The winter of 1998 brought a relentless snowstorm to Hammond, burying the area under a foot of snow and plunging temperatures below freezing. Menards called Korellis about minor leaks, but when Tim Runyan, Service Technician, arrived to inspect, he uncovered a disaster in the making.

The entire roof was covered in snow, but as Tim shoveled around a water heater stack, he saw the roof system was actually splitting into pieces. The more he checked, the worse it got. The PVC membrane had shattered. After years of UV exposure, it had become brittle, and the sudden cold caused it to instantly crack apart like a windshield. The leaks were minimal for now, but if the snow melted, Menards risked losing everything, including millions in inventory.

Dan Runyan, Tim’s brother and a longtime Korellis foreman from a family of union tradesmen, led the emergency response. With the entire field crew available due to the winter slowdown, multiple crews worked in shifts around the clock, hauling snow in wheelbarrows and dumping it over the edge. The piles grew so high they reached the top of the building.

Once the roof was clear, the crew installed a temporary rubber roof just before rain hit. With the city ready to shut Menards down if conditions got worse, Korellis worked quickly to install a permanent Elevate (formally Firestone) EPDM roof. The building was saved, and two decades later, Korellis returned to replace the roof once again.