April 18, 2012 — Hurricane Irene brought a day of reckoning to The Seville, a 270-unit co-op complex in Bayside, Queens, last August. With leaks in six of 18 semi-attached townhouses, it was clear their 40-year-old roofs were living on borrowed time. “The question was whether you continue to put bandages on things, or looked to do something that is more life-sustaining,” says Felicia Chapman Jenkins, board secretary and a townhouse resident herself.
But the estimate for replacing all nine roofs at once before winter set in was nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Was there another way? Read more >>
Seek and ye shall find: the board discovered NRG, a “cool roof” white epoxy coating that promised to extend the life of the roofs another 10 years and cut their summertime energy bills – for a quarter of the cost. The board signed off at a late-September special meeting; a month later, the work was complete. “I’ve had two townhouse committee meetings where I met with shareholders, and there have been no complaints of roof leaks,” says Chapman Jenkins. “We feel confident that we made the right decision.”
NEIGHBORHOOD
Bayside, Queens
VALUE
RECENT SALES
12/29/11: $285,000
12/7/11: $325,000
8/31/11: $650,000
PROPERTY TAXES
Estimated Market Value: $20,299,000
2011/12 Taxable Value: $7,969,302
THE VISION THING
Located at 18-15 215th Street, The Seville is part of The Towers at Water’s Edge, an enclave of three co-ops overlooking Little Neck Bay in tony, ethnically diverse Bayside. Each contains a 17-story high-rise and a cluster of townhouses. “It’s a very quiet community,” says board secretary Felicia Chapman Jenkins, who has lived there nine years. “It’s really set onto its own, and yet it’s a community where people are basically middle-class or upper-middle-class.”
So despite the co-op’s luxurious trappings, this board knows it must stretch its dollars to the fullest. They expect NRG, made by the protective-coating manufacturer EPOX-Z, to last as long as a brand-new roof, but it’s so new, Chapman Jenkins says, “it has not been used for 10 years by anyone.”
But drawing on her experience from a career at the city Housing Authority, she and the board did careful research before taking the plunge. “We felt very safe in the fact that we thought this was the best avenue to go,” she says.
BUILDING INVESTMENT
PROJECT
Cost: $60,000
- Flashing and drain repairs
- Application of NRG epoxy roof coating for nine townhouse buildings (18 units) and portions of the high-rise roof. The coating seals the roof and repels water.
- NRG has environmental benefits: because of its white color, it reflects more sunlight than a traditional dark roof, lowering interior temperatures by up to 12 degrees on a hot summer day and reducing peak cooling demand by up to 15 percent. Also, it contains no toxic solvents.
CONTRIBUTORS
Dennis Cohen, National Roofing Corporation
Felicia Chapman Jenkins, board secretary
Yves M. Martinez, Metro Management
Began in October 2011 and completed in November.