LHS’ Environmental Features
Leaky roofs? I think you mean environmental features.
The luminous entryway of LHS and it’s sparkling windows hides a flat, aging roof. On a rainy day, the drops slide down the arches. But where do they go? They puddle, then leak through the ceiling. The drips lead to trash cans in the middle of hallways to catch water and brown stains dotting the white ceilings.
The solution is simple –just fix the roof, right?
“It is really hard to stop the leaks because the design of our roof is flat,” principal April Adams said. “We’ve had a lot of roof work. Unfortunately, there are always leaks.”
Head custodian Paul Moreno helps track leaks after a storm and provides immediate relief. Moreno and his staff set up trash cans under leaks and notifies maintenance and facility workers.
Maintenance director Steve Aldrich has an explanation for the district’s repair strategy for the leaks.
“If you brought a brand new tire and got a nail in the tire, it would be cheaper to fix it rather than replacing it,” Aldrich said. “If you plug it, you can get another 80,000 miles out of that tire. That’s the same approach we take with the roofs. When there is a leak, we find the leak and patch it.”
Over the summer, LHS switched out the old HVAC systems. This caused some of the pipes to sweat, which resulted in brown spots on the ceilings.
Even with upgraded units, Aldrich still finds that condensation from the new HVAC systems causes leaks and brown spots. Fire alarm systems, plumbing in the ceiling and rain coming into the ceiling also cause leaks.
“You might have a pipe up high leaking, the water travels on ductwork for eight feet before it finds its way down,” Aldrich said. “You might see the stain on a ceiling tile there but the leak is not right above it. There is some investigative work that takes place.”
The amount of money the district spends on fixing the ceilings at LHS would seem to be considerable, however, it is manageable.
“Most of these roofs are under warranty,” Aldrich said. “We are not spending on repairing or patching the roof leaks, they are covered under the warranty.”
With no clear-cut solution to fixing the leaky roofs, the plan is to follow the flow of the water and repair leaks as they appear.
“We continue to patch, continue to patch, continue to patch,” Adams said. “I do not have an end-all-be-all answer that ‘yes, we have them stopped’ because I do not think they will ever stop happening.”
