Case Study: 23,000 SF Full Tear-Off + Structural Truss Repair + Foam — Durus Industrial, Chandler
When an industrial building's roof is failing badly enough that a recoat is not on the table, the job splits into scopes most Phoenix roofers refuse to price on the same contract: tear-off, structural repair, and new foam install. Durus Industrial at 55 S. 56th St in Chandler is one of those jobs. Vanguard delivered three coordinated scopes across 23,000 square feet of industrial roof — a full tear-off to wood decking with truss and decking repair on scope one, a full tear-off and scupper/decking replacement on scope two, and a targeted foam-bubble repair with decking replacement on scope three — all wrapped under fresh polyurethane foam and two coats of ARMORCOAT AC100. This is our first published case study in the city of Chandler and the reference project for how full-scope industrial roof work should be executed.
Project SnapshotDurus Industrial — 55 S. 56th St, Chandler AZ 85226
Chandler's industrial corridor — the stretch of light-industrial and manufacturing real estate that runs along the 56th Street spine near the Chandler Municipal Airport — is one of the busiest working-industrial submarkets in the entire East Valley. Durus Industrial at 55 S. 56th St sits directly in that corridor: a 23,000 square-foot single-tenant industrial building with the DURUS signage visible from the corridor and the Loop 202/San Tan interchange feeding truck traffic in and out daily. When the ownership group engaged us on this roof, the failure mode had already progressed past what a coating scope could reach — this was a tear-off and structural project, not a recoat.
Durus Industrial — Full Tear-Off + Truss Repair + Foam Roof, Chandler
| Property | Durus Industrial Facility |
| Address | 55 S. 56th St, Chandler, AZ 85226 |
| Roof Size | 23,000 sq ft |
| Scope 1 | Full tear-off + truss/decking repair + foam + 2 coats AC100 |
| Scope 2 | Full tear-off + scupper/decking replacement + foam + 2 coats AC100 |
| Scope 3 | Bubble cut-out + decking replacement + foam + 2 coats AC100 |
| Coating System | ARMORCOAT AC100 White Elastomeric — 2 coats |
| Client Engagement | Direct property owner hire |
| Warranty | 10-Year No-Leak |
| Contractor | Vanguard Roofing AZ — since 1957 |
The ProjectThe building, the client, and what we were solving for
Chandler's industrial corridor — the stretch of light-industrial and manufacturing real estate that runs along the 56th Street spine near the Chandler Municipal Airport — is one of the busiest working-industrial submarkets in the entire East Valley. Durus Industrial at 55 S. 56th St sits directly in that corridor: a 23,000 square-foot single-tenant industrial building with the DURUS signage visible from the corridor and the Loop 202/San Tan interchange feeding truck traffic in and out daily. When the ownership group engaged us on this roof, the failure mode had already progressed past what a coating scope could reach — this was a tear-off and structural project, not a recoat.
Industrial-corridor buildings in Chandler carry their own set of roof failure modes that don't show up on office or retail roofs: heavier rooftop mechanical loads, more penetration cuts, more thermal cycling from process-heat exhaust, and — because industrial owners often defer roof capital longer than office owners do — a higher likelihood that when the roof finally needs work, the underlying structure has taken damage. That was the story here. See our Chandler commercial roofing service area for more on how we approach East Valley industrial work.
The SystemWhen the failure mode goes past recoat: three scopes, one contract
Not every commercial roof failure is a recoat conversation. On this Durus Industrial project, the roof presented three distinct failure zones that each demanded a different scope — but that all had to be executed under one contract, on one schedule, by one contractor, so the ownership group would end up with one continuous warrantied roof at the end. Here's what each scope required:
- Scope 1 — Full tear-off + truss repair. Complete tear-off down to the wood decking, replacement of rotten decking near the south parapet, sistered structural repairs to the underlying truss framing, replacement of the metal truss plates that had corroded through, then fresh polyurethane foam and 2 coats of AC100.
- Scope 2 — Full tear-off + scupper and decking replacement. Complete tear-off, replacement of the roof scuppers, replacement of rotten decking as identified during the tear-off, then fresh polyurethane foam and 2 coats of AC100 across the section.
- Scope 3 — Targeted bubble repair + decking replacement. Cut out the bubbled foam on this section, replaced rotten decking that had been trapped under the bubble, sprayed new polyurethane foam on the cut areas, then 2 coats of AC100 over both the new foam and the surrounding existing coated foam.
- One continuous coated roof at the end. All three scopes completed under one 10-year no-leak warranty on the finished ARMORCOAT AC100 system — see our roof coating services for the AC100 spec.
Our ApproachHow three separate scopes were coordinated on one industrial roof
Running three coordinated scopes on the same 23,000 sq ft roof is a schedule and safety exercise as much as a roofing exercise. Different sections need different crews (tear-off, framing/carpentry, foam application), different material staging, and different tie-in details where a fully-torn-off section meets a bubble-repaired section under the same coating envelope. Here's how the sequence ran:
Scope of work — three-scope industrial sequence
- Full-roof survey + scope segmentation. Walked the 23,000 sq ft roof, identified the three distinct failure zones, and segmented the scope so each area would get the right work — no under-scoping the failed areas, no over-scoping the sound areas.
