Protecting the heart of a city

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how Exceptional Metals and Duro-Last products provided a long-term roofing solution for a church in Odessa, Texas. 

If you’re looking for a West Texas adventure, the city of Odessa is a hidden gem full of arts, culture, food and fun! A keystone part of this community is the First Baptist Church of Odessa, located right in the heart of downtown. Established in 1896, this church is one of the largest in the Permian Basin region. Pastor Steve Crone, executive pastor of First Baptist Odessa, shared what this space means for the city’s residents, “In addition to the sanctuary that is filled every Sunday with worshipers, we also facilitate the First Odessa Christian Academy and a child development center during the week.”  

But a severe hailstorm in June of 2017 caused catastrophic damage to the area and compromised the roof of the church. Pastor Steve explained the heart of the concern, “We have a lot going on at the campus throughout the week, so it was vitally important to find a long-term solution to the roof leaks.” But this was no easy feat. The roof of the church is made up of more than 80,000 square feet of flat roofing in addition to sections of standing seam metal and clay tile.  

Luckily, Merit Roofing Systems from Prosper, Texas (near Dallas) was up to the challenge. Brian Kimbrell, the owner of Merit Roofing, explained, “We had developed a great relationship with church leadership over the years, so when we got the call to help we were able to walk them through the products that were going to offer them more robust protection.” Those products? Duro-Last X™ 60 mil membrane; Duro-Last ROOF-TRAK® III Walkway Pads; DensDeck® StormX™ coverboard; EXCEPTIONAL® Metals’ AllTerm®; and Exceptional Metals LokSeam® metal panels. Overall, this system is rated for very severe hail and came with a Duro-Last 20-Year NDL Warranty to protect the church and its inhabitants for a long time.  

With all the different types of roofs and slopes on the church, it took some puzzle-piecing and adapting to get the system in place, but Merit Roofing’s crew of eight were able to finish the project in just over four months. Pastor Steve shared a bit about the experience, “Merit Roofing was fantastic to work with. We knew this was going to be a difficult project to coordinate around our day-to-day activities and the Merit team was very accommodating. Not only did they make good on their promise to get our building dry, we’ve also seen a major improvement in our energy bills. Just this summer, our electric costs have dropped by 15%.” 

Check out this video on YouTube to see the incredible project yourself!