Over Memorial Day in Forsyth County Ga., Tenth Roof was busy installing a new roof at the youth center The Remnant. The roofing company donated $7,500 worth of labor and materials for the nonprofit youth center.

Repair and restoration to the old Gainesville general store included tearing off the old roof, installing new sheathing and putting up new shingles provided by Owens Corning.

Home Depot donated almost $6,000 and 2 days of labor for sheetrock, flooring, landscaping and paint to the nonprofit center. Several other businesses and volunteers also donated time and money.

Christian Youth Center

Officially opening this month, Christian Author Jackie Gaskins operates The Remnant as a Community/youth center located on Keith Bridge Rd. in Gainesville. On Friday and Saturday, focus will be on the youth. With Christian bands, a safe place to congregate services (Saturday) and outreach opportunities regularly.

The Tenth Roof gives one out of every 10 roofs they sell to a needy family or organization. Co-owner Jeff McPhail said their company is committed to putting families before profits.

Tenth Roof is a roofing, siding and gutter company in Cummings Georgia and services the metro Atlanta area. They look like a relatively new roofing company; I couldn’t find anything for them on the Better Business Bureau website.

National non-profit organization “Homes for Our Troops” and Colorado Springs Roofing Company team up to put a new roof on disabled Army Corporal Nick Orchowski’s home.

The owner Jerry Fristoe as well as 8 other employees of Integrity Roofing and Painting donated 7 hours of free labor to complete the roof for the quadriplegic Army Veteran. Other volunteers and companies also were at the home on Sunday May 13th to build a home to accommodate Orchowski’s special needs.

New Homeowner Thanked All Who Participated

Nick Orchowski thanked the companies and volunteers at Friday’s opening ceremony. Orchowski became quadriplegic in 2004 while serving in Bagdad, he was thrown from a vehicle that was attacked by insurgents. He fractured 3 vertebrae and was immediately paralyzed.

Homes for Our Troops was founded in 2004, their mission is to help those who have selfishly given to our country and have returned with disabilities since September 11, 2001. By raising money, building materials and professional labor they are able to provide free of charge, homes to enable injured veterans and their families the maximum freedom of movement and ability to live more independently.

Integrity Roofing and Painting have offices in Colorado Springs and Denver Colorado and Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston Texas.

With OSHA’s (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) nationwide campaign to eliminate injuries and deaths due to falls from roofs,ladders and scaffolds; two roofers who weren’t using safety harnesses are lucky to be alive this week.

25 year old Chris Quinlan was electrocuted and kicked off a roof in Rochester Hills Michigan.

Quinlan was kneeling down using a nail gun to replace shingles during a roof repair when his nail gun kicked back and made contact with power lines. As 220 volts were shooting through his body, he was unable to move and get away from the wires; a coworker saw the accident and tried to kick Quinlan free.

Co-Worker Used Both Feet and kicked him Off the Roof

Quinlan later said “He literally had to kick me with both feet, that’s when he knocked me off the wires but also knocked me off the roof, but it saved my life.”

Quinlan was taken to McLaren Hospital in Pontiac where he was treated for minor injuries and released. He has holes and little black circles where he was burned but no damage to his heart or broken bones.

Fell Into Acid

The other accident was in Clifton New Jersey, when 44 year old Martin Davis was inspecting a section of roof over a vat of acid, the roof gave way and he fell 20 feet into the vat. Coworkers came down the ladder to help Davis and found him sitting in 4 feet of diluted acid. The 5 coworkers pulled him out and Davis was taken by a medical helicopter to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.

Mr. Davis is in critical condition with a broken rib, punctured lung and burns to his legs and sides.

OSHA, reports that in 2010, 264 people died as a result of falling while working from heights. OSHA’s 3 step plan includes;

• PLAN ahead to get the job done safely
• PROVIDE the right equipment
• TRAIN everyone to use the equipment safely

If you would like more information or would like to report unsafe construction practices you can contact OSHA at www.osha.gov or 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).

