As the director of engineering at a hospital system that spans seven counties and two states, there’s a lot of concerns that keep Jeff Cook up at night.
But leaky roofs aren’t one of them.
“One thing I’m not up at night worrying about is my facilities leaking and that’s because they have Garland roofs on them,” explained Cook.
Cook has worked at Reid Hospital & Health Care Services for the last 21 years and took the reins as director of engineering in 2008, becoming responsible for more than 1.2 million square feet of buildings in east central Indiana and west central Ohio.
The hospital’s relationship with Garland began even before Cook came on board, dating back to the early 1990s. Throughout the more than 20-year relationship, Garland has been responsible for thousands of square feet of roofs at the hospital, including the brand new, state-of-the-art Reid Hospital opened in 2008 to replace the hospital’s original, 100-year-old facility.
“Garland has been able to prove themselves over and over again and that’s why our relationship has continued for as long as it has,” Cook said.
One of the biggest projects Garland completed with Reid Hospital was a tear-off and replacement of a four-ply inverted built-up roofing system with a concrete plaza deck overtop. There were critical surgical units below the 18,000-square-foot plaza deck, requiring extreme caution and care during the reroof project.
After the original plaza deck and roof system was removed, and the new roof system installed, the hospital flooded the new roof system to ensure there were no leaks prior to the installation of the new concrete plaza deck.
Cook explained, “We flooded it for a week and it held. It’s those kinds of things that proved to us the quality of Garland materials.”
Along with quality materials, proper installation is critical to ensuring long-term performance. AAA Roofing Company, Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana was the roofing contractor on the first project Garland did with Reid and have partnered with Garland on multiple other projects at the hospital since.
Together, Garland and AAA installed more than 130,000-square-feet of roofs on Reid’s new world-class facility in Richmond, Indiana which consists of a rehabilitation center, medical offices, an outpatient facility and a six-story inpatient hospital.
“Hospitals are very sensitive areas to do roof work and Garland and AAA Roofing understand that our staff and customers come first. All of their folks are courteous, respectful and go above and beyond. As a result, we’re able to continue doing our job as a healthcare facility without them causing major disruptions to our operations,” Cook explained.
Jim Huntington, president of AAA Roofing – a third generation family-owned business – has grown up in the roofing business, starting as a laborer at 16. As a full-service, commercial roofing contractor, AAA works with most major roofing manufacturers. But in Huntington’s opinion, Garland stands out above the rest.
He explained, “Garland is the Cadillac of the roofing industry. They’re a very high quality product and they perform to that standard as well. If you want something top of the line, go with Garland. They do things right. If they do have a problem, which is very rare, they stand behind it and take care of it. I can’t say that for everybody. They are a quality company.”
Cook echoed those comments.
“I already know the performance is proven. Again, it goes back to not having to worry about two years in, and then five years in. It’s the best quality I can buy.”