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Let”s be real honest. What’s the first thing you think of when it comes to a copper roof?

The truth is that copper makes a statement about the owner of the home. It says, “We value quality and we are willing to spend the money to get it.” Copper looks awesome on a roof. It adds a unique Wow! factor to the building. Curb appeal is greatly increased when copper is added. If you want to send a message, use copper on your roof.

We at TRA Snow and Sun frankly love good looking roofs and value our high-end customers! Since copper roofs shed snow quickly and easily and definitely need snow retention, we manufacture snow guards and snow fences that will age and attain that beautiful green patina right along with your copper roof while also providing superior snow retention.

So, if you’re considering a copper roof on all or part of your building, here is a simple list of the benefits and drawbacks of copper on a roof.

Benefits

• Copper is exquisite looking!
• Copper will increase the value of your home
• Destruction due to fire is rare with a copper roof
• With regular maintenance, copper will outlast most roofing materials
• Copper is lightweight
• Copper reflects the sun’s light and heat. This is a definite benefit as we strive to be energy efficient.
• Copper is recyclable

Drawbacks

• Expensive. The copper roof will cost more than most other roofing materials, so be sure to get a qualified roofing contractor with experience installing copper to do the work. As a softer metal, be sure you find experienced hands to work the installation.
• Expansion and contraction of metal due to temperature change can make maintenance more important. Fasteners can become loose. You’ll need regular inspection to be sure everything is water and wind tight.
• Noise from rainfall. This is a contested drawback, one that we’d like your opinion about. Do you have a copper roof? We are told that since most metal roofs are installed over underlayments that deaden sounds, and copper doesn’t resonate like other metals (being much softer), noise from weather isn’t really a factor. What do you think?
TRA Snow and Sun’s products add the same Wow! factor as the beautiful copper panels on your roof. Our designers have gathered the best of engineering and architectural excellence from around the world, including Austria, Norway and Germany, combined that with American ingenuity and created superior and dependable All-American products for roof snow retention.
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Just because your house does not include built-in roof ventilation does not mean that it is not important. Initially it may seem like an additional and unnecessary stress, but once installed it can make a huge difference in the lifespan of your attic and roof structure. Eventually, these installations will save you hundreds of dollars in repair costs.

The benefits

The ventilation process is beneficial in the extreme weather months throughout the year. During the summer the ventilation helps keep the temperature down in the attic, preventing moisture from collecting and deteriorating shingles. These lower temperatures then affect the rest of the home as well, keeping energy and air conditioning costs down.

Once it begins to get cold outside, the ventilation is still able to maintain a dry environment for the attic and reduce the moisture inside. Typically, water would build up under the shingles, the insulation would become damaged, and the roof structure would rot.

Ice dams

In addition, without roof ventilation your home may begin to produce ice dams on your roof. In areas of extreme cold, roofs need special protection from the ice and snowfall in order to prevent it from building up and blocking the natural flow of melted water off of the roof. If not installed these ice dams often start leaks inside homes which then results in drywall damage.

Save yourself more money and more headaches by installing roof ventilation today. You will be grateful in both the usually hot summer months and freezing winter months.

photo credit: gcraig3si via photopin cc

Every homeowner has one large decision to make concerning the composition of their home.  This major choice is determining the roofing material they will use on the roofs of their home.

Choosing your roof

The roof of a home is one of the most important aspects for the overall protection and shelter of the home itself, and as such the roof needs to be durable, functional, and cost effective.  While there are many different options for homeowners to choose from when deciding on what type of roofing material to use, one of the best options is steel roofing or corrugated steel roofs.

Why corrugated steel roofs?

Many times and for various reasons, corrugated steel roofs are not thought of as a viable option by homeowners, but those who completely disregard corrugated steel roofing for their home are losing out on a roofing material that provides some great advantages.  Steel roofs hold many benefits but a few of the most advantageous include the following:

• Longevity. Steel roofs are among the longest lasting roofing material on the market.  They are so long lasting, in fact, that often a homeowner will only need to install the new roof once unlike other roofing materials that need to be replaced every twenty years or so with multiple repairs along the way
• Durability.  If the steel is galvanized, as most steel roofs are, than they are less prone to rust and completely resistant to rot, again unlike other shingle materials.

These are just three of the main advantages of having a corrugated steel roof installed on the home.  Homeowners should strive to learn all they can about steel roofing and its multiple other advantages before making the final decision on which roofing type to place atop their homes.

For any who have experienced the damages to a home or property stemming from clogged gutters, then you already know how important it is to keep an eye on the gutters of a home and ensure that they are cleaned regularly in the fall.  For those who are  ignorant of the damage that could occur to a home due to clogged gutters because you have never had to deal with that issue, consider the effect of a massive fall rain storm or the aftermath of a winter’s thaw.

When heavy rains or melting snow accumulate on the roof, the sheer amount of water that can be produced is astounding.  This water can be safely removed from the home’s gutter system and clear the home from danger, but only if the gutters in the home are cleaned and cleared of debris.

If the gutters are clogged, then all of the water that could have otherwise been dispersed and drained properly back-builds to overflowing in the gutters of the home.  This can result in damage to the roof of the home, the siding or other framing of the home and even to flooding to the lower parts of the home once the water accumulates enough in areas that are supposed to be protected by the gutter.  With the winter storms approaching and the leaves on the trees in the yards of homes shedding off, gutters of homes can quickly be clogged with debris and falling leaves.

By taking the time to clean the gutters of the home, multiple times a month if necessary during the fall, a homeowner can be assured that they will be better prepared and protected against the potential for damage due to clogged gutters.

