In late October of 2008, my family and I lost our residence to the Santa Ana wind-driven wildfire that threatened the Getty Center. Our new home had a shake wood roof just like our old house did, so the first thing we opted to do was to replace it with fire resistant roofing resources.
There are quite a few types of residential roofing materials that supply fire protection; we decided to do the larger part of the dwelling with a new type of metal roof system that also meets Energy Star compliance. Our new house is an architectural beauty; there is a part of the house that boasts a flat roof top patio that looks out over downtown Los Angeles.
After doing a bit of research I found out about green roofs and how architects and roofing contractors are using new environmentally friendly technologies to make fantastic self-contained garden spaces atop commercial buildings. I wished to use that new technology in my residential roofing application.
To do green roofs on flat roof buildings there are various structural issues that need to be known. The roofing contractor I ended up hiring to do the work had previously completed a few green roofs on some residential roofing jobs back in the summer of 2008. I was lucky enough to have purchased a home that was designed by an architect that used commercial grade materials for the house's residential roofing structure.
The major change that had to be made to the roof was a roof coating that was sprayed onto the commercial waterproofing that was on the exterior from the time it was built in the nineties. There is not much difference to using a roof coating on a residential roofing job than there is when utilizing one on a commercial application.
My new dwelling is now entirely remodeled and we have newly moved in. The entire pitched area of the roof has a fire resistant metal roof that was made with an Energy Star compliant roof coating that reflects the Southern California suns heat away from the inside and the flat section of the house has a roof top garden space that looks out over downtown. What really makes me happy about using environmentally friendly techniques on my remodel project is the fact that we saved a lot on our taxes.
With the federal government offering tax payers a credit for using Energy Star compliant materials and with the cash we are going to save on utility costs, I think more people should use more environmentally friendly materials on their residential roofing applications. If you think that it is time to replace your roof, I suggest you consider looking into using the advanced technologies that provide not only fire protection but that also help cut energy pricing.
Even though we lost all in the wildfire, I'm happy knowing that we have a home that is Energy Star compliant and gives us protection from any future fires.
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