2006 Mansard Reconstruction Project

Links to Project Information
Current Construction Status
Why Are We Fixing the Mansards?
Mansard Special Assessment
Cost Breakdown

Fast Links

• Horn Brothers Roofing
• Gerard metal shingles
  • shake shingles
  • about the materials
• Versashield fireproofing layer
• assessment letter from the HOA Board
• our HOA bylaws

Current Construction Status

This section will be updated as appropriate. We'll do our best to provide photos for those owners who can't walk over and observe the progress themselves.

Date	Info and Photos
Oct. 20	Gerard shingles have been installed on sections of the NE corner of building 3240 - photos to come in the future, but the new shingles look very very sharp.
Oct. 13	Horn Bros. has set up scaffolding on the north side of 3240 Iris (building G) and has begun work laying the Versashield (a fireproofing layer required by the City of Boulder) and the new wood framework. The framework will hold the new Gerard shingles in place.

Why Are We Fixing the Mansards?

Mansards are the shingle-covered structures located at the top of each building on the Remington Post campus. With the exception of the carports and the clubhouse, the mansards have the original (40 year old) shingles, which are wooden shake shingles. Wooden shake shingles have been banned from new construction for a number of years in favor of relatively fireproof options such as asphalt and metal shingles.

As stated in the assessment letter and a 2005 website article, the mansards have been in disrepair for a long time. The common high winds of Boulder tend to rip off the wooden shakes, exposing large holes which (1) cannot be easily repaired and (2) leave an entrance for animals, more wind, and water. When the shakes are torn off, they expose large holes because there is no underlying structure or framework -- and without a framework, we cannot attach new shakes to cover up the holes!

Obviously, something needed to be done to address the mansard problem. Two choices existed: to repair and recover the mansards, or remove the mansards. Removing the mansards is not as easy as you might think -- in addition to demolition charges, new siding, rain gutters, and window flashing would have to be installed. Also, the top floors would be left without shade and we would probably need to construct overhangs for newly exposed windows. Bids from roofing contractors showed that removing the mansards would be far more expensive than simply recovering them with new, better, more attactive shingles.

To summarize, the pressing need to fix the mansards is apparent when you consider the list of problems associated with these structures:

• wooden shake shingles are prone to blowing off in a windstorm, leaving holes
• wooden shakes are a fire hazard
• holes cannot be easily repaired (no underlying structure to which shingles can be attached!)
• when holes exist, animals enter and make the mansards their home
• when holes exist, water and wind enter, making the top floor units extremely energy inefficient and prone to water leak problems
• the mansards in their current state look ratty and unkempt, surely not helping the value of our homes
• the HOA spends a lot of time and money on mansard and soffit repairs, and repairing damage from water leaks associated with the mansards -- to the tune of $10,000-$20,000 a year
• tearing off the mansards would actually be more expensive than recovering the existing structure with a more durable and attractive surface

The solution:

• Do not remove the existing wooden shake shingles, but use the existing shakes as part of the new underlying mansard structure
• Recover the mansards with:
  • Versashield fireproofing layer
  • a new wooden framework
  • Gerard metal shingles
• Repair the soffits
• Install new flashing for the windows which look out through the mansard structure

Mansard Special Assessment

copy of assessment letter sent to all homeowners via USPS, written August 16, 2006.
[opening and reading this PDF document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader]

The Board took several bids from area roofing companies and came up with a final bid of $310,248 from Horn Brothers Roofing to take care of this extensive mansard and soffit project. Under the HOA bylaws, the total assessment will be equally split between all units in the Remington Post complex. With 278 units, the total amount of the assessment comes to $1116 per unit.

The Board elected to spread out the full assessment amount over three (3) months, resulting in equal payments of $372 per month. These payments are due on October 1, November 1, and December 1, 2006. The decision to spread the assessment over three months was made because:

• assessing the full amount in one lump payment would place an undue burden on the majority of homeowners
• homeowner payments on this Oct.-Dec. monthly basis would enable the HOA to meet our payments to Horn Bros. as the buildings are completed
• spreading out the payments over a longer period of time would require the HOA to take out a substantial bank loan, or deplete the HOA reserves to a level where we could not possibly pay for any other common but unpredictable projects -- elevator repairs, water pipe breaks, etc.

Cost Breakdown

When we signed the contract with Horn Brothers Roofing, the HOA committed to a payment schedule. Payments come due upon completion of the specified buildings; approximate completion dates are also provided. The HOA will not make each payment until the building(s) are completed.

If you read this far, you might have also noticed a little bit of an accounting issue -- 278 units times $1,116 per unit equals $310,248, not the $299,748 total contract price for the mansards. Why the extra $10,500?

This extra money will go towards repairing the soffits (the underside of the mansards, kinda like a mansard floor). The soffits have been sagging, rotting, and falling down along with the mansards themselves. The biggest difficulty with the mansard project is getting those tall scaffolds into place, and Horn Brothers Roofing agreed to repair the soffits while they're already up there working on the mansards and for only the cost of materials ($50 per 4' x 8' sheet of plywood). In theory we could get our own staff to do this relatively simple work, but then we'd have to rent and set up scaffolding again - extra expense. Why not take care of both projects at once, when it will result in a net savings to the homeowners?