Exciting Times for Washington Roofing & Insulation

There is so much going on this year and we want to continue to share exciting updates with everyone. Washington Roofing & Insulation was awarded the job to work with almost a dozen Casey's General Stores in the state of Missouri and will be working with them for several months. We also recently finished a Digester Lid Dome in Lubbock, Texas with SPF and elastomeric roof coating.

We are in the process of working with a 30,000 square foot building in Lenexa, Kansas which will entail using GacoFlex S-20 Silicone Coatings from GACO Western over an existing EPDM roof. Exciting times in the roofing industry.

In addition, we ran across this case study from the Honeywell Report which shows how well closed cell polyurethane foam saves on utilities. Yes, we work in commercial construction and the report is based on residential case studies, but it is a great example of how SPF can be a major player in energy efficiency.

Midwest Commercial Roofing Company Named after Town in Kansas

When you start a business, one of the first things people ask you is, "How did you come up with the name?" We get asked that a lot, especially now, where the name doesn't correspond to anything people can put their finger on immediately.

Washington Roofing & Insulation, part of Washington Companies, Inc., is not named after the state, nor a famous person like George or Denzel, and it doesn't represent our political affiliations in any way.

It was named because Chuck Carpenter, owner, started the company 35 years ago in the small town of Washington, Kansas. Located in north-central Kansas off of Hwy 56, Washington is 20 minutes south of the Nebraska line and 50 miles north of Manhattan. It is home to around 1100 people.

Now our main office is located in Great Bend, Kansas with offices in Claremore, Oklahoma and Kansas City. We provide commercial roofing solutions with SPF foam roofing, elastomeric roof coatings and total building insulation with air barrier systems and products. We service the entire midwest, from Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, and have installed millions of square feet of roofing.

So people do squint their eyes at us and ponder how we got our name, and it makes us smile. In the end it never matters, because no matter which political party you belong to, the bottom line is that when we're finished, your roof won't leak.  

~ GO FORTH AND VOTE! ~

Urban Heat Island and Trees

Last year we discussed Urban Heat Islands and the effect that they have on the environment and how building owners could help diminish it. One of the ways was to install a cool roof system on a building, like an elastomeric coating system. The other was to increase vegetation around the building.

Source: wikimedia.org

Many cities have put into place a Tree Protection ordinance, prohibiting removing or pruning of trees without a permit. San Antonio, Texas actually requires different levels of free protection based on tree class or location.

There are also Street Tree ordinances that govern how to plant and remove trees along public right-of-ways and land that is privately owned but accessible by the public. For example, Orlando, Florida specifies that trees must be planted along both sides of a street, with one tree every 50 to 100 feet.

Parking lot shade is another way to help reduce the heat island effect and increase vegetation. In Sacramento, California, for example, a code in their zoning code requires that enough trees be planted to shade 50 percent of new parking lots after 15 years of tree growth.

So if you are looking to build or renovate your building, keep environmental concerns in mind and contact your city and see what steps can be taken to minimize the Urban Heat Island.

A Roof Management Plan

Do you have a roofing management plan? It is sometimes the case that when many organization think about implementing a roofing management plan, their roofs actually need to be replaced and they are looking for immediate funding.

Most building owners or facility managers agree that regular roof inspections are important to "reduce ownership costs, reduce leak frequency and severity, extend roof life, and reduce management inefficiencies."

In order to begin your roof management plan, first start with a historical record of your building's roof. You will  need when it was installed, who installed it, what type of system, warranties, who the manufacturer was, leak and repair history.

Then you will need to actually need a roofing professional to perform a "condition assessment," both visual and non-destructive. If in-house employees are trained in roof inspections you can utilize them, as well. If you hire an outside contractor, make sure they familiar "with the design, installation, repair, and types of failure specific to the roof system being surveyed."

Your survey documentation should be complete with photos, checklists and condition report. This information will be of value for the roofing contractor you hire in the future when your roof needs repair or replaced.

We'll dive further into roof management plans on our next post.

Source: Roof Inspections: A Closer Look

Up On the Roof Top

We have been "up on the roof top" now for over 35 years and have never been mistaken for Ol' St. Nick, albeit we would find it to be a complimentary identity mishap. The jolly man himself may have a bigger service area and a larger target audience but our mid-western clientele is pretty extensive with places in Texas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa and of course, Kansas.

We have met some fantastic people along the way, and they are all pretty satisfied with their polyurethane spray foam roof systems or their air barrier systems for their commercial buildings.  This last year has been quite a ride. We became Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA) accredited to install Air Barrier systems and, along with many others, are currently working with the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.

But aside from all of that, we want to wish everyone happy holidays and the best for the 2012 new year. We are looking forward to being "up on the roof top" for many more years to come.

Is Your Community StormReady?

StormReady is a program started by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma 12 years ago to help arm communities "with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property-before and during the event, " according to the StormReady website.

As of September 6, 2011 Oklahoma is leading the Midwest with 86 StormReady designations, while Missouri comes in 2nd with 63; Kansas 32; Iowa 30 and Nebraska with 24. Our big southern neighbor, Texas, comes in big at 115.

What does that means to residents? It shows that these areas are prepared to help prevent weather-related deaths and injuries through planning, education and early warning systems. 

To become a StormReady designation (a county, city, commercial site, university or supporter site) the area must show they follow six guidelines: Communication, NWS Information Reception, Hydrometerological Monitoring, Local Warning Dissemination, Community Preparedness and Administrative.

Cities, counties, commercial sites, and universities can become StormReady, Tsunami Ready or both. To learn more about this program and to see if your community or University is StormReady, go to the StormReady website.

What is Spray Polyurethane Foam Roofing?

Spray polyurethane foam, commonly referred to as SPF is a spray-applied insulating foam plastic that is installed as a liquid and then expands many times its original size. Spray polyurethane foam can be adjusted and have many different physical properties depending on the use desired.

For example, the same basic raw materials that can make insulation foam semi-rigid and soft to the touch also creates high density roofing foam that is resistant to foot traffic and water. Specialized equipment is used to apply the spray polyurethane foam and proper technical training is important in order to get the best results.

For roofing, spray polyurethane foam insulates and eliminates thermal bridging through fasteners or gaps in decking while providing a long-lasting roofing system that has a life that can be extended by re-coating or recovering in an average of > 10 – 15 years. As a result spray polyurethane foam is used in a wide variety of applications including, but is not limited to:

• Roofing
• Air barriers
• Commercial and residential insulation in walls, ceilings, attics and basements
• Industrial insulation for pipes and tanks, cold storage facilities, freezers, walk-in coolers, and climate controlled buildings such as produce storage and clean rooms
• Flotation for boats, ships, barges, floating docks, etc.
• Higher density spray polyurethane foam has been used to increase the structural strength of wings in airplanes.

For more information on Spray Polyurethane Foam Roofing in Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas, please visit http://www.washingtoncompaniesinc.com/what-is-spray-polyurethane-foam.html.