The GAF Latinos in Roofing Expo Empowers Roofing Professionals

As a roofing contractor, keeping yourself and your employees safe is crucial, which involves using the right equipment. Ladder hooks, sometimes referred to as roof hooks, are used to secure a ladder over the top of a roof's ridgeline. They're an essential piece of safety equipment for steep-slope roofing work.How Do Ladder Hooks Work?These hooks resemble a shepherd's crook that hooks over the roof's ridgeline and stays put with an attached T-bar to secure it to the other side of the ridge. The bottom of the crook has a smaller hook that holds the ladder and prevents it from slipping or sliding down the roof. Ladder hooks are typically made from heavy-duty steel and can support several hundred pounds. They essentially turn the ladder into a more stable set of stairs, creating a safer and more efficient work environment for roofing professionals, especially during steep-slope work.Most hooks also feature a rubber wheel that can help you get the ladder safely up onto the roof. Once you secure the hook on the rungs of the ladder, roll the ladder up the slope (on its back). When it passes the roof ridgeline, flip the ladder over to secure the hooks over the top of the ridgeline.Why Should You Use a Ladder Hook?According to the American Ladder Institute, 500,000 people are treated for injuries from using ladders every year, with 300 of those injuries leading to fatalities. With newer home styles featuring more dramatic rooflines with steep pitches, you may find yourself facing 10:12, 12:12, and higher pitches more regularly. Ladder hooks can help make working on these roofs safer.They can provide stability and security on lower-pitched roofs, too. You may also want to use them for performing repairs around skylights or chimneys, especially if the roof surface is icy or slippery. And they can provide secure footing in cases of suspected damage, such as a weak or rotting deck.These safety devices are designed to prevent the ladder from damaging shingles, so there's no downside to using them.Can a Ladder Hook Replace Other Safety Measures?Using a ladder hook can make you feel more secure and stable on a steep pitch. But you shouldn't forego other safety measures, such as using a personal fall arrest system consisting of lifelines, lanyards, and deceleration devices attached to an anchor point and connected to the body harness. Remember, the anchorage should be able to support 5,000 pounds per employee. Ladder hooks are designed to secure the ladder to the rooftop—not to secure a person or prevent them from falling.How Do You Choose the Right Ladder Hook?To find the right ladder hook, contact your ladder's manufacturer to see if it has a hook designed to work with its ladders. If it doesn't offer any, review the ladder hook manufacturer's guidelines to see what types of ladders are best suited for its hook. If your ladders are due for replacement, you can also look for manufacturers that offer kits with both the ladder and the hook.For more learning opportunities and resources to help you succeed in your roofing business, visit the GAF Center for the Advancement of Roofing Excellence (CARE).

Commercial roof maintenance programs are a great way to expand your business and build long-term relationships with school facility managers. You may already be offering commercial roof maintenance services, or perhaps you're interested in branching out. Providing roof maintenance to K-12 schools and universities can be a good source of reliable, ongoing work. But you'll need to consider these facilities' nuances.Schools' Current Roof Maintenance ChallengesIn an educational environment, students' safety and comfort come first. Buildings must be secure and functional, and they must provide an atmosphere conducive to learning. Creating this environment starts with the roof, but this can easily be put off or forgotten about as many school facility managers focus on day-to-day maintenance issues. If students and teachers complain about a lack of hot water or classroom temperatures that are too hot or cold, facility managers swiftly address these issues.However, facility managers should prioritize regular roof maintenance in addition to addressing the most immediate facility concerns. Even something like a small leak from deferred roof maintenance can lead to much larger, and more costly repairs, creating headaches for everyone involved, that could have been avoided.The Value of Commercial Roof Maintenance ProgramsThe roof protects everything inside the school—from books and computers to shop equipment and musical instruments. If a roof leaks, many items could suffer damage. At the end of the day, ensuring a quality roof through regular maintenance not only protects everything inside the building, it can also help extend the life of the roof. Moreover, some roofing system manufacturers may require regular roof inspections to maintain warranties or guarantees. A roof maintenance program can meet this requirement, providing inspection records and evidence that any issues were addressed.How to Develop a Maintenance Program for SchoolsA commercial roof maintenance program for schools isn't much different from what you already do for other commercial buildings. And while regular maintenance inspections can be completed anytime, a neglected roof can often end up requiring repairs that need to align with the school's calendar to plan for minimal disruptions to the students. This can cause inconvenient delays, or date changes that could be avoided with regular inspections and maintenance.GAF Senior Product Manager Benjamin Runyan says that it's important to identify the manufacturer of the existing roofing system to ensure you are using compatible products that won't void the warranty or guarantee. "You want to be looking at this from a maintenance standpoint," says Runyan. "What does the roof look like? How was it built? How have they been maintaining it?"To start, Runyan recommends that you inspect the entire roof system and document its condition with photos and notes. Pay particular attention to the more vulnerable areas, such as seams, fasteners, flashings, edge metal, drains, and gutters. Look for cracks, missing roofing materials, evidence of ponding water, or of birds or other animals, and signs of moss or algae. An infrared scan of the roof can determine if any moisture is present and help pinpoint areas that need immediate attention.Your program should include basic tasks such as clearing debris from drains and gutters, removing leaves or branches, and making minor repairs where existing sealants are losing pliability or are showing signs of deterioration. If you identify larger concerns, you can document that with photos and provide an estimate for the repairs. Also, note how long the repairs should take and what products you'll use.Getting Started with SchoolsPreventative maintenance programs aren't just a benefit to the schools, they can also lead to other school roofing work including re-roofing opportunities. If you're ready to add school commercial maintenance programs to your business plan, GAF has the resources you need to get started. Runyan explains, "Your first step should be talking with your GAF Territory Manager as they will likely already have established relationships with school districts, colleges, roof consultants and architects in your service area."From commercial roofing system specifications to WellRoof® Guarantee Extensions, plus roof restoration options, GAF meets all your needs for stepping into the world of educational buildings.

