It’s already been a long winter with plenty of snow, leaving many residents across the nation worried about the state of their roofs. When roofs are covered in snow and ice, it’s nearly impossible to tell when they’re near collapse, but a new system called Roof Monitor may be set to change that.Roof Monitor was developed by Brad Beldon, a longstanding member of the roofing industry who wanted to design a way to monitor the condition of snow-laden roofs. Using wireless sensors that transmit real-time data, building owners with Roof Monitor will be able to make more informed decisions about winter roof maintenance.The wireless sensors are placed on the exterior surface of the roof and measure environmental changes and roof loads. The data collected by the sensors is integrated into a user-friendly, web-based interface that creates a visual representation of the snow load on the roof.
The system is sophisticated enough to work with any operating system, and it also stores and analyzes data from an individual roof over time to prevent false alarms. Roof Monitor is connected to a monitoring and alert service with live operators who can dispatch crucial information to multiple users.
“This new Roof Monitoring System most definitely will help prevent roof collapses, especially on a flat roof,” says Matthew Rock, owner of Rocks’s Roofing, Inc. “In the past, there was no way to monitor snow loads and potential for roof collapse. When Denver had a massive snow storm back in March of 2003, we were shoveling roof after roof and you didn’t know if when you were on the roof, you were going to fall through the roof itself or slide off. This new system sounds like a fantastic prevention mechanism.”
Roof Monitor is teaming up with National Roofing Partners, so roof owners can even get snow and water removal service through Roof Monitor. Building owners will be able to assess when it’s safe to remove snow themselves, and when snow removal services are critical to a roof’s survival.”Every year, thousands of roofs collapse in the U.S. alone,” Beldon said in a press release. “I know Roof Monitor can help drastically decrease that figure. 2015 is going to be a different story for roof collapses.”Roof Monitor currently has the new systems in stock, but many building owners will have to wait until spring to install them.