Recent Roof Happenings

The roofing industry is constantly evolving and improving, both in service and in the products it provides. Here are some of the latest advances and events taking place in the industry.

Background Checks
A law passed last year in Kansas requires roofers to register with the state. The idea of registration is to help weed out fraudulent contractors before they can do any damage to the public. Roofers have used the law as a marketing tool to establish their legitimacy with clients, noting in advertisements that they are \"registered with the attorney general.\"

Hail Study
A recent study presented at the 2013 International Roofing Expo showed that fiberglass shingles, the primary roofing material used on steep-slope roofs, often fail during hail events. This recurring loss exposure has resulted in discussions between the National Roofing Contractors Association and the insurance industry as to how claims involving hail damage to fiberglass shingles could be reduced.

Roofing Compliance Group
California launched a Roofing Compliance Working Group in September 2013. The group will enforce safety and labor law standards across the state, respond to complaints of health and safety hazards in the roofing industry and investigate complaints related to payroll, misclassification and workers' compensation issues.

Leaky Roof at the Hawaiian Capitol Building
Even on multi-million dollar jobs, classic mistakes can still happen. Construction workers in Hawaii were replacing the 20 year old roof on the 5th floor of the capitol building when disaster struck. The old roof had foam padding between the layers that had become saturated with water due to damage over the years. Tearing out the old material allowed the water in the foam to leak down into the offices below. Unfortunately, it happened on a long weekend when no one was in the office to mitigate the damage. The roofing contractor is making good on the damage and completing repairs.

One has to wonder if the capitol building employed roofing contractors to take care of maintenance issues every year — roofers who might have caught the damage before it got this far? Moreover, we would have installed 1-way moisture vents in the roof 1 month before roof work in order to make the moisture evaporate before the tear off.

A Ban on Wood Shingles?
A fire chief in Ketchum, Idaho, is on the warpath to ban wood shingles on any new construction. The chief says flammable roofs put firefighters in danger and slow response times to other homes. A recent wildfire that threatened a resort area is at the root of the chief’s concerns. A log home with wood shingles burned to ash. Even though the homeowners had cut a fire line around his property, hot cinders landed on and ignited the roof. There was nothing the chief and his team could do to stop the blaze.

Solar Attic Fans
New solar attic fans have just come on the market. Fans circulate and exhaust air in the attic space, keeping it cooler in the warmer months and preventing moisture build up in the winter months that causes ice dams and potentially mold and mildew to form in the framing and insulation. Being a solar powered product, there is no wiring required so no electrician or additional permit is required to install it. And, of course, solar attic fans are eco-friendly!