In Norfolk UK, Richard Haughton of Broadland Thatchers takes his 5 year old dog up on the rooftops while he works. Haughton first took Axel on the roof when he was 7 weeks old, and the dog has been a steady fixture on the job ever since.

Axel, a mixture of Labrador, Rottweiler and Newfoundland happily sits on the rooftop and watches the crew thatch the roof. Axel sits on the roof for 4-5 hours a day, if it is too hot, he stays on the ground and sleeps in the shade. Often customers invite Axel inside their homes and spoil him with treats.

Loyal and Happy Dog

With someone behind him for confidence, Axel has learned to climb up the ladder. When it is time to come down for lunch or at the end of the day, Axel jumps on Haughton’s shoulder for a ride down.

Currently the crew is thatching a commercial roof, the Three Horseshoes Pub in Scottow. Richard Haughton has been a Thatcher for 17 years; he said their company Broadland Thatchers has enough orders and bookings to last until 2013. Broadland does reed thatching and roof repairs for cottages and commercial buildings in the Wilton, North Walsham areas.

In Camden New Jersey, a self-employed builder accidentally shot himself in the heart with a nail gun. On March 31st, Dennis Hennis was working on his neighbor’s old roof when the nail gun he was using jammed. While trying to clear it, it accidentally went off and discharged a 3 ½ inch nail into his chest.

The nail entered the right side of the 52 year olds heart; he went into cardiac arrest and was airlifted to Cooper Hospital in Camden. Mr. Hennis was released from the hospital Friday after a team of trauma and cardiac surgeons were able to repair the damage.

Dennis said “I thought I was done, I really did” he also said he will be more careful with his nail gun in the future.

3 ½ inch Nails from Framing Nailer

The nail gun he was using is usually used for framing and not necessarily for roofing. A framing nailer can be used on the joists or rafters while working on a roof.

We are seeing these unusual accidents occurring more frequently, earlier in March a man in Florida nailed his finger to his roof and took rescue crews 90 minutes to get him down. And these are just the more sensational accidents that make the news, many more go unreported.

Unless you are a professional roofer yourself, it may be prudent to hire a reputable roofing company to do the repairs; it will certainly be safer for you.

3 of the 4 copper clad roofs will be replaced with PVC (polyvinyl chloride). The domes have been leaking water and asphalt into the convention centers exhibit halls for years. 3 of the domes were built between 1989 and 1991, the 4th dome, not being replaced was built in 2001.

Even though the copper roof sheds water, they are not water proof and the asphalt underneath is worn out and damaged. The city spends several hundred thousand dollars a year to make temporary roof repairs.

PVC to Last “Many Many Years”

To replace the roof with copper cost approximately $15 million, $8 million for another type metal and $5 million for the PVC roof. Convention center executive director Jeff Johnson said “I think this is the most efficient, best use of this money to get a roof that is watertight and lasts for many, many years.”

The dome project will be set up for bids later this week. If work starts in June, they hope to be complete by the end of the construction season this year.

The state of Illinois will pay $630,000 to repair the torn canvas roof at the Illinois State Fair. Back in January high winds tore the canvas roof over the multipurpose arena. The canvas roof has 4 sections, damage was done only to 1 section on the west side of the facility.

The company that originally installed the roof, Span Systems Inc., of New Hampshire was awarded the roof repair contract. The states public works construction program is funding the project.

Replacing The Canvas

Dave Blanchette, spokesman for the capital development board said “they are going to replace the missing and damaged section of the canopy and repair and replace as needed the portions of the structure that hold up the canopy.”

The project is scheduled to be completed by May. Fairgrounds operate year round and the next major event will be the Illinois State Fair in August.

The first Illinois State Fair was held in the capital of Springfield in 1853, admission was 25 cents. The fair moved to Chicago in 1855 and back to Springfield to stay in 1894.