New & Improved
Lightweight Composite Slate Solves HOA Roofing Problem
by Marcus Dodson, Editor & Publisher
Spread your thumb and index finger and you’ll probably get about four inches. That’s the amount of sagging area that the 153,600 sq.ft. of roof space at Zuma Bay Villas in Malibu, California, was experiencing up until this past year.
Built in 1975, the 90 prime location oceanfront units include 17 buildings and a club house. Every part of the structures had significant roof deflection caused by the original heavy roofing tiles weighing down on the buildings for almost half a century. Finally, the HOA Board, and the residents, had had enough. The problem had to be fixed.
Dennis Torres, HOA Board President at the time, began investigating roof replacement options that would not just solve the problem, but would also offer an aesthetic boost to the multi-million dollar condos. As Director of Real Estate Operations for Pepperdine University, and founder of a real estate brokerage firm employing more than 100 people, Torres has extensive building industry experience. During this search he worked with Brian Ricci at Adco South Roofing and Waterproofing from Orange, California. That’s how he discovered composite slate from DaVinci® Roofscapes.
“The DaVinci Single-Width Slate tiles have a Class A fire rating, which is critical for our geographic area and to secure insurance coverage for our HOA,” said Torres, who has been a resident of Zuma Bay Villas since 1980. “In addition, it’s lightweight, yet durable. I could tell we’d never have the weight problem on our roofs again with this product. That’s also important because of the earthquakes we experience here in Malibu. Every time the earth shakes, the heavy tiles were shifting and cracking.”
Working with Ricci and the HOA Board members, the DaVinci product recommendation was brought forward to property owners at Zuma Bay Villas. “As with any large group, we had push-back from some people,” said Torres. “Then I explained that billionaire businessman Rick Caruso uses DaVinci tiles on his shopping center and hotel. That immediately changed people’s minds. If it’s good enough for Rick, it’s good enough for us.”
Decision made, the team from Adco South started the reroof project in April of 2021. Building by building, they began with removal of the old tiles and replaced the sagging plywood. New 2×8 joists were installed to level the roofs. Polystick® MTS Plus self-adhered high-temp waterproofing underlayment and Solarhide™ energy saving radiant barrier roofing underlayment were added to the subsurface.
The lightweight DaVinci Single-Width Slate tiles in a castle gray color were then installed to finish the roof. Constructed of a composite material made of virgin resins, UV, and thermal stabilizers, as well as a highly-specialized fire retardant, each tile is 12 inches wide and ½ an inch thick. Modeled from actual slate for a natural, non-repeating beauty, the synthetic slate resists fading, rotting, cracking, and pests. The tiles also resist impact, fire, salt air, and sea spray.
“Our company does 90 percent of our business on HOA roofing projects,” says Ricci. “Most HOAs we reroof are about this size or bigger and they all generally want to go back to the same heavy tiles they already have. That’s a shame because the lightweight nature and durability of the DaVinci products make them an extraordinary option, just as Zuma Bay Villas has discovered.”
According to Torres, the installation work took exactly two years to complete. “The city of Malibu inspected each building at least four times. Each time we passed easily. Ricci and the entire team at Adco South were simply incredible. We won the lottery with this roofing team and with the DaVinci product.”
“Our residents really like the look of the DaVinci slate roof and the value it adds to our property. We appreciate the solutions that Adco South brought to this challenging situation and would highly recommend both the DaVinci tiles and Adco South to others in our area.”
