Feb 13, 2010 6:26 pm US/Eastern
Recent Blizzards Cause Boost For Roofing Companies
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Heavy snow piled on roofs is a hidden hazard of the recent winter storms.
CBS
Heavy snow piled on roofs is a hidden hazard of the recent winter storms. That snow is causing some roofs to collapse.
As
Gigi Barnett reports, it's causing a boost in business for some roofing companies.
This may be one of the most difficult and dangerous clean-up jobs left behind by the record-breaking snowfall in the last week--the snow on roofs that most people miss until it causes considerable damage.
"It's piling up," said Rosedale Roofing Manager Shane Bloyer.
This week alone, several roofs collapsed. In Howard County, heavy snow collapsed a roof in Woodbine, killing 80 cattle inside. Then in Anne Arundel County,
Sky Eye Chopper 13 captured the cleanup of a Wal-Mart roof. In Baltimore City, the snow wiped out porch roofs. Removing all that snow--especially from flat roofs--takes professionals.
"We were on the roof working. An engineer came and said, `Stop, we need to shore up the building and come back and work on it Monday,'" Bloyer said.
In the summer and spring, the company focuses on repairs. But in the winter, snow removal is their bread and butter.
"We're probably going to get more calls on it. We're hearing ceilings start to cave in a little bit," Bloyer said.
Rosedale Roofing says the number of companies that have called in the last week for this kind of work has skyrocketed. Now homeowners are calling.
"We're telling our commercial customers to get engineers in there and check things out. Residentially, they may want to do the same thing, too, but the easiest thing residents can do is get a long broom handle stick and start to pull some of the snow off of the roof," Bloyer said.
Rosedale Roofing says it is currently working on at least 50 snow removal jobs this week alone.
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