Skill was proven. Pride was defended. Sportsmanship was shared. Competition was fierce! From October 26-27, 2016 in Baltimore, metal construction industry peers battled it out in intense competition for bragging rights and cash prizes at the Third Annual MCA Metal Roofing Championship Games.
METALCON 2016, the single largest gathering of metal construction industry professionals, was the site for the spectacle, which lured 10 different teams of two crew members to compete during the two-day event. Inspired by the theme, “Battle Stars over Baltimore,” in honor of the birthplace of the Star-Spangled Banner, each day consisted of five battles:
- Triangle Fastener’s “Screwgun Challenge”: In this competition, one team member measured and marked screw spacing while the other installed the 32 screws into steel purlins. Winners were judged by best time and proper installation of all screws.
- Roof Hugger’s “Hug-A-Roof”: For this event, each team installed four Model “C” Roof Hugger sub-purlins each manufactured to fit over a base 12- inch on-center R-panel. Winners were judged by best time and proper end-to-end alignment of the four sub-purlins and proper installation of all 64 screws.
- New Tech Machinery/Drexel Metals’ “Install- A-SSR Roof”: This battle consisted of each team installing six New Tech Machinery standing seam panels from left to right with one panel clip at each Roof Hugger sub-purlin crossing. Winners were determined by best time and proper installation and alignment of the New Tech panels.
- D.I. Roof Seamers’ “Seam-it-Up”: Each team seamed six panels apiece for a total of 40 lineal feet. Prior to seaming, panels were hand crimped at each clip location and crimping was performed at the seaming machine beginning to end. Winners were chosen based upon best time and proper crimping and seaming of the New Tech Panels.
- S-5!’s “Let-It-Snow”: Finally, each team installed two rows of ColorGard snow retention. Teams installed the clamps, ColorGard bar, VersaClips, SnoClips and color strip. Winners were judged by best time and proper installation of the ColorGard snow retention system.
Contestants represented multiple construction companies:
- Thomas Phoenix International, Easthampton, N.J.
- DYMI Construction Inc., Morrisville, Pa.
- Hardin Construction LLC, Union Bridge, Md.
- Intermountain Roof Advisors, Salt Lake City
- Rosselli Roofing and Siding, Wantage, N.J.
- William Molnar Roofing Inc., Riverview, Mich.
- ARCON, Vanceboro, N.C. Mad Metal LLC, Arden, N.C.
In the end, a total of $5,800 was awarded to the winners. Wednesday’s Grand Prize and Best Quality awards went to Joe Allen and Paul Kulb of Thomas Phoenix International, while both of Thursday’s awards went to Dennis Duce and Gonzolo Tellez of Intermountain Roof Advisors.
“It was an honor to be part of this event, and we look forward to competing next year,” says Duce.
It’s never too early to start honing your skills. If you want to get in on all of the excitement and think you have what it takes to excel amongst your peers, save the date for the Fourth Annual Metal Roofing Championship Games to be held in Las Vegas, Oct. 18-20 in conjunction with METALCON 2017.
MCA intends to make awarding a National Metal Roofing Champion a hallmark event for the international tradeshow. Registration will begin in February 2017.
The Metal Roofing Championship games were sponsored by Triangle Fastener Corp., Roof Hugger LLC, D.I. Roof Seamers, S-5!, Drexel Metals and New Tech Machinery. Award sponsors were AkzoNobel, ATAS International, Atlas Bolt & Screw, The Bradbury Group, Chicago Metal Supply and Fabrication Inc., Designandbuildwithmetal.com, Englert Inc., Modern Trade Communications, NovaFlex Solutions, Petersen Aluminum Corp., SFS Intec and Valspar Inc.