- Scope 1 tear-off + truss repair. Torn off to wood decking, replaced rotten decking near the south parapet, sistered damaged truss framing back to structural spec, replaced corroded metal truss plates, then re-decked ready for foam.
- Scope 2 tear-off + scupper and decking replace. Torn off, replaced scuppers and rotten decking as identified, re-decked ready for foam.
- Scope 3 bubble cut + decking replace. Cut out the bubbled foam, replaced the rotten decking that had been trapped under the bubble, prepped the cut area for tie-in with fresh foam.
- Fresh polyurethane foam across all three scopes. Sprayed fresh polyurethane foam continuously across all three scope areas — the tie-ins between new and existing substrate handled with careful foam feathering and overlap.
- Two coats of ARMORCOAT AC100 across the whole roof. Directional first coat and cross-directional second coat across the full 23,000 sq ft — one continuous coated roof, one warranty, one 10-year no-leak envelope.
Because the property owner engaged us directly on all three scopes, the coordination stayed inside one contractor rather than fragmenting across a demolition sub, a carpentry sub, and a roofing sub. That's the model industrial roof work should use.
The DetailStructural repair on a commercial roof — the scope most roofers refuse to quote
Most commercial roofing contractors are coating and membrane trades. When they show up on a roof where the failure has progressed into the structure — rotten decking, damaged truss framing, corroded metal truss plates — they either write those items out of scope and hope the owner finds someone else to handle them, or they quote it as a change order after the roof is torn off and the damage is exposed. Both models create schedule and cost risk for the owner.
Vanguard's carpentry crews are in-house and structural repair is inside our scope on jobs like Durus Industrial. That means we can walk a roof, identify likely structural failure zones before the tear-off, and bid the structural work into the roofing contract from day one. When the tear-off exposes exactly the damage we anticipated, there are no change orders, no scope surprises, and no waiting for a separate structural sub to schedule their crew. For more on how we approach industrial-scale work, see our Talis Industrial case study.
The Warranty10-year no-leak warranty across all three scopes
The finished Durus Industrial roof carries our 10-year no-leak warranty on the ARMORCOAT AC100 coating system, covering the entire 23,000 square feet — every scope, every section, every tie-in. Because all three scopes were completed by the same contractor under one contract, the warranty is unified across the whole roof rather than fragmented by section — one point of contact, one coverage envelope, one warranty call if anything ever needs it.
The Results23,000 sq ft industrial roof back to spec — first Chandler case study
Durus Industrial operates today under a fully-restored 23,000 sq ft polyurethane foam roof with two coats of ARMORCOAT AC100, structural truss repairs completed and warrantied, and a single 10-year no-leak envelope across the whole roof plane. This is our first published case study in the city of Chandler and the reference project for how full-scope industrial roof work — tear-off, structural repair, and coating — should be delivered by one contractor.
Photo GalleryProject photos
FAQCommon questions
When is a full tear-off necessary vs. a recoat or recover?
A full tear-off is the right call when the substrate has failed structurally — rotten decking, damaged framing, corroded truss plates, or trapped moisture across large areas of the assembly. On this Durus Industrial job, structural framing had been damaged and rotten decking needed replacement — no recoat or recover would have addressed those failures. For more on when replacement is the right call, see our blog on the true cost of commercial roof replacement in Arizona.
Does Vanguard do the structural truss repair, or do you subcontract it?
We do it in-house. On the Durus Industrial project, our own carpentry crews performed the truss sistering, decking replacement, and truss-plate installation from the interior of the building — the structural scope was inside our contract from day one. That means one contractor accountable for the whole roof, from framing repair through final AC100 topcoat.
Why run three different scopes on the same roof?
Because different sections of the roof had different failure modes. Scope-matching each area — full tear-off for the truss-damaged section, tear-off + scupper replace for another section, bubble cut-out for the third — means the ownership group is not paying for a full tear-off across the entire roof when only part of it needed that level of work. It's honest scoping, and it produces the right finished roof at the right cost.
How long does an industrial tear-off + foam install take?
Time on site scales with roof size, scope complexity, and structural repair required. A 23,000 sq ft three-scope job like Durus Industrial takes longer than a straight recoat but faster than a full three-trade coordination model — because one contractor is running all three scopes with in-house crews rather than sequencing across three subs.
Do you work on industrial buildings across the East Valley and Chandler airpark?
Yes — industrial-corridor commercial roofing is one of our strongest specialties. We work across Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Tempe on industrial-scale roofs from 15,000 sq ft up to well over 100,000 sq ft on both foam and TPO systems. See our Talis Industrial case study for a comparable industrial-scale project.