Sterling Update

She now has three beautiful blue eggs in the nest...so I guess we are not disturbing her too much at this time.

Momma's Not Happy With Us!

We have a new resident in our building, and she has decided to bring her young into the world not 2 feet from our door. For the last two weeks, a fat, red robin has been dive bombing us everytime we come in, or go out of, our back door...and now we know why. She has made the camellia bush her home, and today we spotted two bright blue eggs in a fairly big nest. We are going to share with you this sign of spring (since the weather is no indication) with high hopes that in about 12 days (or less) we will have little chicks to brag about. We have named her Sterling and at this time we are going to try and let her have some peace. We will check as often as we can on her progress without disturbing her too much.

$1500 Energy Tax Credit Update

The IRS has finally posted some information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and you can see it at the following web site:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206869,00.html

This has a brief explanation of the tax credit and how it applies to metal roofing. They do not have the tax forms posted or instructions, I will post those links as soon as they are available.

The manufacturers for most of the products we sell qualify, and we will provide certificates which you will keep with your tax documents. In addition, you will need a detailed reciept/invoice for the purchase of the materials.

As stated in the IRS web site, more information will be coming after June 1st.

Do-It-Yourself Project #1 - Lee's Leisure World!

I thought it would be fun to post pictures of projects customers have installed on their own. About 30% of our sales are in materials only -vs- supply and install, so it is very important to us to make sure customers who want to do it on their own have the right product, a clear understanding of how the materials should be used and installed, and a complete materials package to ensure a finished project. This home was done by Lee and his wife. They started with the roof and installed Super Span in a Bare Zincalume finish. That went so well, they decided to side the entire house in Norclad Old Town Gray with Tahoe Blue Trim. Lee even did the underside of his porch in Winter White 16" Skyline and his soffits with an Alcoa soffit material. Most was done with standard trim pieces, but we did have to design a few custom flashings, which is very easy and does not add much cost to the project, but adds that special look. Come on by our showroom or send us an email about your project, we would love to help get you going on installing your own metal roofing or metal siding.

What A Day...What A Difference!

Rebuilding Together 09 - Eight hours on a partly overcast Saturday, about 80 volunteers, lots of smiles and hard work...IT WAS PRICELESS! It is really hard to convey the feelings which arise while you are participating in something so much larger than yourself. We showed up not knowing our job, since our project was cancelled the night before, but within minutes it was clear what needed to be done. We were assigned to the "Westway" Project, a small community of multiple family homes, many of which needed repair work including gardening and fence building, painting, wiring and plumbing, drywall and replacing appliances. We just jumped right in, and by the time the day was over we had almost completed all of the tasks for each of the three houses (a few small items will get finished this week). The families we helped were there and joined right in, and their kids were as sweet and helpful as could be. And that's what made the day so rewarding, getting a first hand look at the appreciation they all felt for the small tasks we accomplished. That really is the reason volunteering is so important. It is hard for some to keep up with even the smallest parts of their daily lives, but as a goup, it is much easier. It's just as hard to give up a Saturday...until you are there, then the first thought that crosses your mind is...WHAT A PERFECT WAY TO SPEND THE DAY!

Saddness in our Family

It's a sad night. We were all set for Rebuilding Together tomorrow morning, but we just found out Mrs. Henderlite, the sweet lady whose house we were going to work on, has died. She was elderly, and although we really did not know much about her, we knew that she needed our help. We were just going to do some weeding and tree trimming for her, simple tasks that had become too overwhelming for her to do on her own. It makes us realize how important it is to check on our neighbors, and help out even in simple ways. We will still participate in Rebuilding Together tomorrow....because there is always someone who needs us!

"One is not born into the world

to do everything

but to do something."
--Henry David Thoreau

Finishing Touches

Tony and Andrew putting on the final touches around a chimney on an ASC Sterling roof in "Cool Leaf Green". Our guys spend a lot of time tweeking the metal to get it just right, expecially in places that need to be sealed against the weather.

Rebuilding Together

This is us last year at Rebuilding Together, and once again we are gearing up for a great project. Our norm for Rebuilding Together is to install a new roof for someone in our community, but this year we are going a bit out of our element and taking on a landscape venture. We've had a little sneak preview of what lies ahead...and we have been told to bring our chainsaws! Our crews wield a wicked screw gun, so chainsaws should be NO PROBLEM! Really, we look forward to these projects every year and will keep you posted on how we do on Saturday!

Delivery Truck

This is how big the delivery truck really is....can this fit in your driveway? If you need your ASC products delivered, they will come on a full-size semi-truck and trailer (75 feet long) with a boom offload. The truck will need access to the property, a way to get in and out, and clear overhead (no power or phone lines) to off-load using the boom. We will verify the method of delivery with you, and make sure the best option is used for your situation.

Brad

Say hi to Brad, the best delivery guy ever! We are very fortunate to work with metal roofing suppliers who take every detail seriously...including the delivery of your materials. The drivers are professional, courteous, and make every effort to get materials to your job site on time and ready to install. Brad can't delivery everything...but his friends do a pretty good job too!

Sweet roof (and place)

We just got a couple pic's of an awesome metal roof we installed awhile ago, check it out!

Tax Credit

If you haven't already heard, there is a tax credit available for up to $1,500 for installing an energy star rated metal roof in 2009/2010. Check out the list of qualified metal roofing manufacturers to see if the contractor you select installs the qualifying products!

For more information check back, the IRS website should have updated information soon and we will let you know.

(posted by Haley)

Paint Plant

On Friday Jeff took Keni and I on a visit to Steelscape, where most of the metal panels we use are painted. Eric gave us an amazing tour of the plant and we left with our minds spinning.....what a fascinating place! Thank you Eric, Andrea (from Steelscape) and Jeff (from ASC Building Products) for making this happen, you're great!

(posted by Haley)

Why we started a Blog...

Our company is called Metal Roof Specialties, and guess what? We install metal roofs in the Puget Sound area. We also sell the material and get a ton of questions from the Do-It-Yourself-ers. So on this blog we'll give some good DIY tips and take you behind the scenes of our company.

You'll meet our staff, see us working on actual jobs, check out some of our specialized gear, and hopefully learn something along the way.

We'll see you soon on the new blog.
Jerry and Haley.

You can check out our main website at www.ilovemetalroofs.com
(Posted by Haley)