So as you may know, I am a real estate baron.....

Bad part of my job requires me to rehab properties I have foreclosed on before put them back up for sale. I am the proud "property manager" for 4 such properties. Thankfully I have received some great help from a number of friends and family getting a few of these properties ready.

This leads us to our current project, a defunct car wash in Hoquiam. Concrete block structure, "I" and "box" beam steel structure overhead holding everything together. We have an abatement order from the city to take the roof off. Roof is interlocking panels, roughly 28' long, and instead of screwing these panels down, they decided to spot weld (probably with a wire feed) these panels along the "I" and box beam structure two feet from either end, and in the center along the center "I" beam. Getting the southern leading edge secton off isn't an issue, as the weather comes from the SW, and being Hoquiam, that means salt air. This means that the way they attached the roof failed first here.

They attached the roofing panels as such. Panels were layed across the steel structure, and then they placed something like cut washers on the panels directly on top of the "I" beam. They then ran the wirefeed filling in the center portion of the washers.

What is the most expediant way of getting the steel panel to release from the "I" beam at the spot weld? Sawzall blades worked well, but we went through 8 or so, and the time it took slowed us down. Cost isn't an issue on blades, as bank covers time & materials + equipment repairs, but if we could just rip through the project in 20 hours with 3 guys, that would be great. Two guys working for 6 hours got off about 1/4 of the roof. I have my Acet/Oxy torch, but I don't want to damage the "I" beams. We are working on ladders 14+ feet in the air, which isn't an issue for us for as far as heights, but leverage can be an issue, working on a ladder that high up. We have a generator, power, and just about every tool known to general contractor.

Suggestions? There has got to be a faster way.

Thanks in advance!