76 metalmag • FEBRUARY 2007 FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
Roofing Contractor Brian Page is a visionary. Twelve years ago, he decided to install a standing-seam metal
roof at his first workshop in Tunbridge, Vt.—as interior ceil-
ing material for the 40- by 40-foot (12- by 12-m) building.
Now the owner of the Mad Cow Division of Iron Horse
Roofing Inc., Croydon, N.H., and an experienced metal roof-
ing worker, Page was working in uncharted territory when he
first came up with the idea. He knew installing a standing-
seam metal ceiling would be the precise opposite of installing
a metal roof and gravity would be the major challenge he’d
have to overcome.
He’d figured out in his head how to do it, what kind of scaf-
folding he would need and how many “hands” it would ulti-
mately take to hold the panels in place. “My guys were cursing
me when I told them what we were going to do,” he laughs.
But their curses turned to cheers only four hours later when
they completed installing Perth Amboy, N.J.-based Englert
Inc. Series 1300 panels in the 40- by 40-foot (12- by 12-m)
ceiling of the workshop.
The experience validated Page’s belief that standing seam
could be just as practical and aesthetic of a solution inside a
building as it was outside. That sparked him to talk to busi-
nesses in central New Hampshire about installing the exterior
roofing panel as a ceiling product.
First Customer Page’s first customer was the Vermont Butter & Cheese
Co., a family-owned company that has been making artisanal
hand-crafted cheeses for more than 20 years. Owners Allison
Hooper and Bob Reese started the company in a small barn by
installing standing-seam Panels on Ceilings
Upsidedown
ByKevinCorCoran
[interiors]
FEBRUARY 2007 • metalmag 77FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
Brianpageinstalledenglertseries1300,11/2single-lockpanelsinhisnewworkshopandonthesoaringceilingofhis3-storypost-and-beamoffice.
78 metalmag • FEBRUARY 2007 FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
Hooper’s house in Brookfield, Vt. Reese was
selling the cheese, and Hooper was making
it. Then, in 1989, the team moved into a
larger creamery located in Websterville,
near Barre, Vt. In the beginning, they occu-
pied one-third of the building and put all
their money into the purchase of a boiler,
pasteurizer and vat. When they began to
structurally upgrade the facility four years
later, it was then that Page convinced the
owners to install a standing-seam metal
panel ceiling.
“They were delighted because we com-
pleted the work so quickly,” he recalls. “But
they were even more pleased later on when
the local health officer said the standing
seam was a good choice because plant
employees could easily clean the ceiling
and remove any bacteria that could grow
in a cheese-making environment. That’s
exactly what the plant management found
after it began steam cleaning the standing
seam without worrying about damaging a
painted gypsum ceiling.” Soon they had to
add more equipment, more employees and
more farmers to their team. Today, Vermont
Butter & Cheese has 29 employees and works
with 21 family farms.
at Work and HomeLike any zealous innovator, Page made his
own environment his laboratory. In 1999
he moved his business from Vermont to
New Hampshire. And in 2000 he decided to
install Englert Series 1300, 1 1/2 single-lock
panels in his new workshop. Three years
later he built a new office and installed the
same Englert series panel on the soaring ceil-
ing of his 3-story post-and-beam office.
The office has high walls leading up to the
lofty standing-seam cathedral ceiling. The
floor level is split in half by a towering spiral
staircase that rises from the center of the
room up through the roof into a cupola with
a view of the surrounding New Hampshire
countryside. Track lighting installed across
the standing seam brings light to the room.
Unlike a wood-beamed ceiling, the standing
seam is much less expensive to install and
adds light and dimension to the room.
The panels range in width from 16 to 20
inches (406 to 508 mm). When mechani-
cally seamed into place, the panels’ seams
create vertical lines that give an illusion of
much greater height and length than wood
or gypsum.
“It also gives an architect the ability to
choose from 26 standard ceiling colors or
even a custom color if the client is willing
to pay a premium,” Page notes.
And there are economic advantages to
using standing seam, as well. It’s less expen-
sive than a wood ceiling and takes about a
day to install. “You can do any ceiling just
by adding layers to the scaffolding,” Page
says, noting the biggest challenge is hold-
ing the standing seam up while it is seamed
into place.