When communities come together, incredible things happen. That's exactly the case in the city of Seattle, Washington, where the GAF Community Contractor Program has made lasting impacts on those in need through partnerships with Habitat for Humanity and ReBuilding Together. Both nonprofit organizations focus on working with homeowners to build new homes and revitalize communities in need of rebuilding, respectively.GAF's partnership with Habitat for Humanity began in 2011. From the start, it felt like a natural pairing. Habitat for Humanity's vision of "building strength, stability and self-reliance in partnership with families in need of decent and affordable housing" aligns perfectly with GAF's commitment to building resiliency in communities across the U.S.GAF recently became involved in ReBuilding Together in the Pacific Northwest through GAF Territory Manager Donovan Gladstone, whose involvement with the board of Roofing Contractors Association of Washington created an opportunity for community partnership. ReBuilding Together's mission of "repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives" is an excellent fit with GAF's commitment to helping neighbors.Helping Contractors Support their CommunitiesGAF invests in the areas where it has manufacturing operations, aiming to lift up the communities where team members live and work. This ideal extends to the GAF Community Contractor Program, where GAF certified contractors can partner with GAF and give back through the following initiatives:GAF Habitat for Humanity Program. With over 1,500 local Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the U.S., GAF-certified contractors can partner with their local chapter to provide the labor to install fully-donated GAF roofing systems. Volunteers don't work alone. Homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor into building their Habitat house.GAF Affordable Housing Reroof Program. This initiative encourages contractors to partner with any 501c3 nonprofit organization in their community for a reroof project, for which GAF will donate the shingles.GAF Roofs for Heroes. GAF-certified contractors can partner with a local 501c3 to perform roof repairs or replacements for local heroes. These heroes include healthcare workers, first responders, veterans, police, fire, and EMTs.As part of the Community Contractor Program's progress in Washington state, more than 20 GAF certified contractors were able to provide over 100 new roofs to those in need of a new roof in the Seattle region, working with Habitat for Humanity and ReBuilding Together. "Giving back is at the core of what GAF does, but bringing in and partnering with our contractors is something that makes us unique," explains GAF Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Arlene Marks.Celebrating Giving Back While Giving Back AgainMarks and Gladstone wanted to host an event to thank the contractors who donated their time and labor to install those roofs and came up with a unique and fun way to extend the spirit of giving through Welcome Home Toolkits. "This was Arlene's idea, and it was such a great one," Gladstone notes.Marks shares, "We try to make all of our events meaningful, so what was the best way that we could reach back out to these homeowners that we've already helped? The Welcome Home Kits were the answer."The contractors attending the event assembled toolkits containing basic items like screwdrivers, nut drivers, adjustable wrenches, pliers, hammers, safety glasses, and more. The kits also include a video message of encouragement from the program participants.Most of the individuals who are helped through the roof donations are first-time homeowners. Accordingly, many don't have the basic tools needed to maintain their homes. The gift of a Welcome Home Toolkit provides so much more than drivers and wrenches, it offers confidence, resilience, and peace of mind.Building Community Among ContractorsIncredible things happen when communities come together—not only for the recipients of the donations, but for the participants as well. GAF-certified contractors in the Seattle region came together to give back to the community while building new professional relationships and friendships at the same time."You're bringing together like-minded people," Marks notes. "While they are competitors in the field, they already have the compassion to help their communities. It was an opportunity to work together toward a common goal to meet, share ideas, and talk about the market in a very safe and non-competitive environment."Impacting the CommunityA representative from Habitat for Humanity attended the appreciation event in Seattle to say thank you and share how much of an impact ReBuilding Together and the contractors' work have had on the community. The Welcome Home Toolkits were provided to both organizations and have gone a long way toward welcoming and inspiring the new homeowners.Looking to get involved in giving back to your community? Visit the GAF Community Matters page to explore different opportunities and get started.