Just south of Joplin, Missouri sits Camp Childress, a 200-acre property rich in history and still actively used for youth programs and events. Ridgeline Roofing & Solar recently had the opportunity to perform a roof inspection on several structures throughout the camp—and one roof in particular stood out.

This wasn’t your typical system. The building featured a vintage metal panel roof, estimated to date back to the 1950s. Built with durability in mind, this roof has stood the test of time—but like any aging system, it’s now at a crossroads between preservation and replacement.

A Look at Old-School Craftsmanship

This metal roof showcases construction techniques rarely seen today:

• Nail-fastened metal panels, likely installed with ring shank nails that have held strong for decades
• Staggered panel layout, similar to a three-tab pattern, creating a consistent and functional design
• Wood plank decking, instead of modern OSB, giving the structure a solid foundation
• Custom closures and ridge caps, helping the system remain tight and functional over time

Even after decades of exposure, the roof still maintains structural integrity—a testament to how well it was originally built.

Current Condition and Challenges

While the roof is still holding together, there are clear signs of aging and past repair attempts:

• Multiple coating layers, including aluminum coatings not designed for long-term waterproofing
• Faded and mismatched color schemes, showing years of maintenance efforts
• Chimneys and penetrations needing attention
• Limited replacement options, due to the uniqueness and age of the materials

Because of its historic nature, a full replacement would be extremely difficult. Many of the materials used on this roof are no longer manufactured, making restoration the more practical and cost-effective route.

Recommended Solution: Silicone Roof Restoration

Instead of tearing off this piece of history, Ridgeline is proposing a silicone roof coating system to restore and protect it. This approach allows us to:

• Preserve the original structure and character
• Seal leaks and extend roof life
• Avoid costly and complex material sourcing
• Provide a seamless, watertight membrane over the existing panels

Silicone coatings are especially effective on metal roofing systems, offering long-term protection against UV damage, rust, and water intrusion.

Protecting History While Planning for the Future

Projects like Camp Childress are about more than just roofing—they’re about preserving places with meaning while ensuring they remain functional for years to come. With the right approach, this roof can continue to serve the camp without sacrificing its character.

Have a unique or aging roof that needs expert evaluation? Let’s find out. Contact us today!

Hear Tim’s Thoughts

Video Transcript: ""Hey, it's Tim Yates with Ridgeline Roofing and Solar. I am at Camp Childress just south of Joplin here, and I'm looking at this metal roof with Rodney Bechtel. He's down there.
And this is a metal panel roof, and it's just really cool. It's got the ridge cap up on top, and it's all nailed in.
And I'm assuming those are shank nails because they've lasted quite a while. This roof is probably 50s. It's old.
It's got these closures over here on the metal panels, so everything fits perfect.
And these are in kind of like three tab on sixes. It's just staggered every other joint, just to stagger, stagger, stagger, stagger, back and forth, back and forth.
This roof's seen its pretty good life at this point, but it's salvageable.
And I think we're going to try to come in here, power wash everything, and rehab it.
And we'll probably rehab it with silicone.
You can see some of the old colors. They have a color scheme for the roofs out here. It's green.
It's had a couple of different green colors on it. It's had some white.
Somebody's come out here at one point and put an aluminum coating on it, which isn't really designed for this type of application.
And then this big finial sticking up out of the roof.
I'm assuming they used it just to get the air out of the attic at one point.
And then you have the deck on this, which is solid wood.
But back then, they didn't really use OSB like that.
They just used kind of one by us.
So a couple of chimneys, probably going to need a little attention, and it's got a heat vent pipe coming through it.
And we'll probably leave that and clean it all up just for the fact that we can't find this anywhere on the planet to replace anything if we take anything out of it.
But, yeah, hopefully we're going to put in our bit on it and see what happens.
Hopefully I'd really like to do this because it's just such a cool roof.
And if we get it, I'll post some pictures.
Thanks for watching."