In the Coconut Grove neighborhood it took Miami rescue crews 90 minutes to remove a man from his roof Thursday afternoon. The 45 year old man was working on his Day Avenue roof when he accidentally nailed his finger to the roof with a nail gun.

Fire Rescue Lt. Iggy Carroll said “it was one finger on his left hand where the nail went through and into the wood. And he wasn’t able to free himself so that’s when he called 911.”

Paramedics realized they needed more help getting the man down since he was on a pitched roof 30 feet high. The Technical Rescue Team responded with more safety equipment to safely remove the injured man from the roof.

Crews Cut Out Part Of The Roof

Lt. Carroll said “anytime you have someone impaled you don’t want to pull it out, we cut around it.” Using a hand held power saw the crews cut away a section of the roof that his hand was nailed to. The man, with a piece of the roof decking still attached to his hand, was transported to the hospital for treatment.

Although this may be a rare occurrence, it’s one more reason you will probably want to hire a competent roofing company to do repairs or replace your roof.

Advanced Metal Roofing of Raleigh North Carolina announced the winner of their 3rd annual MetalBucks sweepstakes. Hope Voliva of New Bern North Carolina won the grand prize of a new MetalMan Roofing System for their home valued up to $22,500.

Advanced Metal Roofing offers the chance to win a free, installed metal roof in their annual sweepstakes to homeowners in North Carolina. Entrants do not have to participate in any sales presentations or make any purchases to be eligible for the prize.

The Advanced Metal Roofing Company was established in 1994, specializing in residential metal roofing. James Kenton, owner said “We love having the opportunity to award a North Carolina homeowner with a fully installed MetalMan roofing system.”

Past Recipients of Free Metal Roof

Previous winners were Todd Moore of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina and James and Kimberly Crutcher of Kernsersville, North Carolina.

If you have a home in North Carolina you can read the rules and enter the sweepstakes at www.advancedmetalroofingnc.com/metal-bucks-sweepstakes.asp. The entry form is pretty easy, just name, contact information and a “how did you hear about us” box. They will have the drawing on January 10th, 2013 for the winner of the free, installed MetalMan Roofing System valued at up to $22,500.

Suntech America of San Francisco is recalling SolarBlend roof tiles. The connectors between the solar roof tiles can become loose creating a fire hazard.

Of the approximately 300 roof top installations only one report of a fire involving 6 SolarBlend roof tiles. No one was injured and only the tiles were damaged.

The tiles were sold in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Missouri and Nevada. The models affected are the brown STP050D-5/ZCB, terra cotta, STP050D-5/ZCF, and grey STP050D-5/ZCG. The tiles were manufactured in China by Wuxi Suntech Power Co. ltd., of Wuxi China.

Free Inspection

If you have not been contacted by Suntech directly, than you should immediately turn off your panel system and contact Suntech. Free inspections and repair of the solar panel system are being offered by Suntech with no cost to the consumer. For additional information or to schedule a free inspection and repair of the SolarBlend roof tiles system, contact Suntech toll free at (888) 770-7122 Monday thru Friday 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. or visit the website at www.suntech-power.com/product-safety.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Communications issued a Recall Alert on February 23, 2012 regarding this product. If you have any questions or information of a different hazard with this same product visit www.SaferProducts.gov.

Part of St. Clair elementary/middle school’s $8.8 million expansion includes plans for a rooftop playground.

The renovation project will add 2 special education rooms, 6 new classrooms, a large instruction room and a second elevator, plus 23 more parking spaces will be added to the current 10 spaces at the Mill Street School.

Superintendent Kendy K. Hinkle said “establishing the playground on the roof was our only viable option. We either had to go up or we weren’t going to have the kind of play yard we needed.”

Safety Concerns

There will be a 12 foot fence which will arc inward and the perimeter of the new roof will have a masonry wall.

The two story building will be built where the existing playground is now. The school was originally built in 1937 to be used as a high school. Due to low enrollment in the late 1980’s the high school students were transferred to the Pottsville area. The school was established as an elementary/middle school in 1990.

Bids opened on February 6, 2011 for a general contractor. A contractor will be chosen at the next meeting on March 14, 2011. Mr. Hinkle is hoping the project will be completed by the summer of 2013.

After 10 years of waiting, permission has been given for plans to replace the medieval roof at Stoke College by Clare, located on the border of Suffolk and Essex. The college is in a historic house and is an independent school for 3-16 year olds.

St. Edmundsbury council gave permission for the properties outbuildings to be demolished and sold off for development. Six new homes will be built on the land in a crescent shape in the style of the 19th century almshouses. The money from the land sale will be used to replace the medieval roof on the original schoolhouse.

