For generations, Ensworth School has stood as a beacon of academic excellence in Nashville’s historic West End neighborhood. The private co-ed institution was founded more than 70 years ago inside a 1902 Tudor-style home named “Red Gables” for its distinctive red oak shingles. Despite many decades of expansion and renovation, the original Ensworth School campus has maintained its traditional aesthetic and is known colloquially as the “Red Gables Campus.” In 2004, Ensworth constructed a separate high school campus on Highway 100 adjacent to Edwin Warner Park.
The Opportunity
Andrew Smith leads the school’s facilities management team to keep both properties in top order by way of a zero-tolerance approach to property damage or aesthetic defects, regardless of scale or size. Andrew’s team works hard not only to make timely repairs and renovations but also to prevent the need for such repairs through routine inspections and maintenance.
The team’s work requires a balancing act between preserving the original campus’ iconic architecture and the efficiency demanded by a second campus that includes 224,000 square feet of structure across a 127-acre property.
“As a school, our facilities are being used year-round. Even during the summer, we’re serving kids whose families are also really involved on campus. If we have a problem like a leaky roof, it’s not something that can be fixed in a week. At Ensworth, even a stained ceiling tile is not something that can wait. We maintain very high standards in terms of upkeep, maintenance, and aesthetics.”
The Solution
After several years of trial and error with other roofing contractors, Andrew met with a member of the sales team at Maxwell Roofing and chose to give the locally-owned family business a chance. In short order, Maxwell Roofing built a strong relationship with Andrew and his team, executing extensive repair and replacement work on Ensworth’s rubber, copper, and shingle roofing systems on both school campuses, Devon Farm (high school) and Red Gables (grade school), as well as gutter installation and metalwork.
As a MAXCare® customer, Andrew and his team receive regular assessments to suggest timely repairs, preventative maintenance items, and the scheduling of roof replacement projects with budgetary figures to maximize the school’s investments in their roofing structures. This also helps them avoid unexpected repairs caused by unnoticed deterioration or damage.
“I’ve worked with a lot of roofing companies in Nashville—a lot of them. I’ve even stepped away from Maxwell after using them and have gone with a different roofing company in the past, and that was a mistake. I’ve always come back to Maxwell. What I really like is that I don’t have to call the office and wait to explain our problem to someone. I can text someone at Maxwell a picture of the issue, and I know it’s going to get taken care of.”
In addition to Maxwell’s dependable, responsive service, Andrew values the trust he’s built with individual team members at the company.
“I just feel like it’s a lot safer building a relationship with these guys. Instead of sending a different roofing tech to respond to every service call, I know it’ll be the same guys that normally come out and we have a relationship with them.”