The demand for roofing materials is currently weak. The building materials market has been hurt by the continuous softness of the U.S. housing market. Many including Owens Corning do not expect weakness in the roofing business to improve during the remainder of the year.

Owens Corning’s (NYSE:OC) third-quarter earnings fell 65%, amid steep declines in demand for roofing materials. Owens Corning reported a profit of $44 million, or 37 cents a share, down sharply from $124 million, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier.

The company has officially reduced its 2012 earnings outlook and cut its expectations. As well as other well respected companies in the roofing industry today.

To keep employees safe and maintain compliance with OSHA, PennTAP has received a GRANT to help PA-based companies that are solar energy installers. PennTAP will be conducting a webcast on October 19th and will be addressing those common elements to solar installation safety and health. Additionally, there will be example forms and other handouts to help your establishment be safe and OSHA compliant. This is an excellent opportunity for Solar Installers to learn about common safety issues, leading indicators, and best practices. Remember, safety is everyone’s responsibility.

The webcast will be approximately 45-55 minutes long. There will be a question and answer box for you to type-in questions during the session. Several handouts will be available for those attending the session. This is an excellent opportunity for Solar Installers to learn about common safety issues, leading indicators, and Best Practices. Remember, safety is everyone’s responsibility.

The webcasts are scheduled for Friday, October 19th at 1pm.

The Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP) at Penn State engages, guides, and empowers businesses and organizations throughout the Commonwealth and beyond by providing objective and experience-based technical and workforce solutions that enable clients to succeed and thrive, stimulating economic growth for Pennsylvania.

http://penntap.psu.edu

Penntap

Roofers  Who are you supporting Romney or Obama?

We surveyed employees in the roofing industry, throughout the United States and our findings were that in general roofers were for Romney. 

The Results

Sixty four percent of the participants were in favor of Romney

Twenty five percent were in favor of President Obama

Eleven percent were either undecided or declined to answer.

Of course these numbers are only a small sample size, considering there are more than 150,000 roofers throughout the United States. We just found it interesting that the roofers we polled were heavily in favor of Romney.  

 “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” – President, Barack Obama

This comment rubbed some small business owners the wrong way. Including some of the roofing company owners we spoke with.   

 Roofers for Romney?

PLAN FOR SUCCESS – STEP BY STEP

1) Use life-cycle costing to get the most out of the roof.

2) Adapt a pro-active maintenance protocol.

3) Perform quarterly roof inspections and repairs.

4) Track all collateral building damage and incidental expenses associated with the roof.

5) Determine if past collateral damage costs exceed the costs of implementing a roof management program.

Sometimes the collateral damage costs can exceed the costs of implementing a roof management program.

Expenses to track

Damage to buildings interior

Damage to merchandise and equipment

Costs of business interruption

That’s just a few many more exist and should be acknowledged and tracked.

BUDGETING

Budget a minimum of five cents per square foot per year for preventive maintenance. This should begin the very first year. Budget a minimum of 30 cent per square foot for more extensive restoration.

Immediate Problems

The following can cause immediate problems for your company’s rooftop. 1) Extreme Weather 2) Equipment Additions 3) Trade Damage 4) Unintended Abuse

Extreme Weather – This includes any weather that could be considered outside of the norm. Hail, lighting, high winds etc.

2) Equipment Additions – Improperly added equipment on the roof. This is a very common source of roofing related problems.

3) Trade Damage – Problems caused by trades other than your roofing contractor. These can be holes, punctures etc.

4) Unintended Problems – Accidental damage of even vandalism.

The great news is that it costs less to be proactive than reactive.