Otherwise, the installation process for
a peak ceiling is identical to an exterior
The installation process for a peak ceiling is identical to an exterior roof—except it is installed upside down.
Brianpagechoseastanding-seamceilingforhisofficebecauseit’slessexpensivetoinstall,addslighttotheroom,andgivestheillusionofgreaterheightandlengththanwoodorgypsum.
FEBRUARY 2007 • metalmag 79FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
80 metalmag • FEBRUARY 2007 FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
theentrywayofBrianpage’shomefeaturesmetalpanels.thepitchoftheceilingismodest,buttheseamsgivethemetalpanelsacathedraleffectthatgracefullytapersdowntomeetthewallsandgrandstaircase.
FEBRUARY 2007 • metalmag 81FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
roof—except it is installed upside down.
There is an inverted ridge cap where the
standing seam comes together at the ceil-
ing peak. And the “crown molding” is
made of panel either cut flush to the gyp-
sum wall panel or folded like a breadbox
around it.
Page also has installed a peaked standing-
seam ceiling in the soaring 2-story entry-
way of his home in Croydon. The effect is
striking. Enter his front door, and a classic
cherry-wood, 16-step staircase rises straight
from the entryway to the second floor of
the house. A triple roundhead window high
above the entry door brings natural light
into the entryway. Capping it all is a stand-
ing-seam metal ceiling in slate gray anchored
in the middle by a ceiling fan with an amber
light bowl. The pitch of the ceiling is mod-
est, but the seams give the metal panels a
cathedral effect that gracefully tapers down
to meet the walls and grand staircase.
Depending on the time of day, either
natural light or the ceiling fan’s lamp illu-
minate the painted metal ceiling with a
glow that alters the mood of the entryway.
Early morning, there’s a soft diffused light.
But as day wanes and the lights come on, the
standing seam radiates a soft amber glow that
brings a warm, luminous quality to the room.
A lighter sandstone-colored standing seam
is installed in Page’s 40- by 50-foot (12- by
15-m), below-grade family room, and the
results are similar. He and his crew fabri-
cated the Englert Series 1300 panels out-
side the patio doors to the family room
and installed the seamless material that
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Light,sandstone-coloredstanding-seampanelswereinstalledinBrianpage’s40-by50-foot,below-gradefamilyroom.
[ interiors]
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82 metalmag • FEBRUARY 2007 FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
runs from the entry to an oak wet bar at the
other end of the 50-foot (15-m) room.
The standing seam gives character and
definition to the room, adding the illusion
of space. But instead of the metal used as
molding in the home’s entryway, Page used
wood molding to mask where the standing
seam meets the plasterboard walls. Again,
track lighting is used to illuminate most
of the space. Top hats and some backlit
transparency lighting provide the balance of
light in the bar area.
Using standing-seam panels was equally
appealing to Page’s wife and business part-
ner, Meredith. “It was a pleasure not to have
the dust and mess that a gypsum ceiling
creates when it’s being installed,” she notes.
“You don’t have to tape it, sand it, paint
it and then repaint it every few years. The
panel in the office and the house was much
faster to install, and it’s so easily cleaned.”
suCCess storiesPage’s company serves much of northern
New England, and he has been successful in
installing standing-seam ceilings in a number
of businesses, as well. It wasn’t something he
planned, but he has become a consultant to
architects, builders and homeowners looking
to use trend-setting materials in their projects.
“I enjoy working with people on their ideas,
and I particularly like how they react to the
results.”
One of those customers was the Goodrich
Oil Co. in nearby Newport, N.H., where
Page installed a standing-seam panel ceiling
in the company’s 60- by 60-foot (18- by 18-
m) vehicle garage.
“The owner had already started to put
in the stripping for a gypsum board ceil-
ing when I told him I could do the entire
job much faster with standing seam,” Page
recalls. “He ripped out the stripping, and
we had the ceiling long before it could have
been done with conventional materials.”
Page contends that the metal is far more
durable and weather resistant than any other
interior ceiling material. “A commercial
A mechanically seamed metal panel system virtually eliminates all the time-consuming, labor-intensive requirements of installing a gypsum ceiling.
