DNR considering $160,000 copper roof
By Bo Petersen
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Copper or asphalt – those are the two shingles S.C. Natural Resources Department officials will compare Tuesday when they open bids to replace a leaky roof on a waterfront office building at Fort Johnson. It’s pay now or pay more later, they say.
But not everybody thinks spending three times more for fine metal roof shingles is the best use of the money, in the midst of state budget cuts so severe that the DNR is considering asking state legislators to raise some hunting and fishing fees.
The department won’t recommend any increases immediately because of the economy, board Chairwoman Caroline Rhodes said.
The Fort Johnson building is the regional administration office, the distinctive brown shingle building that sits at the point alongside the boat landing.
A copper roof expected to cost $160,000 was recommended because it has twice or more the expected lifespan of asphalt.
An asphalt roof has a 10- to 20-year lifespan; a copper roof has a 50- to 100-year lifespan, said Kevin Kibler, DNR engineering director.
The final decision likely will hinge on the cost difference between the two.
The advising engineers said the savings in maintenance and repair on a copper roof, as well as the longer time span before it needs to be replaced, will make it worth a lot more than $100,000 the department estimates it could save by putting in an asphalt shingle roof. A shingle roof is expected to cost about $60,000.
“It’s either a cost-effective expenditure or it’s not. It all depends on what saves more money,” said state Sen. Mike Rose, R-Summerville, who has criticized some department spending as not needed.
His definition of an elephant, he kidded, is a mouse built to government specifications. “I’m concerned if it’s a waste of money, but if it’s not a waste I’m not.”
K.C. Lombard, a Johns Island roofing contractor, makes no bones about it.
"Copper roofs? I mean,