"To Code" -- What's That?

Sometimes rules and regulations can seem confusing and even overwhelming. Building codes related to roofing are no exception.

Building codes are intended to protect you. Still, they can make you want to yell, "Help!" when you try to understand all the details.You may be tempted to ignore them and figure your roofer will know those things and take care of them for you.

A professional builder will indeed know about the codes. But you should know a little yourself, so you can be sure you're covered.

For example, the roofing code for Johnson County, Kansas, requires that your roofer be licensed in Kansas. You can't call just any Kansas City Roofer if your home is in Johnson County. (You can call Bill West Roofing. We serve all of Johnson County.)

A roofer in Johnson County can't just put together a roof from any old materials he has lying around, either. A complete, approved roofing system must be used.

In the city of Leawood, you must have a permit for all roofing projects, but in Salinas, you won't need a permit for reroofing or repairs to your roof. In other words, there are state, country, and city regulations, and they will be different from one place to another.

This means that the guy who comes to your door in a truck that's driving all over the country doing quick roofs may not be the right choice. You're better off with an established roofer who knows the building code and follows it. Ask a question -- any question -- and you should get a clear answer. If you don't, look elsewhere.

Roof Gardens

When you think of decorative roofs, weather vanes and fancy chimneys might come to mind, but what could be more decorative than a roof garden? Plump ripe vegetables and bright bursting flowers make a garden a beautiful and beneficial rooftop addition. 

The most obvious perk of having veggies growing on your roof is the quick and easy access to fresh produce. Instead of making the drive to the grocery store for a can of green beans, you can grow your own at home. Not only is it more convenient, it is also more satisfying knowing that you produced your produce. Growing your own vegetables is also more economical than buying them from the store.

A roof garden offers other economic benefits as well. Having sun-loving leafy greens on top of your roof can cut down on the cost of cooling your home. Those little photosynthesizers can help absorb the sun's rays that would otherwise heat your home when you want it nice and cool. So while you are saving money by not cranking the air conditioner, you are conserving energy at the same time. Not only is a rooftop garden good for your wallet, it's also good for the planet. This can be especially beneficial in cities.

The number of cars and machinery in larger cities can affect the overall quality of the air. Exhaust and fumes add extra carbon into the air. Plants take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, which helps improve the quality of air you breathe. So while you are in your garden picking delicious vegetables you can breathe in delicious oxygen at the same time.

It's hard to find enough space for a garden downtown, so a rooftop can offer an ideal spot for a community garden. Community gardens are a great way to bring neighbors together. Multiple people contributing to a garden increases the output of the garden and also decreases the labor for the individual. Also, multiple people having a hand in something creates a sense of unity. The benefits that a roof garden offers combined with the benefits of a community garden makes city gardening an appealing possibility.

Your first step when considering a roof garden is to call a professional contractor to determine whether your roof is a good choice for a garden, structurally speaking. While any roof garden should be planned to be light weight, some roofs just won't support the weight of a garden, and you need to know that ahead of time. 

Your Roof and Climate Change

The changing climate has an effect on your roof,and you've probably already noticed it. Did you know that your roof can also have an effect on the changing climate?

We know that global warming is a controversial topic, and we're not trying to start any arguments. We figure everyone, whether they worry about global warming or not, is interested in saving money on energy bills. So keep reading.

Energy secretary Steven Chu spoke up for white roofs not long ago. White roofs, researchers say, could reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 24 billion tons or more. Go with light-colored paving, too, and it comes to 44 billion tons. That's like taking all the cars off the road for about 18 years. It could make a difference to our climate, and it will definitely make a difference to the temperature in your home.

A white roof reflects lots of light and heat instead of absorbing it. This is true of other "cool colors," too. You may know that cool colors are colors like blue, green and purple, while warm colors are red, yellow, and orange. When it comes to roofs, though, "cool colors" mean pale gray, pale green, and other light-reflecting shades. Choose one of the these for your roof instead of the more common black, and you could be eligible for government rebates.

You'll definitely pay less for your air conditioning this summer.

Call Bill West Roofing to discuss all your roofing, siding, and guttering needs:

GREATER KANSAS CITY AREA

• Blue Springs:
  (816) 229-5215
• Lee's Summit:
  (816) 246-7117
• Independence:
  (816) 252-2882
• Liberty:
  (816) 781-8338
• Raytown:
  (816) 356-2552
• Johnson County, KS
  (913) 752-9200

The History of Roofing

The earliest roofs were not roofs at all, but natural shelters such as caves and bluffs. Roofs are such necessary and obvious requirements for a safe and comfortable life that they can't be said to have been invented, but rather were discovered when people took shelter from rain, cold, and heat.

It wasn't long before it occurred to people to create shelters for themselves in places where natural shelters were lacking. Roofs probably came before houses, actually, with lean-to shelters before there were walls or floors.

The earliest houses had roofs as part of the whole rather than as separate structure. Tents, wigwams, and similar structures would be set up quickly and taken down again as the early people moved on, following the animals they hunted.

With agriculture, things got a little more serious. By 7500 BC, there were bricks in the Middle East.  If you're building a brick house, you want something a little more permanent in the way of a roof than a couple of branches or an animal skin laid over the top of the walls.