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[interiors]
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84 metalmag • FEBRUARY 2007 FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
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garage where vehicles are constantly enter-
ing and leaving is going to be susceptible to
moisture and variances in temperature,” Page
explains. “Sooner or later that ceiling board
is going to droop and have to be replaced.
He’ll never have to replace the metal, which
was coated to withstand all kinds of outdoor
temperatures and conditions.”
Winter weather conditions may be a major
or contributing cause of joint-compound
bond failures, delayed shrinkage, beading,
joint shadowing and gypsum-board sagging.
Kynar-coated metal panels do not absorb
moisture, and the caulks, compounds and
coatings that can shrink or crack on conventional ceilings are not a
problem with standing-seam metal panels. And the standing seam,
of course, meets and exceeds UL-90 and fire-resistant codes well
beyond that of conventional interior materials.
“A mechanically seamed metal panel system virtually eliminates
all the time-consuming, labor-intensive requirements of installing
a gypsum ceiling, as well,” Page notes. “The metal material is more
expensive than gypsum but the installation time is much quicker
and the overall cost can be less.”
He also has convinced customers to use it as an interior wall
panel, particularly in applications where environment and aesthet-
ics might normally clash.
Witness Dartmouth Motors, a large Chevrolet dealership in
Newport, where Page originally had installed an Englert Series
1300 Hartford green standing-seam roof on the exterior of the
Bycoveringthewallsoftheservicedepartmentinstandingseam,dartmouthMotors,newport,n.H.,hasfoundawaytokeeptheworkareasfreeofgreaseandotherliquidsthatcanpenetrateplasterboardwalls,leavingunsightlyandirremovablestains.
circle no. 43/www.metalmag-webcard.com
FEBRUARY 2007 • metalmag 85FoR A F R EE sU B scR i pt ion v i s i t w w w.m etalmag.com
dealership’s sales and service facility. He
also convinced the owner and service
manager to install the same panel in off
white on the upper walls of the building’s
14 service bays.
Auto service departments are naturally
dirty environments where oil; engine flu-
ids; and dirt from brake systems, tires and
vehicle underbodies constantly cover the
bays in the course of a working day. Part
of that detritus gets on the walls. By cov-
ering the walls of the service department
in standing seam, Dartmouth Motors has
found a way to keep the work areas free
of grease and other liquids that can pene-
trate plasterboard walls, leaving unsightly
and irremovable stains.
PVDF coatings like the one on the
standing seam at Dartmouth Motors
contain fluoropolymers and feature gloss
retention, which affects the tonal appear-
ance and stain resistance of a coating.
Consequently, a PVDF coating is highly
chemical and stain resistant and can be
wiped clean easily and quickly. Employees
at Dartmouth Motors simply wipe down
the standing seam to remove dirt and
grease buildup, restoring the material to
its original off-white color.
a steP aHead“There are the exceptional craftsmen
and the highly successful mega project
contractors in our industry,” notes Jerry
Bowes, Englert’s northern New England
sales manager. “But Brian Page represents
an exceptional breed of contractor who
has been a step ahead of his time in find-
ing new uses for standing seam.”
Critical now, Bowes says, is letting
architects and developers know that
standing seam opens up new practical
and aesthetic design choices for commer-
cial and residential applications. “Many
of the same benefits that make standing
seam the roofing material of choice also
apply to its interior use, as well.”
Metal by its durability and maintenance-
free characteristics increases a building’s
value. Its special coatings resist dirt and
environmental aging. It is surprisingly
lightweight compared to other interior
ceiling and wall materials, and it won’t rot,
crack, split, break or burn. And it comes in
many styles, colors and finishes.
Architects also should know they are
choosing an environmentally correct build-
ing material that is made from recycled
metal.
The next step? “Brian’s work will lead us
to consider interior uses for other forms of
standing seam, including copper, aluminum
and stainless steel,” Bowes postulates. “It
might be very interesting to see the types of
coatings and finishes that can be developed
for use with different metals as a ceiling
material in retail and hospitality environ-
ments.”
Kevin Corcoran is vice president of business
development for Englert Inc., Perth Amboy, N.J.
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