The beautiful Elysian Beach Resort is located next to the St. Thomas Yacht Club on the eastern end of the island. In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria created catastrophic damage on St. Thomas, including the destruction of many roofs, causing the resort to close. The existing composite tile roofing material on the Elysian Beach Resort’s buildings was replaced with .032 aluminum Ascot White CastleTop shingles, manufactured by ATAS International. CastleTop shingles have an embossed texture, and an expanded polystyrene back board which supports the shingle during installation and aids in sound dampening. The tab interlock design of the shingle resists wind-uplift.
The contractor, Rooftops Silicone Distributors, Inc., installed a total of 62,400 square feet of the diamond-shaped shingles. Rodger Bressi, the contracting firm’s managing director, stated, “It is hard to tell in the photos just how high off the ground these roofs were on the front side. We needed 120-foot manlifts to reach the areas.” The retrofit project was completed in 2020.
CastleTop aluminum shingles were recommended by the contractor to the timeshare owner’s association. The contractor had them installed on his own home and could personally attest to their performance in high wind areas. The energy efficient Ascot White 70% PVDF paint finish has a high solar reflectance index (SRI) rating of 83, which will result in more of the sun’s heat being reflected away, rather than being absorbed into the buildings. This will help reduce cooling costs for the timeshare owners.
Durability and strength are two benefits that are fueling the growing popularity of metal roofing. Whether used for commercial or residential applications, metal roofing is proven to withstand hurricane strength winds. Structures protected with metal roofing have survived the worst of the recent hurricanes. For buildings located near the seacoast, a pre-painted 70% PVDF aluminum metal panel is much more resistant to the corrosive effects of a marine environment than a steel panel, as tested in accordance with the ASTM standard B117-85 (salt fog tolerance). Therefore, the aluminum CastleTop roof shingles will resist high winds and corrosion for this ocean front property for many years.