St. John the Baptist church houses Mathew Parkers Pulpit

The college has been in the building for 58 years, the building dates back to 1420. Mathew Parker former archbishop of Canterbury and Chaplain to Anne Boleyn occupied the building at the time English Reformations. In 1124 Richard de Clare moved the Benedictine Priory that had been established at his castle in Clare to Stoke by Clare, in 1415 the Priory was replaced by Stoke College.

Estimated cost of roof repairs is just less than 1 million pounds, approximately $1.96900 million U.S. dollars. According to the college head teacher, also named Mathew Parker, some of the roof timbers have been there since the 1700’s and need to be replaced.

A false roof will cover the original one while the work is being completed. Mr. Parker hopes to have the new roof in 18 months.

A recent school levy for Polson High School roof repairs did not pass in the community voting. The 40 year old flat, foam covered roof has been leaking for the past 14 years.

Head custodian Gary Grieff said they spend a lot of time cleaning the roof and work hard to locate and seal the problem spots. He said every year they seal the roof but the birds eat the sealant and create new holes. They have been using fake owls and snakes as deterrents but the birds won’t stay away.

Buckets Of Water

Small cracks have been found in the cement roof and the foam covering is uneven and allowing water to collect and pool. The roof itself is structurally sound, it’s through the small cracks that water is leaking through and finding its way into the hallways and classrooms. The custodians are collecting as much as 4 gallons a day of rain water in buckets throughout the school.

Principle Invites Community

Principle Rob Hankins said “we need community people to come up here and see what’s happening. We’re not making this up.”

Because of the extreme weather, the average lifespan of a roof in Montana is 20-25 years.

Perth Australia will be getting their first rooftop theater. Artrage will show outdoor movies from the Roe Street Car Park rooftop from February 13 to April 11.

Perth city council approved Artrage’s application for the evening movies. The rooftop has the capacity to hold 250 people for the outdoor cinema. The rooftop will also be a venue for live comedy and bands.

Summer Oasis

The entire roof will be covered with an artificial lawn, palm trees and black and white striped canvas deck chairs to enjoy the movies from a vintage caravan projection booth. They are still working out the logistics of how to get the movie equipment craned up to the roof. Two elevators go to the roof, one being dedicated just for moviegoers.

Perth Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said “All being well, I would like to see the rooftop cinema continue, provided there are operators interested in being involved”.

Melbourne Rooftop Cinema

Rooftop Cinema has another location on top of the Curtin House in Melbourne. The Melbourne cinema shows a different movie every night except Mondays and Fridays when it is not open. Upcoming movies include Robocop, The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation.

More information can be found at rootopcinema.com/au, you can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Awarded 20,000 GBP (approximately $30,000 USD) The Church of Saint Peter in Walpole, Norfolk, also known as Queen of the Marshland, has received royal support for roof repairs to the chancel. Prince Charles regularly visits the church and contributes to its repair, continuing the royal tradition of personal support for the church.

The chancel, the space around the altar of the church for the clergy to officiate, has a very high, large roof. Due to the size of the project, it will be an expensive process when hiring a roofing contractor to do the job.

Church Destroyed in a Flood

St. Peters tower was built in 1300, in the 1330’s a flood destroyed the church, all but its tower. Before it could be rebuilt, the Black Death took away half of the local population. In the early 15th century the church was rebuilt on a grand scale.

The chief executive of the National Churches Trust, Claire Walker said “I am delighted the trust has been able to support these vital repairs to one of England’s most important parish churches.”

The total cost of the chancel roof is expected to be GBP 200,000. English Heritage will be giving a grant for half of the project and the rest will be raised by additional grants and donations.

Martha M. Alvarez, a residential roofing contractor based in Houston Texas, has received $102,300 in fines for 3 Wisconsin job sites from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The willful violations were issued because the contractor failed to provide fall protection at the inspected sites. Martha M. Alvarez has received citations for 13 violations from OSHA from 6 inspections since November 2010.

Leading Cause of Death

Kim Stille, director of OSHA’s Madison Area Office said “falls are the leading cause of death and injury in the construction industry. Employers such as Martha M. Alvarez have a responsibility to ensure that workers are provided with and trained in the use of required fall protection. OSHA is committed to protection workers, especially when employers fail to do so.”

The OSHA fall standards state; “Unprotected sides and edges.” Each employee on a walking/working surface (horizontal and vertical surface) with an unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet (1.8m) or more above a lower level shall be protected from falling by the use of guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems.

OSHA has been cracking down on contractors, roofers and other violators of the fall protection compliance since it went into effect in June of 2011.