Still, many if not most people in the world were still making roofs of mud or weaving them from branches or straw.

It wasn't until the 12th century that King John of England made a ruling requiring clay tiles for all English homes. Until that time, roofs had been thatched, a nice fairy tale look but a terrible fire hazard and just the thing to encourage mice and rats. Clay tiles had been used for roofing in Corinth, in the Mediterranean, as early as the 7th century BC.

By the 1600s, Europeans, and European colonists in the New World, were using tin and wooden shingles as well as thatch and tiles. Asphalt shingles came along at the end of the 1800s.

The 1900s (the 20th century) was an intensive burst of improvement in shingles, driven by research and the appearance of new technologies. Roofers of a century ago would be amazed by the shingles we have today.

At Bill West Roofing, we've been in business since the 20th century. We offer the perfect blend of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology. You'll never miss thatch roofs when you have one of our roofs on your home. We promise.

What's a Tornado?

If you have a funnel cloud, a spinning vortex of air in the sky, and it touches the clouds at one end and the ground at the other end, you've got yourself a tornado.

The surprising thing about tornadoes is that it's mostly about the way hot and cold air react to each other. Wind in general is caused by hot and cold air. You might have seen a spinning movement at the top of your cup of coffee or tea as it reacts to the cooler air above it. This is heat and cold pushing each other around -- the basis for all changes in weather.

Thunderstorms create low enough pressure that there's essentially a vacuum beneath the clouds. Get these two phenomena going on at the same time, and you can get a column of swirling air. Let that spinning cloud touch the ground and you can get circling winds at 300 miles an hour. That's a lot of power.

While tornadoes are strong enough to pick things up -- the clock tower at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri got carried off to a neighboring town a few years back -- the main danger is in having things fall on you. A good strong roof can protect you. Get inside, get low, and make sure you're out of the way of windows.

The force of a tornado is such that it can rip a roof from a house, or even pick up part of a house and drop it somewhere else. A strong roof can't always protect you from every tornado. However, most injuries in tornadoes are from falling debris. Keep that in mind next time you hear a tornado warning. Take shelter in a cellar if you have one, and otherwise choose a central part of the building you're in and keep as protected as possible.

It's all part of living here in Tornado Alley.

Solar Shingles?

Solar shingles sound like a great idea. Ordinary shingles on your roof can provide the power for your lights and heating. What could be better?

Unfortunately, it's not quite like that yet. You may be able to get solar shingles in Colorado as part of an experimental 3-step roofing system. There's some research being done in Australia and in Arkansas. There are rumors of ordinary solar panels being shaped to look like shingles and working to replace part of your roof.

Even where solar shingles are available, they cost about five times as much as ordinary shingles, aren't as sturdy, and may require specialists for installation.

We talked with an engineer working on the issue, and he said that in another ten years, solar shingles should be available. They should look the same as today's shingles so you can avoid the "solar panels on the roof" look. They should, in another ten years after that, be less expensive than ordinary electricity sources today. That's something to look forward to.

In the meantime -- for the next twenty years, that is -- what should you do for a green roof?

• Choose a lighter colored roofing materials to reduce cooling costs and a darker one to reduce heating costs. What about here in Kansas City, where you have both? Pick one. 
• Make sure your roof is installed and insulated correctly. Use fans to ventilate the attic area in summer.
• Plant shade trees. When the leaves fall in winter, sunshine will hit your roof. In the summer, they'll shade your roof and help keep you cool. 

A solid roof of modern materials does a lot to help keep energy bills down. When solar shingles become a practical alternative, you can be sure we'll be your best source.

Storm Preparation

Every spring, tornados and hail storms ravage the Midwest. According to NOAA, the Kansas City hail storm on April 10, 2001 was the costliest hail storm in U.S. history, with damages estimated at two billion dollars.

The aftermath of a storm can be life changing. Since our area is prone to weather hazards, we've had to learn to adapt to the natural climate. You can't avoid extreme weather, but you can be prepared when a storm attacks.

Here are some suggestions for spring time:

• Park your cars in a garage with a roof to protect the windows from breakage and the roof of the vehicle from getting dents.
• Home and business owners alike should choose a strong roofing system for their houses and buildings. The cost and the inconvenience of dealing with damage every time isn't worth the apparent savings of going with the cheapest option. 
• Be particular when choosing the appropriate materials for your roof. Ask about hail resistant shingles and material warranties. At Bill West Roofing, we offer the best possible warranties, and often can give you a choice of different kinds of warranties. Your roofing company should be willing to explain the details to you.
• Make sure that you have enough food and supplies to keep the household for a few days, in case you can't get out.
• If you are outside when a storm hits, get inside and stay inside (bring pets inside too). Once you’re indoors, close all drapes, blinds, or shades to help protect against broken window glass and hailstones.
• If the storm is severe, move to a basement, cellar or another part of the building not directly below the roof.
• Make sure that all family members know where to take shelter in case of severe weather. Sometimes animals hide when a storm is approaching; when severe weather is predicted, round up your pets so you can take them with you. 

Your roof is your protection against hail, wind, lightning and thunderstorms. We are experts at installing roofs strong enough to withstand the most unfavorable weather conditions. If you are living in the greater Kansas City area, call Bill West Roofing to discuss your roofing needs.