What is the largest, most expensive roof repair job in the history of the US (maybe even the world)? If you guessed the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina you’d be correct!
The Superdome, home to the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, in New Orleans, Louisiana, was hit by Katrina back in 2005. Katrina’s powerful winds and rain ripped more than 70% of the roof right off. Requiring more than 100 roofers and millions of dollars to fix.
The effort took more than 10 months using 10,463 pieces of metal decking on the 270-foot tall Superdome. A half-million gallons of foam was ordered to cover the roof and in the end, workers sprayed five layers of polyurethane paint (2 layers of grey primer, followed by 3 layers of white polyurethane) to give the roof it’s familiar white topping fans have grown accustomed to.
Luckily, the weather cooperated with the roofers by producing little rain during the critical months of May and June. Only six days of work was lost due to bad weather in total. All heavy labor was completed by the end of June, 2006 and the last piece of metal laid on the almost 10-acre roof on June 30, 2006.
With a total price of $32 million for materials and labor, the Superdome roof repair is believed to be the most expensive roofing job in history.