Snow sitting on top of a roof can be volatile and dangerous. Like an avalanche, you can never be quite sure when it will all come crashing down. In several cases, adults and children alike have been unlucky enough to be underneath the heavy avalanche of falling snow. Many don’t survive, and those that do are often injured by the icy nature of the snow.

The snow has been through several melting-freezing cycles by the time it comes tumbling off your house. It’s no longer the light, fluffy stuff it was when it first fell. It’s dangerous.

If you live in a home that tends to accumulate a lot of snow up top, you have two options. You can either brush it all off or set up a few snow retention devices.

Brushing the snow often requires a dangerous adventure to the slippery, slopped roof. Many folks have found this situation to be similarly precarious to standing under an avalanche of falling snow. When done properly, it can protect those that may venture under the eaves of your house. But there is a safer way, and now would be the best time to implement that way on your roof.

Snow Retention Devices

Snow retention devices are pieces of technology you install on your roof to hold the snow there.  With a roof snow retention system, snow and ice drop off in small, harmless quantities or melt completely before falling to the ground, thereby stopping a disaster before it even happens.

They are more commonly installed during the summer and fall months while roofs are dry and safe to ascend to. The best thing is that once they’re installed, you don’t have to get on the roof again during those slippery months to push the snow off. The devices have the same effect without endangering your life.

There are a number of different kinds of snow retention devices you can put on your roof. They come as clips, brackets, rails and fences. Each helps out in a different way and should be chosen according to your individual project circumstances. For a full list of what we offer, check out our snow retention product line.

Getting into the habit of inspecting your roof can save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Your roof is what protects your home from Mother Nature and it’s important that you take the time to inspect your roof and fix any problems with it before extensive damage occurs.

Throughout the years you will find that your roofing material will start to wear down, just like any other material used in your home. Some people put off repairing their roof because they don’t want to incur the cost of the repairs. The cost of repairing your roof will be minimal when compared to the cost of repairing damage that can occur if you do not take the time to fix your roof now.

First, you should figure out when you are going to inspect your roof. You want to make sure that you are looking at your roof once a year if not twice a year. If you live in an area with mild weather conditions you should be able to get by with only inspecting your roof once a year. If you’ve had a big variance in weather or any extreme weather, you should make sure that you check your roof at least twice a year.

Second, once you get up on your roof you should make sure that you know what to look for based on the material that is used for your roof. If you have asphalt roofing you will want to look for buildup of the granules from the tiles in your gutter. A buildup of these granules shows that the tiles are wearing down quickly. If you have wooden shingles look for signs of dry rot or any warping that may have taken place. If you have slate, clay tile, or cement shingles it is important that you inspect them to find any ice damage, broken shingles, chipped shingles, or missing pieces.

If you find that a third of your roof is damaged, it’s probably time to call a professional. You want to make sure that your roof is in good working order year round to ensure it is always there to protect you and your home.  Roof Consultants are also available to inspect your roof. They know the code requirements and best roofing practices to ensure a proper inspection.

You may have heard about the benefit of a ventilated roof throughout the winter time. If you weren’t sold on a ventilated roof for snow retention, you may not have realized how beneficial a ventilated roof can be throughout the summer months as well.  During the summer, if you have a ventilated roof you will find that you have a fifty percent reduction in the amount of heat that is able to penetrate the attic space compared to your roof without the ventilation system.

So what does this mean for you?

Throughout the summer months, you can save up to 22% on your cooling costs. That can be a substantial chunk of change when you think about the money that you spend cooling your home throughout the hottest months of the year.

How does it work?

A ventilated roof allows air to flow in the space between the roof tile and the roof surface.  As the air in this space is heated by the radiant heat (the heat from the exterior environment) the temperature of the air increases. As the temperature of the air increases it attempts to rise and this rising results in a natural air flow of the air. As the air flows from the eaves to the top of the roof our Cool Roof system then draws in any cool air and pushes out the warm air that is left in the air flow.

If you want to save money and energy this summer, a Cool Roof system may be exactly what you need.

As the snow melts off of your roof, it can be nerve wracking to make the first trip up to the top of your house to assess the damage. With snow and ice sliding on and pulling at your roof all winter, there aren’t many homes that make it into the spring time unscathed.

Throughout the winter time you may notice large icicles forming at the edge of your roof or you may even see sheets of snow hanging off of your roof. The pressure that this snow and ice puts on your roof throughout the winter time can be extremely damaging. This spring, take the time to install a system on your roof that will prevent you from making repairs every spring.

Sound too good to be true? Stick with us! With a few tweaks and changes you can have a roof that is able to hold on to the snow throughout the winter. That’s right, hold on to the snow. If the snow stays on your roof, rather than melting, sliding, re-freezing and breaking it will simply act as an insulating layer for your roof. This insulating layer on your roof will slowly melt away without causing damage as it melts.

Let us help you keep make the necessary changes to your roof to ensure that snow sticks around throughout the winter and melts off naturally. With the right ventilation system, the right tiles and the right brackets we can be sure that you never have to make that scary trip up to your roof to assess winter damage again!

TRA Snow and Sun has been in business for over 20 years now, but do you know how we started? Terry Anderson, our President and CEO made a trip to Europe several years ago to study snow retention. What he found was quite shocking. In America, most people tried as hard as they could to get snow off their roofs during the winter while those in Europe did everything they could to keep the snow on. After studying this idea for several years, Terry decided to implement them in America and he started TRA Snow and Sun. Watch the video below to learn more about TRA and our philosophy to snow retention.