ng to install a new American rowing. Founded in 1938, it is the oldest roo ng system on their prized boathouse.  e active women’s sports club in the U.S. and home to Philadelphia Historic Commission took serious Olympic, Masters, and National Champion rowers. notice of the project and wanted the new roof to As the earliest of the surviving Boathouse Row match the original 19th-century design. To gain structures, the home of the Philadelphia Girls’ insight into the original roof composition, work Rowing Club serves to anchor the other elegant crews took a cross section of the roof down to the boathouses along the banks of the Schuylkill wood deck and found the building’s original  at River. With its signature “barn-red” roof and seam-soldered tin (terne) roof, coated with “Tinner’s prominent location just downstream from the bend in the river, the house is a cherished symbol Red” lead paint. of the history of rowing and the place of women Although the goal of historic restoration is to in a predominantly male sport. use original materials, in many instances this is Listed in the Philadelphia Register of Historic not feasible due to product performance and/or Sites, the two-and a-half-story Italianate style economic reasons.  is was the case with the historic boathouse stands largely unchanged from the boathouse’s reroo ng project as lead-based paints days in which it was built in 1861. A hipped roof used in the 19th century were long discontinued — double-pitched in the front — and topped by due to environmental, health, and safety concerns, as a distinctive square cupola imparts much of the well as inferior performance. As a nonpro t relying building’s architectural character and aesthetics. primarily on membership dues, the club also couldn’t

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a ord a roof replacement with tin or other metal. Respectful to the high historic aesthetic standards established and the club’s budget constraints, Cooper Roo ng proposed — and the Historic Commission accepted — an alternative cost-e ective solution using a smooth modi ed bitumen membrane.  is  exible membrane was installed in a way to replicate the aesthetic of old- world tin roo ng coated with a properly tinted (“Colonial Red”) elastomeric system. Challenging Weathering Environment

Situated low along the riverbank, the historic › Showing signs of significant weathering, degradation, and color fade, the roof was in dire boathouse is subjected not only to wind-driven need of a recoating. heavy rains, but also water from the nearby falls downstream. Extreme seasonal temperature growth. Because the red roof is such an important  uctuations of the Mid-Atlantic region, which landmark on Boathouse Row, long-lasting color crosses over the freeze-thaw threshold more than retention was also of vital importance to both club any other area of the country, also puts a lot of members and the city itself. back and forth stress on the roof. Adding to these In search of a high-performance coating to challenging weathering conditions are the urban provide the durability and aesthetic performance environment’s acid rain and ne soot in the air. characteristics required for the job, Cooper Roo ng In 2019, the roof of the building was showing reached out to the experts at Acrymax Technologies signs of signi cant weathering, degradation, in Media, Pa. For nearly seven decades, the and color fade. Upon inspection, the team from company’s engineered coating systems have been Cooper Roo ng determined that the existing roof used to overcome very challenging problems at coating applied seven years earlier reached the end countless historic roof restoration projects. of its useful service life, and club members decided “We are deeply committed to the preservation to move forward with a recoating project. of historic roo ng systems and each product we “ ere was noticeable chalking, blistering, recommend is carefully chosen to achieve a speci c alligator cracking, and dulling of the surface objective,” said Eric Bennung, product development as a result of dirt, mildew, and other airborne engineer at Acrymax. “For the roof topcoat on pollutants,” said Terry Cooper, owner of Cooper the boathouse, we selected our AF-4400 coating, Roo ng. “ e roof clearly needed to be recoated to which combines the  exibility of an elastomeric ensure protection of the building envelope, as well as acrylic with the superior durability properties of ® to revitalize its iconic barn-red aesthetic appearance.” Kynar Aquatec  uoropolymer technology.” Coatings formulated with water-based Kynar Desired Longer Service Life Aquatec PVDF emulsions provide the same long- For the roof restoration, the Philadelphia Girls’ lasting durability, extreme weatherability, and Rowing Club wanted a durable solution that color-retention properties as Kynar 500® PVDF would stand up to the challenging weathering resin-based coatings, which can withstand extended conditions much longer than the typical seven- exposure to temperature extremes, ultraviolet rays, year lifecycle of an elastomeric coating.  e and other harsh climate conditions. However, hot and cold seasonal  uctuations, combined unlike factory-applied Kynar 500 resin-based with the riverfront urban location, called for a coatings, coatings based on Kynar Aquatec PVDF superior coating system o ering excellent water emulsions cure at ambient temperatures, meaning repellency and resistance to dirt and biological they can be eld applied to a variety of substrates

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and as a nish coat over acrylic › The high-performance coating used on basecoats.  ey also o er the historic boathouse will keep the roof’s aesthetic appearance looking bright barn red outstanding resistance to dirt, for many years ahead. staining, algae, mold, and corrosion, and they are excellent recommend it to customers at preventing water from who are looking for a high- penetrating the surface, since quality roof coating that will PVDF is naturally hydrophobic. last for 15 to 20 years or more,” he said. Restoration Gets Underway Long-Lasting Protection All materials and processes PHILADELPHIA and Beauty Restored used in this high visibility GIRLS’ ROWING CLUB  e restoration was BOATHOUSE project were selected for their completed over a two-day high-performance qualities. period in September 2019 when  e team from Cooper the weather was mild and dry. Roo ng started the job by Location: “It was a very memorable Philadelphia, Pa. power washing the entire and exciting job for Acrymax to 3,150-square-foot roof to clean Roofer: collaborate with Cooper Roo ng Cooper Roofi ng Corp.; Bridgeport, Pa. o any debris, dirt, chipping and Arkema on because of the paint, and other contaminants Website: history behind this landmark cooperroofi ng.com that can interfere with building on Boat House Row,” adhesion. As the next step in Roof Size: said Bennung. “By applying 3,150-square-foot roof preparing the surface for the Acymax’s durable AF-4400 coating job ahead, workers Completion Date: topcoat formulated with Kynar 2019 repaired any low areas, ponds, Aquatec PVDF resins, we can blisters, and cracking where Key Challenge?: expect the new roof to stand up to Giving new life and increased durability for the roof water might pool up and cause above a 150-year-old structure with historic and the area’s challenging weathering leaking issues. sentimental ties to the community. conditions for a very long time.” Once the roof surface was Roofi ng Products: “ e new roof on our properly prepared, Cooper • AF-4400 coating by Acrymax Technologies 150-year-old clubhouse looks Roo ng roller applied a barn- • Kynar Aquatec PVDF resin-based coating great and we are very happy red acrylic elastomeric basecoat with how these three locally (Acrymax AF130XT) at an based companies took charge application rate of 1 gallon per 100 square feet of the entire process in providing us with a (16 wet mils).  is ensured a minimum dry lm superior, cost-e ective restoration solution,” thickness of 8.5 mils. Working from top to bottom, said Sophia Socha, president of the Philadelphia the crew then roller applied the barn-red AF-4400 Girls’ Rowing Club. “ ey went through great high-performance topcoat in a manner to achieve lengths in matching the historic color needed speci ed dry lm requirements and to provide a and applying a premium coating product to keep uniform, pinhole free, and continuous coating lm. its aesthetic appearance looking bright barn red According to Chase Cooper, project manager for for many years ahead.” the roo ng work, the high-performance topcoat was very user-friendly and easy to work with. “From an applicator’s point of view, I was very Ron Partridge is the senior account manager, pleased with the end result and would de nitely Fluoropolymer Coatings NA, at Arkema Inc.

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