A CentiMark Corporation Case Study: Tinker Air Force Base

CentiMark Case Studies

Oklahoma City, OK

The Details:

CentiMark was awarded the roofing contract for Building 230 - an airplane hanger - at Tinker Air Force Base. The energy-efficient roofing solution project was part of an $8 million energy conservation project by Oklahoma Gas & Electric to help lower escalating utility costs at Tinker Air Force Base. The energy-efficient re-roofing project consisted of a spray polyurethane foam with silicone coating roof system installed over a corrugated asbestos roof panel system.

Building 230 is a mammoth 400,000 square foot structure comprised of four 90 feet high Quonset style airplane hangers. These hangers are used to house and maintain AWAC (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft.


The Major Challenges at Tinker AFB were:

  • The gusty and heavy winds in Oklahoma. The wind was “above spraying limits of 15 m.p.h.” throughout 70% of the project

  • Keeping polyurethane foam overspray off of the AWAC planes and vehicles of the 20,000 plus civilians working at the base (Note: the precautions were successful considering that only about 20 vehicles were affected by the overspray)

  • Applying foam and coatings to a surface with a 6:12 pitch and a roof that crews could not walk on

  • CentiMark Safety Specialists devised a Fall Protection Plan that included attaching heavy-duty steel beams to the 225 feet wide structure, 50 feet on center. A cable was then installed 48 inches above the roof surface and secured into the building at each end. A 100% tie-off for roofing crews was mandatory. Weekly safety inspections were included in the Plan

  • The project required spraying 300,000 pounds of polyurethane foam and 8,000 gallons of silicone. Therefore, a controlled environment was required due to the severity of the roof pitch, overspray control and the five times that each particular section of roof was to be covered

  • Secondary containment of materials was mandatory as this was a government facility

  • 600 feet of walkway between hangers was replaced


CentiMark Solutions:

  • Robotic equipment (as opposed to hand spraying of foam) was determined to be the best solution to install the foam and would require a two-man crew. If the foam was sprayed by hand instead of robotic equipment, the crew size would double to four and additional safety procedures including ropes and harnesses would be required to ensure the safety of the crew.

  • A special tent was fabricated on site with heavy-duty framing to support the weight of a robotic foam machine and a reversible/variable speed winch (which controlled the movement of the tent to roll up and down the pitch of the roof). Once complete, a screened-in-patio enclosure was installed on top of the frame for overspray protection. After foaming operations started, modifications to the enclosure to withstand 40-mph wind gusts became necessary.

  • After the foaming was completed, a special tent fabrication was required for the application of the silicone coating. To keep the overspray contained, a wet lap line, inside the tent to tie-into was necessary. A special set of wheels was fabricated on the inside to accommodate this need.

  • A secondary containment area consisting of heavy duty polyurethane was laid under plywood sheeting and attached to the top side of 2 x 6 in an 8’ x 120’ area. This was built to accommodate the truck loads of materials delivered and stored on site.

  • After foam and coating was sprayed under the existing walkway, a new walkway system was installed.

The Results:

For Tinker Air Force Base, the results were an energy-efficient roof system that will ultimately help reduce overall utility costs. Chevron Energy Solutions calculations project that the roof system will pay for itself within fifteen years. One of the advantages to the foam roof system is that the system should provide 20 to 30 years of energy savings.

With 20 vehicles needing detailing at the end of the project, the special safety and overspray procedures taken were well worth the cost.

From Chevron Energy Solutions calculations, the roofing system installed at Tinker AFB will pay itself off in 10 years.

About CentiMark

CentiMark is a full service commercial and industrial roofing contractor offering a full complement of roofing solutions: roof systems, emergency leak service, roof repair, maintenance programs and multiple site roof inspections. Our re-roofing services are typically on flat roofs utilizing EPDM roofs (rubber roofing), TPO, bitumen roof, spray polyurethane foam and coatings. CentiMark proudly serves North America as the largest roofing contractor with local offices in your community