If you shower, cook, wash dishes, clean, do laundry – if you breathe – inside your home, you’re generating water vapor. 

Maybe we’ve hit bottom and things are on the upswing after all. 

 The year 2011 saw the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration taking an increasingly aggressive stance in using all available information to curb the hiring of unauthorized workers and to penalize employers who do. 

Roofing Contractorasked a variety of industry insiders and other professionals to share their insights on key trends they’ve indentified in the commercial and residential roofing markets and offer advice on the key problems facing contractors in the year ahead. 

 The folks Deer Park Roofing in Cincinnati recycle just about everything: asphalt shingles, EPDM, TPO, PVC, steel, aluminum, copper and insulation.  

 Governmental regulations and their enforcement are always a key concern for roofing contractors, and the rules of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were in the news a lot this year, as OSHA issued new residential fall protection enforcement guidelines.  

Brian Hicks never wanted to have the biggest roofing company in the world — just the one that did the best work. After 35 years in the roofing industry, including the last 21 years as owner of Chandler’s Roofing in San Pedro, Calif., Hicks has earned a reputation for top-quality work.

Alure Home Improvements of Plainview, N.Y., was started as a painting company in 1946, but current President/CEO Sal Ferro is glad the company embraced the decision to switch to roofing residential homes a few decades later

Steve McCusker of Roof One in Pontiac, Mich., looks at each roofing project with an eye toward helping homeowners, and that includes making sure their attics are properly insulated.

You can see those ugly black streaks on roofs almost everywhere. Algae is a problem in most of the country, especially in hot, humid climates, and once it takes hold, it’s hard to get rid of, so prevention is the goal.